Kansas senator to fight funding for Northrop deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, a Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, on Tuesday vowed to fight funding for a $35 billion aerial refueling tanker deal awarded to Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) and its European partner EADS (EAD.PA), the parent of Airbus.

Brownback and some other senators have expressed outrage that the contract went to a team including EADS, instead of Boeing Co (BA.N), raising concerns about the loss of U.S. jobs. Boeing would have built its 767 tanker in Washington state and modified it for military use in Kansas.

"I don't think it's smart. I think it's the wrong thing to do. I'm going to fight against this in appropriations," Brownback said, referring to his role as a member of the powerful Senate panel which controls funding for the Pentagon and other federal agencies.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa, editing by Dave Zimmerman)