Defence

Comment - Tanker scrutiny misplaced

By Stephen Trimble

Perhaps no US Air Force contract award has received more scrutiny than the KC-45A tanker deal, yet arguably nowhere has that scrutiny been more misplaced.

Questions from US lawmakers about the loss of American jobs form the inevitable political backlash, while Boeing's expected legal challenge puts pressure on the USAF's selection process.

Neither course promises a fair or reasonable outcome. Even worse, both are sideshows that distract attention from the most questionable aspects of the USAF's surprise decision to select a Northrop Grumman bid based on an Airbus A330-200.

The few details currently known about the substance of Northrop's bid certainly raise questions that must be answered.

For example, Northrop's bid prices each A320-200 modified for the tanker role at about $167 million for the 64 production aircraft. That is nearly $10 million less than the Airbus list price for the non-modified tanker aircraft. The question must be asked: Has Northrop intentionally bid too low, leading to an inevitable cost overrun?

Few questions, meanwhile, are being asked about the complexity of Northrop's production system, which remains poorly defined in public.

It's not too late to start asking the right questions.