U.S. lawmakers urge tanker contract for Boeing now

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some members of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday called on Defense Secretary Robert Gates to immediately award a controversial $35 billion (17.8 billion pounds) Air Force tanker refuelling contract to Boeing (BA.N).

"I think the Air Force could accept the Boeing proposal at this time," said Sen. Sam Brownback, Kansas Republican. Noting the firings of two top Air Force officials earlier this month, Brownback and other lawmakers said Gates is now in charge of overseeing the contract to build new aerial tankers.

Brownback called for the action after the Government Accountability Office urged the Air Force to reconsider its February 29 award of the contract to Northrop Grumman (NOC.N) and European partner EADS (EAD.PA), the parent of Airbus.

The Air Force has 60 days to respond to the GAO recommendation.

Lawmakers from Washington state and Kansas, where Boeing has large plants employing thousands of workers, said the GAO decision confirmed their view that Boeing should have won the contract.

Los Angeles-based Northrop, meanwhile, has been championed by lawmakers from Alabama, where the company planned to modify Airbus A330s into the KC-45 tanker for the Air Force. Northrop had argued that its tanker plan would create about 48,000 U.S. jobs, 4,000 more than Boeing backers say will be supported by Boeing's plan.

Congressional supporters of Northrop said they were disappointed by the GAO decision.

"I am confident the merits of the Northrop Grumman/EADS tanker will be acknowledged," said Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama. "It is important to note that this was a decision based on errors in process, not on the relative merits of the aircraft."