Washington: The US Congress watchdog agency today backed Boeing's protest over a huge aerial refueling tanker contract awarded to Northrop Grumman, and recommended the Air Force review the deal.

The decision could wrest the 35-billion-dollar contract from Northrop Grumman and its European partner EADS in a battle fraught with protectionist overtones.

"Our review of the record led us to conclude that the Air Force had made a number of significant errors that could have affected the outcome of what was a close competition between Boeing and Northrop Grumman," the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog arm of Congress, said in a statement.

The recommendations of the powerful congressional investigative arm, although non-binding, are usually heeded.

"We welcome and support today s ruling by the GAO fully supporting the grounds of our protest," Mark McGraw, vice president of Boeing Tanker Programs, said in a statement.

"We appreciate the professionalism and diligence the GAO showed in its review of the KC-X acquisition process. We look forward to working with the Air Force on next steps in this critical procurement for our warfighters."

Northrop Grumman insisted it had offered the military the best tanker, but said it would review the GAO findings before commenting further.

"We respect the GAO s work in analyzing the Air Force s tanker acquisition process. We continue to believe that Northrop Grumman offered the most modern and capable tanker for our men and women in uniform," said Randy Belote, a Northrop vice president.

The Air Force said it would respond to the report later.

Boeing lost the contract to make 179 air force tankers in February to Northrop Grumman and its partner, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), parent of Boeing's arch rival Airbus.

Source : PTI