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Europeans jubilant as EADS wins US military order

Business Materials 1 March 2008 21:27 (UTC +04:00)

( dpa )- Europeans were jubilant Saturday at the success of European aerospace group EADS and its North American partner Northrop Grumman in winning a big US aircraft order.

The US Air Force on Friday awarded them a 35-billion-deal to revamp its ageing air refuelling tanker fleet.

The deal will see Northrop Grumman replace 179 of the Air Force's tanker aircraft, and could potentially lead to a deal to replace all of the force's 600 tankers at a value of up to 100 billion dollars.

In a statement released by her office, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called choice "a huge success for Airbus and the European aerospace industry" that proved Airbus was technologically competitive.

She said it was also a sign of defence cooperation with the United States.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the sale an "historic success."

The tankers, based on the EADS' Airbus A330 airliner, will be be built in Mobile, Alabama. The award was a blow to Boeing, which has long had an edge over its competitors in procuring US military contracts.

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