Boeing to protest at tanker deal

The winning KC-30 aircraft is based on the Airbus A330

Boeing says it will lodge an official protest against the awarding of a $35bn (£17bn) US air force air-to-air refuelling tanker contract to EADS.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) will examine the process by which Northrop Grumman and EADS won the deal.

"Our team has taken a very close look at the tanker decision and found serious flaws in the process," Boeing chairman Jim McNerney said.

The GAO, which is part of Congress, will have 100 days to investigate.

Mr McNerney said he believed Boeing submitted the most "capable, lowest risk" aircraft as measured against the air force's request.

Larger plane

But Northrop Grumman defended the process, describing it as the "most rigorous, fair and transparent acquisition process in Defence Department history".

Boeing is understood to be angry that the Air Force originally asked for a medium-sized aircraft but then awarded the contract to the bidder offering a larger plane.

The decision angered many US legislators because the Northrop tanker will be based on the Airbus A330, much of which will be made in Europe.

Air Force officials have stressed that the impact of US jobs was not one of their criteria.