Tanker Country

Mobile, AL -- Visitors to this city could get the impression workers here are already close to cranking out copies of the Air Force's new aerial refueling tanker. Driving westward on Interstate 10, near the Duval Street exit, motorists see a Northrop Grumman billboard with the message, "Welcome to Mobile, future home of the KC-45."

Of course, no decision has been made as to which company will get the multibillion-dollar contract.

Whatever the billboard is supposed to project, it reflects a sort of regional tension over the tanker saga that is not normally felt in Washington. (There is also a certain irony about the advertisement, given that Northrop has threatened to drop out of the competition.)

The local newspaper has reported at length about the skirmishes on Capitol Hill between lawmakers backing either Boeing's or Northrop Grumman's bid. Shortly before Christmas, the Mobile Press-Register ran an editorial proclaiming a "new civil war" over aircraft production pitting the Pacific Northwest against a "rising challenger in the Southeast."

There should be much more for Mobilians to discuss once Pentagon officials unveil the final request for proposals for the tanker in the coming weeks. There may even be new billboards.