SEATTLE – A series of radio advertisements blasting Boeing have hit the airwaves amid a competition that pits the company against Northrop Grumann for a $35 billion Air Force contract.

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Boeing's KC 767 tanker

A group called "Alabamians for America's Tankers" produced the radio ads, which accuse Boeing executives of bribery and cheating in past bids.

Boeing is competing against Northrop Grumman-EADS for the contract to build Air Force refueling tankers. The Air Force first awarded the contract to Northrop, which plans to complete much of the work in Alabama. But Boeing appealed the decision and won. The contract is now being re-bid.

Boeing would complete much of the work in Everett, Wash.

One of the ads produced by Alabamians for America's Tankers says:  "It seems like every time we hear about Boeing and military contracts we hear about cheating. The reason we are still trying to replace our aging refueling tankers is because Boeing executives were involved in a scandal of bribery and cheating in the last bid."

Another goes on to say:  "Boeing says America's in danger if Alabamians build refueling tankers for our troops. Boeing claims military technology will wind up overseas. Boeing's one to talk. Last February their engineer was arrested for sending trade secrets to Communist China. And, in June, the FBI caught a Boeing scientist with top secret defense information on his personal laptop. No telling where those secrets were going."

Congressman Dave Reichert (R-Auburn) called the ads an "unfair attack." He called for them to be pulled off the air.

"I was at Boeing the day the announcement was made in February that Airbus had initially won and saw the disappointment on the faces of the hardworking employees. I truly got the sense of what a family Boeing is and how painful this process had become to them," he said in a statement released to the press. "Inserting political statements and attack ads into this process is not only disrespectful, but a deceitful attempt to tamper with a government process that has already been troubling in the past."