WASHINGTON — The tangled tale of buying a new refueling tanker for the Air Force took another twist this week. European aircraft builder EADS said that it intends to re-enter a model of its Airbus in the competition. U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts said that Airbus’ rival Boeing can build a better plane. But Roberts said he wants the Pentagon to run a fair competition and not tilt the rules towards Airbus. Wichita-area Cong. Todd Tiahrt saids he’s alarmed that the Pentagon plans to make those changes in the rules that would benefit Airbus. Kansas lawmakers are especially sensitive to the turns in the tanker saga because if Boeing gets the contract for the tanker, much of the work would be done at Wichita, creating thousands of jobs. Over the last eight years, the tanker contract has been awarded to Boeing and to EADS at various times. Both companies have resorted to heavy-duty political arm-twisting and at one point Boeing officials were caught bribing Air Force officials.
Wednesday, April 21, 4 p.m.
