European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 3, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday september 3. 1986 the stars and stripes of to open bidding for c-17 wings los Angeles not in c is Makina highly unusual move the air Force i making plans to open the bid Ding for inc contract to manufacture inc wings of the c-17 aircraft even though the project s prime contractor tie Mcdonnell Douglas corp., plans to produce the wings itself. Mcdonnell Douglas declined to discuss the value of he Wing con Raci but sources close to the company said it would be Worth More than $2 billion Over inc life of the c-17 program. The air Force will eventually spend about s38 Bil lion for 210 aircraft. We re pursuing a Competition for the Wing Box although we Haven t finalized our plans Yei As to How the Competition will work an air Force spokesman said. We want to do what s Cost effective Tor inc air  the initial s3.4 billion prime contract for development awarded to the Douglas aircraft co. Subsidiary of Mcdonnell Douglas in december is what is known As a make or buy con Raci thai technically gives the company the option of manufacturing the Wing itself or subcontracting it to another company. Industry insiders said it was extremely unusual for a military Agency to consider opening a Competition on a portion of a make or buy contract and said ii was unclear How the air Force could run a bidding process thai would allow Mcdonnell to compete fairly on a project for which it has in essence previously bid. The catalyst for inc proposed Competition is Avo Britain tightens visa standards London a Britain decided monday to re quire visas of visitors from five asian and West Afri can countries who previously were Able to travel to Britain without visas. Prime minister Margaret Thatcher met with cab inet ministers for most of the Day before the new Mea sure was announced. Opposition legislators criticized the move As showing racial prejudice but the govern ment said the standards for admission to Britain would not be changed. The Only new thing the govern men said was thai travellers would have to meet inc standards before they travel to Britain rather than meeting them upon arrival Ai Heathrow Airport or other Points of entry. The measure affects travellers from India. Pakistan Bangladesh Ghana and Nigeria All former British col onies. A similar tightening of visa require meals was imposed in March 19bs on visitors from sri Lanka when a flood of people tried to enter Britain to escape fight ing in heir Indian Ocean Island nation. The government has decided to take action to re Lieve the pressures on the immigration control which have caused unacceptable delays and inconvenience to passengers at Heathrow and other polls a govern ment announcement said. It said More staff members will be sent to British embassies in the five countries 10 handle visa applications that the requirement can be introduced at an Early  the government would require visas immediately it there were a Rush to beat the rules is evidenced by a Sharp increase in the number of passengers from any of these countries who had to be refused admission at the ports it said. The Home office said 17,925 people were refused entry in 1985, a year in which 6.s million people came to Britain As Ordinary visitors or business visitors. Asked to describe the requirement for entering Brit Ain As a visitor a Home office spokesman said that immigration officers have to be satisfied that the per son will leave Al the expiry of his permission and that he can maintain himself without being a Burden on Public  the spokesman who spoke anonymously in Accord Ance with British civil service practice would give no details on the documents an applicant would have to  Secretary Douglas Hurd said the change would Benefit All Bona fide passengers not least those from the Indian subcontinent and West Africa whore at present being delayed upon arrival. But Alan Beith foreign affairs spokesman of the opposition Liberal party said to impose visa re quire mems on citizens of Friendly Commonwealth countries cannot be interpreted As anything other than racial   text Ron a subsidiary of text Ron inc. That produces wings for the by and c-5 aircraft Al its Plant in Nashville Tenn the company backed by some Tennessee politicians including democratic sen. James r. Sasser and Republican gov. Lamar Alexan Der approached the air Force several months ago re Garding the Wing and in june submitted an unsolicited proposal that a company spokesman said was Well received. In a letter to Sasser on aug. 7, Thomas e. Cooper assistant Secretary of the air Force said that the air Force concluded thai there Are potential benefits to be derived from a Competition for the cd 7 Wing and we arc pursuing that course of  the air Force and Mcdonnell Are currently developing a plan to implement the Wing Competition decision Winlun inc make or buy determinations of the tron