Northrop Grumman Corp. spent 39 percent more than Boeing Co. to lobby lawmakers in this year’s first nine months, cranking up spending in a failed effort to protect its win of a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract.

Northrop spent $16.4 million through Sept. 30 compared with Chicago-based Boeing’s $11.8 million, and both set records for the period, according to filings by the companies available on a government Web site. Each spent less than $11 million last year.

Boeing lost the tanker competition to Northrop on Feb. 29 and filed a protest two weeks later, an appeal sustained by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in June. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in September postponed a new competition to 2009. Los Angeles-based Northrop employed a lobbying firm run by former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, and Boeing used a firm that includes former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt.

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