| Decision to give KC-X Tanker contract to European firm defies logic |
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| Written by George Landrith | |
| Friday, 21 March 2008 | |
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Frontiers of Freedom Institute President, George Landrith, released the following statement: "The Air Force’s decision to award the KC-X tanker contract to the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company instead of Boeing is not simply wrong, it is irrational and inexplicable. It defies logic. "Many defense-oriented groups came out strongly for Boeing’s bid because of its superiority strictly on technical and engineering merits. Other groups came out in support of Boeing with the belief that the federal government shouldn’t use our tax dollars to ship our own jobs to France, Russia, the UK and Spain. But as crucial – and decisive – as those considerations should be, the larger point from the perspective of most Americans is that the Air Force should not, under any circumstances, allow foreign countries control over the equipment that provides for our national security. "Under this decision, American foreign policy could be held hostage by European governments withholding our critical military parts and equipment. This happened recently when the Swiss refused to supply a critical component to the JDAM missile before the war in Afghanistan. The recent Dubai ports deal was vehemently struck down by US lawmakers opposed to outsourcing US port security to a foreign company. The tanker deal is no different. "For generations, the American workforce and our ingenuity and innovation have supported the technology and the machines our soldiers rely upon in our most critical times of need. Boeing has produced tankers for the US military for over 70 years. EADS and its partnering organizations have never built a tanker with a refueling boom. In essence, the Air Force has demanded US taxpayers foot the bill for a more expensive, less efficient and yet-to-be-tested tanker that outsources our critical national security control to the EU." Comments (0)
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