The U.S. Air Force's award of a $35 billion contract to build refueling tankers will bring about 100 jobs to North Carolina.

Yesterday's contract award to defense contractor Boeing caps a years-long drama during which contracts were awarded, appealed and rescinded, while several executives received prison terms for criminal fraud.

Chicago-based Boeing plans to build the planes in Washington state and retrofit them for military use in Kansas. Boeing's tanker is a military adaptation of Boeing's 767 commercial airplane.

But various assemblies would be built by subcontractors in Greensboro, Wilson, Shelby and Monroe. North Carolina's contribution to the Boeing tanker will include gearboxes, transmissions, braking mechanisms, fire suppressors and hydraulic fluid filtration assemblies.

Northrop Grumman, which lobbied North Carolina lawmakers to support its bid for a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract, announced today that it won't compete for the business.

The company decided it didn't think it could win the contract to build refueling tankers because the Pentagon's guidelines for the program “clearly favors Boeing's smaller refueling tanker,” Northrop CEO Wes Bush said in a statement.

Northrop officials launched a lobbying blitz in this state last month, meeting with lawmakers and running ads that claimed the company and its suppliers would create hundreds of jobs if it won the contract.

Its decision to back out makes rival Boeing the likely winner for the contract, which is scheduled to be awarded in September.

Gov. Beverly Perdue said this morning that she was not surprised that the N.C. Global TransPark in Kinston missed out as a site for a production facility for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

"North Carolina has not been on the short list for this facility for several months," Perdue said during a telephone news conference from China, where she is on a trade mission. It was one of the first times an N.C. official has acknowledged that Boeing was considering a site here.

But Perdue said there still are ongoing talks with Boeing about the company building other facilities in this state, Rob Christensen reports. She said plans to meet with Boeing officials within the next two weeks.

"It ain't over til it's over," she said.

On Wednesday, Boeing CEO Jim McNerney announced that the company had narrowed its choices for a second Dreamliner assembly line to Everett, Wash., and Charleston, S.C. A decision is expected within weeks.

It was the second time this decade that Boeing has passed over the Kinston business park for an assembly factory. But state officials have made clear they're committed to attracting additional aviation and aerospace companies to the park.

Boeing has blown off North Carolina, again. South Carolina still has a chance.

CEO Jim McNerney told Wall Street analysts on an earnings conference call today that the company has narrowed its choices for a second 787 Dreamliner assembly plant to Charleston, S.C., and Everett, Wash. He expects to announce a decision in the next couple of weeks.

The N.C. Global TransPark in Kinston was cited as a competitor for the new plant in a report that Washington state officials used to lobby Boeing.

The Kinston park, about 90 miles southeast of Raleigh, also was in the running for a Boeing assembly plant earlier this decade, but lost to Washington.

It's not clear whether North Carolina was a legitimate contender this time, since state and local officials have kept quiet about any efforts to lure Boeing here, despite vocal lobbying in Washington state. But Gov. Bev Perdue and others repeatedly have said they want to expand this state's aerospace and aviation industries and attract new jobs.

Also today, Boeing reported a $1.56 billion third-quarter loss, one of the biggest in its history. The loss was partly because of delays in the 787 Dreamliner program.

Washington officials are bringing in some big business guns in their efforts to convince Boeing to build a new assembly plant in that state.

On Tuesday, the day that N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue visited Kinston's Global TransPark, more than two dozen executives from Costco, Alaska Airlines and other large employers in Washington released a letter to Jim Albaugh. In the letter, they practically begged the head of Boeing's commercial aircraft unit not to abandon their state.

"We pledge our support to you and your entire company in working to ensure Washington remains the single best place for you to design, build and market commercial airplanes," they wrote.

Meanwhile, officials in North Carolina, which is reported to be a competitor for a new Boeing factory, remain mum. Unlike their vocal counterparts in Washington, Tar Heel leaders, economic development officials and others still won't even confirm that they are actively wooing Boeing.

Washington's governor is increasing public efforts to woo Boeing and lure a new manufacturing line for the company's long-delayed 787 jetliner, the Associated Press reported.

In a report released today, Gov. Chris Gregoire laid out his case for building the 787 in Washington. The report includes a comparison of tax burdens in Washington and five other states seen as competitors: North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas, Texas and California.

Officials with North Carolina's Department of Commerce have not publicly confirmed they are trying to attract Boeing, but winning such a plum economic development prize would be a major coup. A project that size would likely involve a large package of state and local tax breaks and other financial incentives.