UPDATE 1-Boeing lost air tanker deal decisively-analyst

(Adds Air Force briefing, reaction)

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - Details emerged on Monday about how dramatically Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and its European partner beat Boeing Co (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to win a $35 billion tanker aircraft competition, as furious Boeing supporters called the contract "a multibillion dollar gift to Europe."

"This was not a close outcome in any sense of the term," defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute told Reuters, describing how Boeing failed to beat Northrop in any of the key criteria for the aerial refueling contract.

"Northrop won decisively and completely," said Thompson, who has close ties to the Air Force.

Kenneth Miller, special assistant to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, met with Boeing supporters on Capitol Hill on Monday to explain the decision even as union leaders demanded legislative action to block contract awards to foreign companies that receive anti-competitive subsidies.

"This will go down in history as the moment when the Department of Defense sold the U.S. aerospace industry to the French," Gabriela Lemus, head of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, said in a conference call.

Miller did not provide many details about how the bids compared, but Air Force officials said on Friday the Northrop plane was superior and offered more for the money.

This could make it difficult for Boeing supporters in Congress to argue for a reversal of the Air Force decision, and might give Boeing pause about protesting it.