EADS, the European defence company, scored a stunning victory in its campaign to penetrate the US defence market on Friday by winning a $35bn to supply the US Air Force with refuelling tankers.

EADS and Northrop Grumman, its US partner, beat Boeing in a competition that could ultimately be worth more than $100bn. The winning team will initially supply 179 air-to-air refuelling tankers using a modified version of the Airbus A330 passenger jet. But the Air Force may select the same aircraft to replace its entire fleet of about 600 tankers over the coming decades.