"a clerical error"   :))

Oops: Air Force sends tanker bid details to rivals

WASHINGTON — The Air Force mistakenly gave rival companies sensitive information that contained each other's confidential bids in a long-standing, multibillion dollar competition to build a new refueling tanker.

Chicago-based Boeing Co., and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), parent of Airbus, are in an intense competition for a $35 billion contract to build 179 new Air Force tankers based either on the Boeing 767 jetliner or the Airbus A330.

Boeing received detailed proprietary information about the EADS bid; corresponding information was given to EADS North America concerning the Boeing bid.

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Quote"It was a clerical error and involved a limited amount of source selection information," Air Force spokesman Col. Les Kodlick said late Friday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. Kodlick declined to be more specific about what data had been transmitted.

In other words,  "We really screwed up!"

I have my suspicions that this was no accident.
First of all, screw Europe! This is the American Military, we buy American made, if for no other reason, during times of conflict, we have the parts on hand, not waiting for a dispute to be settled with the Unions.

Quote from: Solar on November 21, 2010, 07:11:03 AM
I have my suspicions that this was no accident.
First of all, screw Europe! This is the American Military, we buy American made, if for no other reason, during times of conflict, we have the parts on hand, not waiting for a dispute to be settled with the Unions.

I was thinking the same thing. If it turns out Airbus had a Highly lower bid Then I think it was done on purpose to give Boeing A second chance to bid lower

Quote from: REDWHITEBLUE2 on November 21, 2010, 09:37:36 AM
I was thinking the same thing. If it turns out Airbus had a Highly lower bid Then I think it was done on purpose to give Boeing A second chance to bid lower

It was beyond me why we would even consider letting a company bid on Military hardware in the first place.
I know it has been done for years during peace time, but times, they are a changing.

Quote from: Solar on November 21, 2010, 09:45:28 AM
It was beyond me why we would even consider letting a company bid on Military hardware in the first place.
I know it has been done for years during peace time, but times, they are a changing.

IMHO it was done to keep Boeing From really bending the air force over.with the over paid Unions trying to Extort more and more money out of Boeing. it's time union's find out you're lucky you have jobs but theres other people out there that would be more then willing to do the job for less

Quote from: REDWHITEBLUE2 on November 21, 2010, 09:56:41 AM
IMHO it was done to keep Boeing From really bending the air force over.with the over paid Unions trying to Extort more and more money out of Boeing. it's time union's find out you're lucky you have jobs but theres other people out there that would be more then willing to do the job for less

Makes sense, let all manufacturers bid, then cut it all off at the knees.
We'll never know the truth, but I'm with you, Boeing could replace many of it's work force and bust the Union, but  like all big Unions, they have their fingers deep in everything.

Kind of like UPS, there's is a symbiotic relationship, much like a leach and it's victim,.
Never suck your host dry.

Detroit is the perfect example of how Unions can kill an Industry ::)
They priced themselves right out of a job

Quote from: REDWHITEBLUE2 on November 21, 2010, 10:50:42 AM
Detroit is the perfect example of how Unions can kill an Industry ::)
They priced themselves right out of a job

Bad designs and utter crap for quality control surely didn't help. The UAW ruined Michigan.