"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.