The Air Force confirmed that Boeing did lose out on the aerial refueling contract. Read more by clicking here. 

EARLIER STORY:

While the Air Force will officially award its $40 billion aerial refueling tanker contract later this afternoon, it appears that the team of Northrop Grumman and EADS beat out Boeing for the hotly-contested contract.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting the news on its website, citing “a person familiar with the situation.” Defense analyst Loren Thompson, noted for his close ties to the Pentagon, said he’d been told of the Northrop/EADS win as well.

The Northrop/EADS proposal beat Boeing’s on four out of five selection criteria, according to Thompson, mainly because its plane, a converted Airbus A330, could carry more fuel and cargo than Boeing’s proposed 767.

More details to follow.

OUR EARLIER STORY

 The Air Force has scheduled a news conference at 4 p.m. central time today to announce the winner of  its $40 billion aerial refueling tanker contract.

The news will cap a week of waiting for the coveted deal, one of the biggest military plane purchases of the decade. Late Thursday, the Pentagon says, its top arms buyer, John Young, signed a key document awarding the contract to either Boeing or the team of EADS and Northrop Grumman. This afternoon it will brief key lawmakers and the companies before making the award public.

Boeing, Northrop and EADS, along with much of the defense aerospace industry, have been awaiting the decision since Monday, when a key Pentagon committee met to decide the contract. Their decision has been kept under tight wraps while procurement officials dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s on one of the biggest Air Force purchases of the decade.

But as the wait has dragged on, word has trickled out that the Air Force recently changed one of the criteria it’s using to assess the bids, a move defense analysts believe could benefit Boeing. That change could be the basis for a protest of decision if Northrop and EADS lose, Reuters reports.

Check back after 4 central for news on the winner, and read full coverage in Saturday’s Post-Dispatch.