(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-12 14:00

CHICAGO -- The Boeing Company on Tuesday submitted a formal protest to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) against a US$35-billion Air Force tanker contract it lost, citing unfair competition and flawed evaluation of bids.

A man looks at a scale model of a Boeing airplane at their booth at the Singapore Air Show in Singapore February 19, 2008. Boeing on Tuesday submitted a formal protest to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) against a 35-billion-dollar Air Force tanker contract it lost, citing unfair competition and flawed evaluation of bids. [Agencies]

The contract to build 179 aerial refueling tankers was the first of three major Air Force contracts to replace its entire fleet of nearly 600 tankers over the next 30 years. It was awarded on February 29 to a team of Northrop Grumman and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS).

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"Our analysis of the data presented by the Air Force shows that this competition was seriously flawed and resulted in the selection of the wrong airplane for the warfighter," said Mark McGraw, vice president and program manager of Boeing Tanker Programs.

"We have fundamental concerns with the Air Force's evaluation, and we are exercising our right under the process for a GAO review of the decision to ensure that the process by which America's next refueling tanker is selected is fair and results in the best choice for the U.S. warfighters and taxpayers," he added.

The Air Force's selection of EADS, parent of Boeing's arch-rival Airbus, and Northrop Grumman came as a major surprise, as Boeing has been supplying refueling tankers to the Air Force for nearly 50 years.