( dpa )- Boeing lodged a formal complaint Tuesday against the US Air Force's awarding of a 35-billion-dollar refueling tanker plane contract to Northrop Grumman and EADS.
Boeing asked Congress' investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), to review the Air Force decision because of irregularities that placed the aerospace giant at a competitive disadvantage.
"Our analysis of the data presented by the Air Force shows that this competition was seriously flawed and resulted in the selection of the wrong airplane for the warfighter," Mark McGraw, Boeing's vice president of tanker programmes, said in a statement.
Northrop Grumman and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company won the contract on February 29 to build the next generation of refuelling planes. Dozens of members of Congress have also protested the decision, partly because it will shift jobs to Europe.
Chicago-based Boeing charged the Air Force made late changes to its requirement to accommodate the larger plane offered by its competitor. Boeing has dominated the military market for tanker planes for decades before losing the contract to replace the ageing KC-135s.
The Air Force decision was celebrated in capitals throughout Europe. Northrop Grumman and EADS will replace 179 Air Force refuellers. The decision could lead to contracts to replace all 600 tankers at a value of 100 billion dollars over a 30-year period.
Northrop Grumman's KC-45A is based on the airframe of the Airbus A330 commercial aircraft. Airbus is an EADS subsidiary.
The Air Force said the Northrop Grumman-EADS offer was a better deal for US taxpayers.