Boeing decides not to protest U.S. Navy contract

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it had decided not to protest a multibillion-dollar contract for an unmanned U.S. Navy patrol plane awarded to Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) last month.

Northrop beat out Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), to win a contract for the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance plane, a deal valued at $3.74 billion in the longer term. Lockheed filed a protest against the decision on Monday.

"Boeing has elected not to protest the BAMS decision but will watch with interest the GAO proceedings," spokesman Charles Ramey said in a statement. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa, editing by Richard Chang)