US Air Force chief calls for European competition

James Roche, the US Air Force secretary, has called for European defence contractors to get more access to Pentagon contracts to stimulate stiffer competition in the US domestic aerospace industry. His comments come in the middle of a scandal in which air force officials have been accused of giving Boeing, the US aerospace group, an unfair advantage over European rival EADs in a leasing deal for a hundred 767 refuelling tankers.