Boeing's rivals urge US alter tanker-purchase plan Fri Jun 9, 2006 4:38pm ET Email This Article | Print This Article | Reprints [-] Text [+] By Jim Wolf WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - A transatlantic team made up of Northrop Grumman and EADS urged the Pentagon Friday to drop a requirement that might favor Boeing's rival drive to sell aerial-refueling tankers to the U.S. Air Force. Under the plan, all competitors for the potential $20 billion-plus contract would have to spell out any government subsidies they receive as well as their possible impact on the lifetime cost of the new aircraft. The competition will pit Chicago-based Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) against the team of Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), the majority owner of Airbus and Europe's largest defense contractor. Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the Pentagon's biggest supplier, said Friday it had decided not to bid for the project as a deadline expired for a show of interest. Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed "didn't feel we had the right offering for the tanker opportunity," said Thomas Jurkowsky, a company spokesman. The Northrop Grumman-led team, in a statement, said that a long dispute between Boeing and Airbus over alleged unfair subsidies should not enter into the contest. "We feel that it is a government-to-government matter that should be excluded from the tanker competition," said Randy Belote, a spokesman for Northrop, which would be prime contractor for the team proposing a modified Airbus 330. The United States filed a World Trade Organization case in 2004 challenging repayable French, German, British and Spanish government loans or "launch aid" to Airbus. Continued... Roger & Amanda La France