The announcement marked the latest setback in a protracted contest that pits the US aerospace giant Boeing against rival EADS, the parent company of France-based Airbus.

"Certain aspects of the source selection have taken longer than we originally anticipated," spokesman Colonel Les Kodlick told AFP.

"So right now we expect an award to occur early next year."

He did not offer details as to why the 35-billion-dollar contract award would be pushed back yet again, despite a scheduled December 20 target date.

Earlier this year, the Pentagon had promised to choose a winner in the contest in November and then had recently said it would declare a choice no later than December 20.

Coinciding with the delay, the Air Force acknowledged a "clerical error" in which the wrong documents were sent to aerospace rivals Boeing and EADS.

The Air Force mixed up the delivery of technical assessments, handing out a report earlier this month meant for EADS to Boeing and vice versa, Kodlick said.

Both firms "immediately recognized the error and contacted our Air Force contracting officer," he said.

He said the mistake had no effect on the competition schedule and was not the cause of the latest postponement.

The politically-charged competition for the tanker has been marked by scandal and intense lobbying in Congress.

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) and Boeing are in a bidding war for the deal to replace 179 aerial refueling tankers in an aging Boeing-built fleet.

In 2008, EADS in partnership with Northrop Grumman won the contract for the tankers, but the deal was canceled after a successful Boeing appeal to the investigative arm of Congress.

Northrop has dropped out in the latest contest.

US Air Force commanders see the planned KC-X aircraft as crucial to bolstering American air power and are anxious to replace the older Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers that date back to the 1950s.

In 2003, the Pentagon awarded an air tanker contract to Boeing but later suspended the deal after an ethics scandal involving a company executive and an Air Force official. The Air Force official was later convicted of criminal conspiracy.

In the last competition, EADS and Northrop offered a modified Airbus 330, while Boeing proposed an altered 767 in its bid.

Members of Congress have lobbied heavily on behalf of the rival firms, hoping to secure coveted jobs in their states.

During a US visit earlier this year by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, President Barack Obama said the competition for the tankers would be "free and fair."

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