"Tarver Engineering" wrote:

"Matt Wiser" wrote
in message
news:3fccadf9$1@bg2....

"Tarver Engineering" wrote:

"noname" wrote in message
...
As of last week, Lockheed Martin and
EADS,
majority owner of Airbus,
were assembling a tanker proposal that
would
give Lockheed a 50% offset,
according to the Air Force official. "[Airbus]
clearly will jump on this
as an opportunity to compete not only on
subsequent
buys, but also to
take another whack at the first 100 since
Boeing and the Air Force are
arguing over whether there's supposed to
be
one contract or two.
[Airbus] will come back with a sweetened
deal."



http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/new...id=news/12013w
na.xml

Completing those tankers at Palmdale would
draw
quite a bit of political
support; Boxer needs to save her job.


Yes, but still, the Not Invented Here syndrome
kicks in: The AF (and the
rest of DOD) would prefer to buy a product
marked "Made in USA" unless
there
is no other choice. (B-57 Canberra and AV-8
Harrier are obvious
examples)Even
a proposed Tornado Wild Weasel that would've
been built at Rockwell
International's
Palmdale plant would have run into this problem.

With a 50% offset, it is argueable that the
airplanes are American.


Built in the U.S. is one thing. DESIGNED and BUILT in the U.S. is something
else altogether. Another proposed offset-Lockheed Martin is involved with
a proposed U.S. version of the EH-101 helo as a backup to the V-22 if that
fails; Sikorsky's S-92 would be the front-runner for that prospect, even
if EH-101 met or exceeded refquirements, NIH still is a factor in the final
decision. And that syndrome is very hard to cure.

Posted via www.My-Newsgroups.com - web to news gateway for usenet access!