But Shelby said he would keep a close eye on the process tosee that Gates carried out his assurances made during

But Shelby said he would keep a close eye on the process tosee that Gates carried out his assurances made during a 30-minutemeeting with Shelby and his fellow Alabama senator, Jeff Sessions,on Thursday. Shelby met with Carter on Monday, who he said told him that hewanted to buy the best value tanker and cost would not be the onlycriteria in the revamped competition. "Simply awarding a contract to the lowest bidder, with littleor no weight given to the capabilities of the aircraft, is not inthe best interest of the warfighter or the taxpayer," Shelby saidin his statement on Thursday. Shelby and Sessions had worried that a new competition for anaerial refueling tanker could result in a price "shoot out" thatwould work against the larger A330-based plane proposed byNorthrop. The current Pentagon arms chief, Young, had said that aprice-based competition was a proposal weighed at one point.

Northrop and its European partner EADS (EAD.PA) won a $35billion tanker contract in February 2008, and planned to buildtheir plane in Alabama, but Gates canceled the deal aftergovernment auditors upheld a protest by losing bidder Boeing. Northrop officials have said an Air Force debriefing given toBoeing after the contract award may have included pricing datathat could give it an advantage in the new competition. It was not immediately clear if Gates spelled out what othercriteria would be used in the competition. Northrop wants to ensure that the new competition includes amechanism to weigh the greater capability offered by its largertanker versus that of the smaller 767-based airplane from Boeing.

Gates told reporters last week the Pentagon would letlawmakers review the new criteria for the tanker competition andget their input before proceeding with any contract award. The Senate Armed Services Committee approved Carter'snomination earlier this month, but it could not be voted on by thefull Senate given the holds placed by Shelby and Sessions. The Pentagon plans to launch a new tanker competition thissummer, and hopes to award a contract next year. It will be the Air Force's third bid to replace its agingfleet of KC-135 refueling planes. The Air Force's first plan tolease and buy 100 Boeing 767s died in 2004 amid a majorprocurement scandal.