The US Defence Department is to launch an investigation into whether Boeing got improper support from its officials to beat European rival Airbus in a multi-billion dollar contract battle, a US senator has said. The Pentagon's decision was announced by Republican senator John McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who has been pushing for an inquiry into the deal.
The Pentagon's inspector general Joseph Schmitz reportedly told a Congressional Committee on Wednesday that "sufficient credible information exists to warrant the initiation of an investigation".
The allegations - which Boeing reject - stem from a contract, worth at least $22bn (�13.6bn), to provide the US military with refuelling tankers.
Fierce rivals
The US Air Force decided in December 2001 to lease 100 Boeing 767 planes and convert them to refuelling tankers before eventually buying them outright.
Boeing has rejected claims that it was fed unfair information about Airbus' pricing by Pentagon officials.
"Boeing has said all along that we believe we received no proprietary information from any individual at any time at any time on any subject throughout the entire tanker lease process," company spokesman Doug Kennett said.
The deal was criticised at the time as expensive, with some US lawmakers arguing that the Pentagon needed to lease only a quarter of the planes.
The decision to go ahead with a formal inquiry is thought be based on e-mails found during an initial investigation.
Mr McCain made his name as an anti-corruption campaigner when he ran from the Republican nomination in the 2000 US presidential election.
Boeing and Airbus are rivals in a market which has got much tighter since the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Centre precipitated a downturn in civilian air travel.
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