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So if the US senators are so up in arms with this, why did they allow export of F-15A-Es to Korea, Japan etc etc when those countires could easily built their own planes or build french or russians ones at a cheaper price, instead of the US F-15 Eagles?
Oh could be something about export earnings and politcal backroom pressure and trade threats if they dont buy US items.
Many countries have brought Swdens JAS-39 Gripen and that is a non US built plane over the F-16 in many buys of late.. do you see those countries whingers making a hoot over non US item or European items? They buy what is best for them and thats is it.
If the US doesnt like France then why should they be buying the VH-71 and the UH-72 helos then? They could easily cancel that.. oh maybe because they are better than US built items in that they can perform better?
Why have so many countries lately brought EADS planes and helos .. must be something really bad if they are so popular eh? How many countries want the Typhoon but cant afford it? Rafale is a DOG i will say and hence no ones really is interested.
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US lawmakers reacted angrily to the award of a 35-billion-dollar Defense Department contract to a Northrop Grumman/EADS team, a major coup for Europe's Airbus at the expense of US giant Boeing.
Reacting to Friday's decision by the US Defense Department to award the contract for a fleet of in-flight refuelling aircraft, Republican Senator Sam Brownback said he was "shocked at this decision and very disappointed.
"I'll be calling upon the Secretary of Defense for a full debriefing and expect there will be a protest of the award by Boeing," Brownback added.
"It's stunning to me that we would outsource the production of these airplanes to Europe instead of building them in America."
Republican Representative Todd Tiahrt said he was "deeply troubled."
He added: "We should have an American tanker built by an American company with American workers," he said.
"I cannot believe we would create French jobs in place of Kansas jobs."
According to the Boeing website, the company is the largest employer in Kansas.
But a senator from Alabama, where some of the work will be done, welcomed the decision.
"Not only is this the right decision for our military, but it is great news for Alabama," said Richard Shelby, a Republican.
The contract was expected to bring up to 1,800 jobs to the Mobile area and 5,000 to the state, he added.
Airbus will assemble the tankers in Mobile, Alabama, and had said that if it won the contract it would transfer assembly of its commercial 330 aircraft there, creating jobs.
Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS), parent of Airbus, will provide up to 179 tankers for the US Air Force.
The Boeing Company, the second leading US defense contractor after Lockheed Martin, had been considered the heavy favorite.
The contract for the newly named tanker, the KC-45, is one of the largest Pentagon contracts in recent years and the first order on a tanker market valued at more than 100 billion US dollars in more than 30 years.
It marked an unprecedented triumph for EADS, which has achieved a foothold in the world's largest defense market after a history of minor contracts.
"The tanker is the number-one procurement priority for us right now. It is the first step in our critical commitment to recapitalize our aging fleet to move, supply, and position assets anywhere," General Duncan McNab, US Air Force chief of staff, said in a statement.
The Northrop Grumman/EADS team "clearly provided the best value for the government," said Sue Payton, assistant secretary for air force procurement.
Ronald Sugar, chairman and chief executive of Northrop Grumman said: "Northrop Grumman's vast expertise in aerospace design, development and systems integration will ensure our nation's warfighters receive the most capable and versatile tanker ever built."
The competition had been closely watched because of the size of the contract and the political implications of a choice between an all-American contractor or a mainly US team that includes a foreign contractor.
In Paris, EADS CEO Louis Gallois told AFP the contract was a "great subject of pride" for the company and would "encourage it to pursue its strategy in the United States."
Price had not been the deciding factor in the mater, said Gallois, as the choice had been made on "the qualities of the plane."
Boeing expressed its strong disappointment and said it would ask the air force for an explanation.
"Once we have reviewed the details behind the award, we will make a decision concerning our possible options," said Boeing spokesman William Barksdale, hinting at a possible protest.
Boeing and the EADS-Northrop team had been competing for more than a year for the prize, which offers a cushion for decades in case of a downturn in the highly cyclical market for commercial aircraft.
Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at Teal Group Corporation, said the contract was a "major boost" for EADS.
"This is, by far, the biggest US defense contract ever obtained by a continental European company," Aboulafia said.
EADS's winning offer is a modified version of the Airbus 330. The commercial plane will be militarized by Northrop Grumman and its American partners to prevent the transfer of sensitive technology to a foreign entity.
Boeing proposed a version of its long-haul cargo plane, the 767-200.
In May 2003, a similar tanker contract was awarded to Boeing, but it was annuled under allegations of procurement fraud, for which Boeing paid a record 615-million-dollar settlement to the government.
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