Pentagon official opposes tanker contract split - al.com

Pentagon official opposes tanker contract split - al.com: "The Pentagon's top weapons buyer on Thursday rejected a suggestion that the U.S. Air Force split its contract for aerial refueling tankers between rival manufacturers Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp.

'If you split this buy now, you have to pay two sets of development costs,' said John Young, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition. 'That totally wipes out the competitive aspects of this.'

Boeing and Northrop — which is proposing to assemble its tankers in Mobile — are waging a fierce fight for the potential $40 billion tanker contract. A proposal to buy planes from both companies has emerged as a potential compromise that would break a stalemate between the two powerful defense contractors and their respective political backers in Congress."