Print edition: 
More than a decade since the process began, great strides have been made recently in the Air Force refueling tanker acquisition process. If all parties act in good faith and resist foreign lobbying, Kansas workers will be in a great position to build the next aerial-refueling tanker — an American-built aerial-refueling tanker that will best meet the needs of our service members.
The decision by Northrop Grumman/European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. not to bid in the competition — because its refueling tanker cannot meet Air Force requirements — comes as great news to Kansas workers and American taxpayers. This puts the Boeing KC-767 on deck to become the Air Force's next aerial-refueling tanker — something a little Kansas common sense could have determined long ago.
Even if the international competition persists, we believe the American-built refueling tanker will prevail based on the merits. Boeing's KC-767 is simply the most reliable and survivable refueling tanker. America's ability to project power around the world hinges on the aerial-refueling tanker fleet. In the world we live in today, our service members should not be forced to rely on decades-old technology and equipment to carry out the will of the nation.
What a Boeing tanker means for our state is thousands of high-quality jobs for Kansas workers. In fact, a study just released shows that the KC-767 refueling tanker will create between 62,000 and 70,000 new U.S. jobs over the life of the contract. Kansas engineers and machinists will play an integral role in the tanker's production, which will inject a significant level of economic activity into our state's struggling economy.
The skilled labor force in Kansas is second to none, and we are proud of the men and women at Boeing and its many suppliers for their hard work that has earned them this reputation. We look forward to the day when the KC-767 leaves the Boeing production line and is made ready for our warfighters at McConnell Air Force Base, Forbes Field and other locations around the world.
Although the contract has not been signed, we believe we are on the path to victory for Kansas workers and our troops. We will continue to be engaged with the process as it moves forward and will urge the Department of Defense to act swiftly.
There should be no more costly delays in awarding the tanker contract to Boeing Co., so we can get thousands of Kansas workers back on the job — and, most important, so that our warfighters can begin to rely on a modern aircraft with the latest technology and safety features.— Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard
The real loser in the aerial-refueling tanker contest isn't Mobile, Ala., or Northrop Grumman, or even the taxpayer. It's the men and women of the Air Force who may be stuck with a Boeing tanker. The aerial-refueling tanker the Air Force is likely to get is not the one it chose two years ago. That was the Airbus model, which would have been assembled by the Northrop/EADS partnership. Boeing's political connections, legal maneuvers, propagandizing and success at portraying the Airbus as a "foreign" tanker have seemingly bullied the Pentagon into first overturning the decision and then tilting the playing field. The result: The men and women of the Air Force will not get the best tanker for their job of national defense, but a smaller, less capable plane that Boeing will no longer be pressed to make cost-efficient.— Mobile (Ala.) Press-Register
Boeing's status as sole bidder means its new rivals are the Pentagon bean counters who will stay up late to ensure the aerospace giant does not abuse its opportunity to a set price. It falls to Boeing to offer a number the Air Force will accept. May the best airplane manufacturer on the planet succeed.— Seattle Times
The decision by the Northrop Grumman Corp. to pull out of the competition for a contract to build aerial-refueling planes for the Air Force is a significant hit for Alabama's economic future. But it also underscores just how broken and politicized the military procurement process has become. The Pentagon's decision last year to rebid the tanker contract marks the third bidding process in nine years for aerial-refueling tankers — and each time the process crashed, the amount of time that the U.S. Air Force had to continue to use its aging tanker fleet stretched even farther into the future.— Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser
Maybe one of these decades the U.S. Air Force will get to replace its Eisenhower-era fleet of aerial-refueling tankers with planes built after their pilots were born. Until then, the Pentagon's so-called highest priority procurement program can stand as a monument to the dysfunctional politics that drive America's military purchases. We have no opinion as to which plane better meets Air Force needs, and it's natural that Boeing and Northrop would use every tool to win this work. The tanker deal could end up resulting in $100 billion in U.S. orders and open a large overseas market. But parochial business interests aren't supposed to drive the security and fiscal decisions entrusted to our elected officials.— Wall Street Journal
The decision by Northrop Grumman and its partner, EADS, to withdraw from a $35 billion contest with Boeing to provide the U.S. Air Force with a new generation of aerial tankers had been well trailed, but it was still a bitter blow to the two defense firms. It was also a bad day both for America's taxpayers and its armed forces.— the Economist
For more than a decade, politics seemed to be driving the tanker program. If Boeing, in fact, does win the contract, domestic politics surely will be the reason. Most of the final assembly of the tanker will go to the Boeing plant in Everett, Wash. But subcontractors are located throughout the United States, and the program will be administered in St. Louis. Northrop/EADS had to know that shipping jobs to France was not going to play in 2010. Boeing got off the floor after 2008 and won this fight on a technical knockout. Its credibility now depends on delivering on time and on budget. It may be the only tanker company left, but it must try not to act like it.— St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Prodded by Defense Secretary Robert Gates' newly frugal Pentagon and the sorry history of this contract, the Air Force will buy these new tankers on a fixed-price basis. That means Boeing — not American taxpayers — will be on the hook for major cost overruns. That change is long overdue. Boeing pledged to deliver a competitive and transparent bid by the mid-May deadline. The winner-by-default will then have to show it can deliver the goods. And only then will we all know if this whole sordid, sorry affair has a satisfying ending. —Chicago Tribune
