Word: pentagonals
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...American government on the refueling-aircraft issue is a grave infraction of the rules of fair competition between our economies," French Prime Minister François Fillon said Wednesday, March 10, during a visit to Berlin, where members of the German government echoed his belief that the Pentagon was going to award the contract to Boeing no matter which company had the better bid. "The American government, I'll say here and now, forced EADS to quit the competition." (See pictures of the aircraft NASA, Boeing and the U.S. Air Force are teaming up to develop...
...partner Northrop Grumman in a new pitch. The pair won the next round of bidding, but that decision sparked a chorus of complaints from U.S. legislators about American contracts (and tax dollars) going to a European business - and it was later overturned in an appeal filed by Boeing. The Pentagon reopened the bidding for a third time earlier this year. But this time, EADS said, the terms of the process "clearly favored" Boeing, prompting its decision to bow out on Monday. (See a TIME video on French business...
...there are fears that Europe could retaliate. The European Commission has warned that it would react sternly to any evidence of American protectionism favoring Boeing in the Pentagon bidding process. And British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson hinted that "the open market to U.S. producers we have in Europe" could be affected if the European Union felt that Americans were refusing to extend similar freedoms to their companies in return. Even some American observers groused that the EADS offer was clearly superior to Boeing's revised bid. U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, said that "the Air Force...
...defense officials have defended their contract specifications, saying that the bidding process aimed to get the best aircraft at the lowest price. However, Commander Darryn James, a Pentagon spokesman, told Reuters, "We are disappointed that Northrop is not competing." He added that neither the decision by EADS and Northrop Grumman to drop out of the competition nor the fallout from it changes "the Defense Department's commitment to transatlantic defense ties." (Read "For the Arms Industry, India Is a Hot Market...
...Indeed, one French executive of an international group, who asked not to be named because he formerly worked as a French diplomat, says the main problem with the refueling-plane bidding process was the Pentagon's pretense that the work was up for grabs in the first place. "All nations - France included - make bilateral procurement deals without tendering bids, so what's really annoying about this case is that EADS was led to think it had a chance when the work was going to go to Boeing no matter what happened," the executive says...