US Senate's Levin wants new tanker competition

WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force should launch a fresh competition for the disputed contract for a new aerial refueling tanker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said on Wednesday.

"We now need not only a new full, fair and open competition in compliance with the (Government Accountability Office) recommendations, but also a thorough review of -- and accountability for -- the process that produced such a flawed result," Michigan Democrat Carl Levin said in a statement.

The GAO earlier in the day sustained a protest by Boeing Co (BA.N), which lost the $35 billion tanker competition in February to a team led by Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N).

The GAO found that the Air Force made a "number of errors" that could have affected the outcome of the competition. It was not immediately clear how the Air Force would respond to the GAO. (Reporting by Richard Cowan and John Crawley; Editing by Brian Moss)