L’USAF rouvre le marché sur les ravitailleurs en vol, — et, sans doute, la polémique…

L’USAF a rouvert le 25 septembre le marché sur ses nouveaux ravitailleurs en vol. Cette décision intervient après un hiatus de près de deux ans, après de très nombreuses péripéties ayant abouti à l’annulation d’une première “non-compétition” (Boeing était le seul contractant sollicité). Ce marché considérable (au moins $20 milliards) envisage pour la première fois une “compétition” mais dans des conditions bien spécifiques.

Ci-dessous, un rapport de nos sources internes sur cette décision de l’USAF. On y voit que EADS (qui fait équipe avec Northrop Grumman) est mis sous très forte “surveillance”. On y voit également que toutes les conditions existent pour que ce deuxième round de l’épopée des nouveaux ravitailleurs de l’USAF devienne une nouvelle polémique de grandes dimensions.

«U.S. Air Force opens bids on air tankers but warns EADS

»Companies hoping to build a new generation of refueling tankers must show how they could overcome difficulties that might arise from a pending international trade dispute, the Air Force said Monday. Restarting a competition for a lucrative contract to build at least 100 planes, the Air Force said “treaty compliance” is among criteria that interested companies must meet. The language is a reference to a dispute before the WTO that involves Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS. The United States has complained that Airbus receives subsidies from European governments. Airbus in turn has argued Boeing also receives government support through generous government defense contracts.

»Boeing and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., Airbus' majority owner, are the leading contenders for the tanker contract, potentially worth more than $20 billion (€15.7 billion). EADS has teamed with the American Northrop Grumman Corp. on its bid and plans to build the KC-330 plane in Alabama if it should win the work. Any Boeing planes would be built in Washington state. A contract for the project could be awarded as early as next year. The tanker program has been on hold for more than two years, after Boeing lost the contract during an ethics scandal.

»In recent days, Alabama lawmakers have objected to inclusion of language referring to the WTO trade dispute in the proposed bidding criteria. They say such restrictions would be unfair to the EADS-Northrop team. “It looks to me that if it's included, it will tilt, or try to tilt, the playing field toward Boeing,” Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama said last week after a meeting with Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England. The Pentagon “must necessarily account for the advantage that these illegal subsidies have given the company, especially because they have come at the cost of U.S. jobs,” said Democratic Rep. Norm Dicks of Washington state, whose district includes thousands of Boeing workers. But EADS backers, pointing to state and federal support for Boeing, say the military should not get involved in a complex trade dispute and should focus specifically on the tanker contract. Another Republican senator, John McCain, a leading critic of the tanker deal, also has raised questions about the WTO clause in the contract, which he says could reduce competition. Northrop Grumman, which has teamed with EADS for the tanker projects, said in a statement it was interested in bidding on the program but only in a “fair and open” competition. “The injection of any issue into this competition that favors one of the bidders over the others is inconsistent with these assurances and does not represent fair and open competition,” said Randy Belote, a Northrop spokesman. Boeing spokesman Bill Barksdale said his company was ready to go with a variety of planes to meet the Air Force's needs.»

Mis en ligne le 27 septembre 2006 à 06H23