EADS, the European defence company, and Northrop Grumman have shifted their lobbying and public relations machine up a gear after Boeing’s decision to protest against the US Air Force decision to award the US-European consortium a $35bn deal to supply refuelling tankers.

Northrop last week hired a lobbying firm run by Trent Lott, the former Mississippi Republican senator, and John Breaux, a former Democratic senator from Louisiana. Northrop and EADS are relying on a group of Washington firms – including Hill & Knowlton, Quinn & Gillespie, and Public Strategies – to counter Boeing’s powerful lobby on Capitol Hill.