Nato members have tentatively chosen a supplier for surveillance planes and drones in a deal seen worth up to four billion euros ($4.93 billion) and a final decision is pending, a spokesman said on Thursday.
Europe's EADS and US rival Raytheon lead two consortia bidding on the rare joint purchase of major equipment by the 26-member Nato.
Committees representing member states have chosen one and have asked members to approve it, a Nato spokesman said by telephone from Brussels.
"It's gone to nations, principally to national armament directors, for final approval," he said.
A silent period during which members may formally contest the decision is set to end "in the next few days", he said.
A Financial Times report on Thursday citing industry and alliance officials said the EADS consortium's bid was being promoted.
Yet officials at EADS and Raytheon told Reuters there had been no formal notification from Nato.
"There is no decision yet," an EADS spokesman said. "We made a good offer. We are optimistic."
A spokeswoman for Raytheon said the decision process was moving quickly, noting rough outlines of each bid were only submitted in January.
"We just want to shine a spotlight on the process," she said, noting Raytheon believes its offer could save Nato more than one billion euros.
Industry sources said the EADS bid was worth about four billion euros and that they expect a deal in May.
Nato hopes to deploy the planes, drones and related ground stations in 2010.
The Nato spokesman said though the silent period was expected to end soon, a decision could still be delayed if member countries ask for further information.
The Raytheon bid offers a surveillance system, which Britain has opted for which uses Bombardier's Global Express business jet as a platform. The EADS bid would use Airbus A321 planes.
A radar jointly developed by a group including Raytheon and Northrop Grumman, which is on the EADS team, will be used on whichever plane is chosen.
Also teamed with EADS are General Dynamics Canada, French defence firm Thales, Indra of Spain and Italy's Galileo Avionica.
Raytheon is teamed with Britain's BAE Systems.
Nato rarely buys major defence platforms jointly but the important role which US ground surveillance equipment played in the first Gulf War prompted calls for a joint Nato system.
Members usually buy their own fighter jets, warships and other major platforms.
Comments
Comments are closed.