European aerospace giant Airbus on Thursday submitted its bid for a huge US military contract for tanker refueling aircraft also eyed by bitter rival Boeing.

Hoping to snare the contract "of the century," executives from Airbus's parent firm EADS said their 8,819-page bidding document was submitted ahead of a Friday deadline.

The winning firm will build 179 aerial refueling tankers for the US Air Force, which Airbus said was worth some 40 billion dollars.

"We are proud of our offering, which is the only one in this competition that is flying and refueling today," said European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. North America chairman Ralph Crosby.

The European firm is proposing a military version of its A330 commercial passenger airliner, the KC-45.

"We have delivered two copies of an 8,000-page plus proposition," Crosby said.

Boeing was expected to submit its proposal on Friday.

With an eye on its US rival EADS said if it won the contract, a new aircraft manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama would help create 48,000 US jobs.

Airbus and Boeing have traded accusations of unfair competition as they compete for the kudos and cash that come with producing 179 aircraft for the US military.

Boeing has received backing from US lawmakers who have called for the value of Airbus's alleged subsidies to be factored into the European firm's bid.

But Crosby rejected talk about the subsidies and related World Trade Organization probes as "not a central issue in this competition."

"We spend a lot of time talking about this crap," he said. "We are spending all our time on relatively arcane and inconsequential issues."

Crosby insisted the most important issue should be how well each project meets the Pentagon's 372 demands.

"It is the defense acquisition for the remainder of the century."

A third company, US Aerospace, has announced it would put up a last-minute bid in partnership with the Russian-Ukrainian manufacturer Antonov.

But its ability to meet US military requirements remains uncertain, given its serious financial difficulties. And Antonov has not confirmed its participation in the project.

US Aerospace said on Wednesday that it would like the bid deadline extended by 30 or 60 days.

The Air Force is expected to make its decision by November 12.

It will be the third time the Defense Department has awarded the contract.

In 2003, Boeing won the lucrative deal, but the decision was overturned after a conflict of interest between the Pentagon and the aircraft manufacturer was revealed.

A senior purchasing manager at the Department of Defense had been negotiating her employment with Boeing at the time of the bid. The Air Force official was later convicted of criminal conspiracy.

Airbus won a second call for proposals in a joint bid with US firm Northrop Grumman in 2008.

Again, the decision was annulled when the US Government Accountability Office found the offers were incorrectly analyzed.

Northrop-Airbus subsequently withdrew from the race triggering an uproar in Europe, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel accusing Washington of bias in favor of the all-American Boeing plane.

Now, back in the running, Airbus starts without a major partner, instead teaming up with 200 suppliers, including several big-name US firms, including General Electric, Honeywell, Hamilton Sundstrand, and Goodrich.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday insisted the process would be fair.

"My view is that the way it has been designed is as transparent as possible," he said.

"And I think that I have assured the Congress that this will be a fair and transparent process.