Defense contractor Northrop Grumman said Thursday that its portion of a controversial contract for a fleet of aerial tankers to be assembled in Mobile, Ala. could also create 4,200 jobs in Georgia.

Speaking at the Atlanta Press Club, Northrop Grumman vice president Philip Teel said the new jobs would triple the company's footprint in the state.

The Air Force on Feb. 29 awarded the $40 billion contract to build the KC-45 tanker — an aircraft that refuels military jets in flight — to a partnership between California-based Northrop Grumman and the parent of European jet-maker Airbus.

The new tanker is a modified version of Airbus's A330 commercial airliner.

The deal sparked fierce criticism that the Pentagon had awarded one of its most lucrative contracts, in part, to a foreign concern. U.S. jetmaker Boeing, the losing bidder, protested that the contract award was flawed.

"People were providing misinformation that we were shipping American jobs to France, which is not true," said Northrop Grumman spokesman Dan McClain. "This tanker program is going to build jobs in Georgia."

The jobs will be spread over Northrop Grumman and its supply base, which includes engine sub-assemblies in Vidalia, Atlanta and Milledgeville as well subcontractors in Dublin and Chamblee. The company estimates it will bring a $180 million annual impact to the state's economy.

While the tanker contract should bring jobs to 49 states, Teel said that many will be centered in the Southeastern states of Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.

"The KC-45 will be the lynchpin in a new Southern aerospace corridor," he predicted.