Representative Norm Dicks (D-Wash), a member of the House of Representatives Defense Appropriations subcommittee and a staunch Boeing defender, called for the Pentagon to charge an additional $5 million per aircraft to EADS/Northrop Grumman's KC-X tanker bid. This is in response to a well-publicized claim by Boeing lawyers (and is now an open case with the World Trade Organization) that EADS has received about $5 billion in so-called "launch aid" to help develop their A-330 line of aircraft, which would be the platform for the EADS/NG tanker. The $5 million duty would help neutralize the advantages gained from that launch aid. Currently the Air Force's Draft Request for Proposal for the KC-X program contains no provision regarding the current WTO rulings, and the DOD's position remains clear that the subsidies dispute between the two aircraft makers has no place in the procurement of U.S. defense systems.
News Link
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment