Can anyone beat Boeing
Boeing's across-the-pond-archrival suffered a significant setback last month when best buddy Northrop Grumman
But with $50 billion at stake, EADS isn't ready to leave the dance just yet. The Pentagon has promised to extend its deadline for bids submission by 60 days if EADS wants to give it another go, and according to Reuters, the Euro-plane-maker is going to try and do just that. EADS will probably try to "get the band back together," tapping the initial, Northrop-led subcontracting team of General Electric
But with the U.S. still struggling to overcome a jobless recovery, just subcontracting from the local talent pool won't be enough. EADS needs a figurehead. A red-white-and-blue-colored fig leaf. A company it can hide behind, characterizing its KC-X bid as actually being led by a U.S. company ... with just a bit of foreign help. (How much? Um, about 87% of the plane's content.)
Any volunteers?
Although its putative partners are keeping mostly mum, Reuters reports EADS has asked each of BAE Systems, Raytheon
"Come heavy ... or not at all"
Personally, though, I've got a better candidate. If EADS is serious about winning this competition -- and not just wasting shareholders' money on a frivolous, fruitless exercise in vanity -- there's really only one company deserving a place on its short list: Lockheed Martin
Because when it comes to beating Boeing on plane contracts, there's really no one better than Lockheed. It plucked the F-22 Raptor, and its victory on the F-35 Lightning left Boeing thunderstruck. If EADS is really "in it to win it" this time, it's gotta go Lockheed ... or bust.