Company Snapshot:
Until recently, the European Aerospace, Defense and Space Company (EADS) was known mainly as the parent of the multinational aircraft company Airbus. When the U.S. Air Force announced in February 2008 that it would give a massive contract for new refueling tanker planes to a joint venture of Northrop Grumman and EADS, the European connection helped spark an uproar over the award, which many thought should have gone to the incumbent supplier, Boeing, which has made perennial complaints about the subsidies given to EADS and Airbus by European governments.
