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A Foreign Air Raid?
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Northrop and EADS said the KC-45 will create about 2,000 American jobs, with up to 1,500 in Mobile and 300 in Bridgeport, where they plan to build new plants. Another 300 to 500 jobs will be created in Melbourne, Fla., where Northrop's tanker managers will be based. EADS and Northrop officials said their tanker will support another roughly 23,000 jobs with 230 suppliers across the country.
"We'll leverage the existing infrastructure that we have in Europe for the A330, but we will create the new jobs here in the U.S.," said Guy Hicks, a spokesman for EADS North America.
Congressional leaders and union officials expressed concern about the loss of jobs at Boeing, which said the tanker would have sustained 44,000 jobs with 300 suppliers in 40 states. A large portion of the jobs are in Everett, Wichita, Fort Worth and Hartford, Conn.
Air Force officials said Friday that their decision was not based on the number of jobs created but on five areas: mission capability, proposal risk, past performance, cost/price and "integrated assessment," or how the plane would perform in wartime.
Loren B. Thompson, a defense consultant at the Lexington Institute, said yesterday that the Northrop-EADS entry bested Boeing in four of the five areas. For example, it could carry more fuel and passengers, both compelling factors for the Air Force. The Air Force also worried about Boeing's work on other programs.
"Northrop Grumman's victory was not a close outcome," said Thompson, who said he was told how the teams were evaluated in each area by government officials and industry executives.
The Air Force did not comment on Thompson's analysis.
