Congress may split tanker award despite Gates' 'NO'

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are puzzled by a Pentagon estimate that it would cost $7 billion extra to split a potential $35 billion refueling plane contract between two bidders, and say they may still move forward on such a plan despite Defense Secretary Robert Gates' vehement opposition.

"I think the question should remain open. I have no doubt that we'll take it up when we get back and start putting together the defense bill, and the attendant appropriations," said Representative Neil Abercrombie, who heads the House Armed Services Committee's subcommittee for air and land weapons.

Last month, Abercrombie joined Representative John Murtha, the powerful head of the House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee, in backing a plan that would guarantee both Boeing Co (BA.N) and the rival team of Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) and Europe's EADS (EAD.PA) part of the order.

Murtha and others argue that awarding the contract to just one of the two bidders, in what would be the Air Force's third attempt in eight years to start replacing its aging KC-135 tankers, would likely spark a protest from the losing bidder.

That would further delay replacing the nearly 50-year-old tankers, which provide fuel for fighters and other U.S. aircraft when they travel long distances, they say.

If the Air Force bought 12 to 15 tankers each year as planned, it would take decades to replace the current fleet of over 500 KC-135 tankers, and some would be nearly 90 years old by the time they stopped flying.

Murtha had no immediate comment on Gates' recent comments on the tanker or his estimate of the expected development costs, but Murtha's spokesman Matthew Mazonkey said the congressman would continue to work closely with the Pentagon.

"We'll continue to work with the Defense Department on a plan that breaks the current stalemate and gets tankers to our service members faster," Mazonkey told Reuters in an email.