US spurns Northrop complaint in tanker battle

WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department, Air Force and Boeing Co (BA.N) brushed off a Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) complaint that Northrop had been fundamentally disadvantaged in a renewed battle to sell the Air Force a potential $50 billion mid-air refueling fleet.

The department and the Air Force jointly reiterated their view that Northrop's tanker-related pricing information given to Boeing after a canceled award last year created no competitive disadvantage "because the data in question are inaccurate, outdated and not germane to this source-selection strategy." (Reporting by Jim Wolf; editing by Gerald E. McCormick)