Lines in the Sand

EADS North America on Thursday came out against the Fair Defense Competition Act calling this legislation “the Boeing bill.” EADS officials called it “is one more attempt to avoid competing on the merits of the tanker.” They continued, “Unlike EADS North America, Boeing doesn’t have a tanker that meets requirements. It faces tremendous technical risk in producing one and is therefore determined to take away the warfighter’s right to choose.” Meanwhile, Boeing greeted the Kansas lawmakers’ measure, saying “a heavily subsidized Airbus/EADS” can accept levels of financial risk that a commercial company such as Boeing cannot. To date, Boeing officials said, EADS’ improper subsidies “have not been taken into account in the KC-X tanker competition … even though the US government has proven in a world court that those subsidies are illegal and directly distort competition between Airbus and Boeing.” (See With an Eye on KC-X above)