Pentagon: Data error won't affect Boeing-EADS tanker competition

Jan 27, 2011, 10:34 GMT

Washington - The US Air Force's accidental release of technical data about the Boeing and EADS bids for the 35-billion- dollar contract to build the next fleet of aerial refuellers will not affect the outcome of the competition, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

The Air Force revealed in November that it had erroneously sent information about each firm's proposal to the other, raising questions about the integrity of the long-running saga to replace the aging fleet of tankers.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters the mishap was 'unfortunate' and a 'mistake,' but 'ultimately the forensics that were done have assured us that it did not result in any proprietary or consequential information being unfairly shared.'

'It is our expectation that this would not affect either the awarding of the contract, which there's no reason for it to, or anyone's decision in the wake of that award to protest,' Morrell said.

The Pentagon has since taken steps to ensure each side had equal access to the divulged information, and 'to figure out how the heck this error occurred,' Morrell said.

A US Senate committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday on the mistake.

Boeing Co and the European Aeronautic, Defence and Space Co (EADS) have been in a heated battle for years to win the contract to build 179 of the next generation of KC-X tankers. The winner is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Winning the contract could give either aerospace giant a dominant role in the tanker market for years or even decades.

The Pentagon in 2008 awarded the contract to a partnership EADS had formed with Northrop Grumman. But a congressional oversight agency sided with a protest lodged by Boeing, ruling that errors had occurred in evaluating the proposal, effectively requiring the Pentagon to hold a new competition.

Northrop Grumman has since dropped out of the bidding.