Alabama lawmakers supporting the Northrop Grumman-EADS tanker team this week called the draft request for proposals for the Air Force's next-generation aerial refueler "tilted toward Boeing" and severely flawed.rn"It's not a level playing field. I believe it's a sham and this is not the way to procure anything out of the Pentagon," Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) said during an Oct. 27 briefing with the majority of Alabama's congressional delegation at his side.rnShelby and the other lawmakers' comments come as the Pentagon is reviewing questions from rivals Northrop Grumman and Boeing about the request for proposals.rnNorthrop Grumman and EADS have promised to build an aircraft production facility in Mobile, AL, if selected by the Pentagon. The lawmakers in the region stand to reap huge political gains with constituents since the facility would create thousands of jobs.rn"This new draft RFP puts the same emphasis in terms of priority on the amount of water that is in the toilet of the airplane as the amount of fuel that can be offloaded to our fighter jets," Rep. Jo Bonner (R) said during the same briefing. "That's not a fair way to measure something as important as this."
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