Berlin - A senior German official responded calmly Wednesday to the Pentagon's cancellation of a tendering competition for US Air Force tankers.

An aerial refuelling Airbus jet made by the European aerospace and defence group EADS had initially been chosen by the Pentagon, but the tender was re-opened. That review is now being frozen until next year.

Peter Hintze, a junior economy minister who is also the German government's coordinator on aerospace policy, said: "The US government's decision is evidently because of the US presidential election."

He told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in Berlin that the Airbus product still had "excellent chances" of winning out over the alternative from the US planemaker Boeing.

"I'm convinced that the quality of product from Airbus remains so good that the next administration in Washington will also pick it in a fair comparison," Hintze said. (dpa)