Berlin - The German government expressed confidence Thursday that the European defence company EADS would secure the contract to supply refuelling tankers to the US Air Force following the reopening of the tender. 

German Deputy Economics Minister Peter Hintze told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that EADS had the best chance of winning the contract, which the Pentagon relaunched on Wednesday. 

"I am sure that the new tendering process will again be fair and that in the end EADS' technically better proposal will win through," Hintze said. (dpa)