Dominic Gates reports:

Louis Gallois, chief executive of Airbus parent EADS, said Saturday in London that his company should win the tanker competition on the technical merits.

But he also spoke of the possibility of losing because of the intense political lobbying by Boeing and its Congressional allies.

He played down the consequences if that happens, saying that a loss of the $40 billion contract won't end EADS's ambition to become a major player in the U.S. defense market.

"Boeing is aggressive because they are nervous," he said. "If we lose, ... [here, speaking on the fringes of a day-long pre Farnborough Air Show press seminar, he gave a long exaggerated shrug of his shoulders and pouted his lips in a Gallic gesture indicating little consequence]. So? Breaking into the American market is difficult. Congress is against us.
If we lose, we will continue with other programs."

He said if EADS wins and gets the go-ahead to assembly A330 jets in Mobile, Ala., it will make the European defense giant "a U.S. citizen for manufacturing airplanes."

"It's a big deal," he said. "But it's only 15 to 18 planes a year. I remind you we are delivering around 500."

"Tanker is a very strategic move for us. But we can live without it," he said. "We have to be prepared to live without it."

Win or lose, Gallois said, EADS will continue to pursue its target of penetrating the U.S. market in a major way.

"We have to be in the U.S.," he said. "It's the biggest market in the world."

Boeing indeed would suffer a heavy blow if it didn't win the tanker contest, losing a line of business with the Air Force that it has owned for decades.

The 767 line in Everett would soon close down and the Navy's 737-based anti-submarine jet would be Boeing's sole high-production, next-generation military airplane in the pipeline.

In contrast, for EADS a tanker loss would be a setback to growth plans rather than a loss of existing work.

The company aims to grow its U.S. revenue from $1.2 billion today to $10 billion by the end of the decade. That seems doable with the tanker, but unlikely without it.

(Louis Gallois talks about "Boeing propaganda" on the tanker competition. Video by Dominic Gates)