EADS will not protest Air Force tanker contract

EADS North America will not protest the Air Force’s decision to award a multi-billion dollar aerial refueling tanker contract to rival airplane maker Boei...

EADS North America will not protest the Air Force’s decision to award a multi-billion dollar aerial refueling tanker contract to rival airplane maker Boeing, officials with the European vendor said Friday.

EADS officials said the interests of their shareholders and of taxpayers would not be served by a protest, because the Air Force’s award was driven solely by price in a process that company CEO Sean O’Keefe said was “extremely professional.”

The Feb. 24 award announcement came after years of efforts to award the contract, thwarted by Pentagon bungling and the criminal conviction of a top Defense Department official.

The Air Force reopened bidding last year, only to be embarrassed as it mistakenly gave Boeing and EADS sensitive information that contained each other’s confidential bids. The mail mix-up did not affect the selection of the contract winner.

WFED’s Jared Serbu and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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