Pentagon extends tanker competition deadline

The Pentagon Wednesday announced it would extend the deadline for responses to a request for proposals for the Air Force's aerial refueling tanker by 60 days to July 9 to give European consortium EADS time to put together a bid for the lucrative contract.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said EADS still must formally notify defense officials whether they plan to compete for the contract, worth as much as $40 billion.

Morrell, who said the Defense Department spoke Wednesday with officials at EADS and rival Boeing Co. about the change in the deadline, called the 60-day extension "reasonable."

EADS had been partnered with Northrop Grumman Corp. on the program, but Northrop officials dropped out of the competition earlier this month after deciding that the request for proposals unfairly favored the smaller Boeing 767 over their Airbus A330 offering.

EADS officials have said they needed more time to prepare a solo bid and had requested an additional 90 days beyond the original May 10 deadline.