From Aviation Week

 

Pentagon Eyes New Tanker RFP By August

Jul 9, 2008

By Michael Bruno

 

Boeing and a Northrop Grumman-EADS team will be able to re-bid wholly new proposals for the U.S. Air Force KC-X refueling tanker program, and the Pentagon's acquisition chief expects to choose a winner by the end of the year, officials said today.

 

The defense secretary, Air Force secretary and Defense Department acquisition chief John Young told Pentagon reporters that the move is an attempt to provide a valid acquisition decision as quickly as possible while speeding toward delivery of the new aerial refuelers. Nevertheless, Young said the program's cost and initial operational capability remain uncertain due to the need to re-mount the effort for a third time.

 

Young's office will not just make the final source selection, but it will lead a newly formed source-selection advisory committee. He said the goal was to make as few changes as possible to the Air Force's earlier request for proposals, but enough to address Government Accountability Office concerns.

 

A new RFP is expected late this month or in early August, while the source selection will occur in December. The Air Force's program requirements remain unchanged, Young said, but the bidding rivals will be able to essentially bid anew.

Boeing

 

Boeing Statement on Defense Department Decision to Reopen KC-X Tanker Bid

 

ST. LOUIS, July 09, 2008 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] today released the following statement in response to the U.S. Defense Department's decision to reopen the KC-X aerial refueling tanker competition following the company's successful protest of the original $35 billion contract award:

 

"We welcome the decision by Defense Secretary Robert Gates not to proceed with the contract award to Northrop Grumman/EADS and to reopen the KC-X tanker competition. However, we remain concerned that a renewed Request for Proposals (RFP) may include changes that significantly alter the selection criteria as set forth in the original solicitation. As the Government Accountability Office reported in upholding our protest, we submitted the only proposal that fully met the mandatory criteria of the original RFP.

 

"We look forward to working with the new acquisition team as it reopens the competition, but we will also take time to understand the updated solicitation to determine the right path forward for the company.

 

"It's encouraging that the Defense Department intends to take steps to ensure a fair and open competition that, among other things, fully accounts for life-cycle costs, such as fuel, to provide the most capable tanker at the best value for the American taxpayer."

 

[CV32: Wonder if we'll see a KC-777 variant offered?]

So, is this one a case of the looser not being happy nationalistic sentiments didn't get him the contract, and then posturing as the Good Guy, or is it that the Northrop Grumman/EADS consortium really did use underhanded tactics to get the contract in the first place ?

 

In other words, is Boeing making a tempest in a teapot because the contract was properly awarded, but not to them ?

 

Or are there any (or more) shenanigans than is "normal" for military appropriation contracts ?

From Flight International

 

DATE: 13/07/08

SOURCE: Flightglobal.com

 

Boeing to stick with KC-767 for US tanker recompete

By Craig Hoyle

 

Boeing will arrive at the Farnborough air show with a partially new identity and a renewed confidence that its KC-767 design can win the US Air Force’s controversial KC-X tanker competition.

 

The company – which last week learned that its appeal into the USAF’s selection of the Airbus A330-based Northrop Grumman/EADS North America KC-30 had resulted in the deal’s abandonment – is currently “digesting comments and feedback” from a closed hearing on 10 July, says Chris Chadwick, president of the newly rebranded Boeing Military Aircraft.

 

Speaking at the Royal International Air Tattoo at Royal Air Force base Fairford, Gloucestershire on 11 July, Chadwick says a fresh KC-X contest will open with a draft request for proposals, and added: “we’re very optimistic of moving forward quickly.”

 

Although USAF officials highlighted the KC-30’s larger size than the KC-767 in making their original selection – a process which the US General Accountability Office subsequently ruled was severely flawed – Chadwick says: “I’m not convinced yet that they do want a bigger airplane. I think the next RFP will define whether they want a big airplane of not.” Operating a larger aircraft would mean higher life cycle costs, more fuel consumption and limited basing options, he claims.

 

“If the RFP is modified substantially we’ll have to bring it in, look at it and decide how to go forward,” says Chadwick, who adds: “we do have options”. Boeing has conducted previous design studies on a KC-777 tanker, which would be larger than the KC-30.

 

Dave Bowman, a former head of Boeing’s C-17 strategic transport programme and global mobility activities, is also to head the company’s new tanker activities. “He understands the air force,” says Chadwick, who adds that the appointment will provide “a new face as we push forward trying to win the recompete.”

 

Boeing Military Aircraft is the new name for the company’s former Precision Engagement and Mobility Systems business unit, following a rebranding completed early this month. “We wanted to send a statement that the aircraft business is an extremely important part of our company today and in the future,” says Chadwick.

 

Boeing and rival bidders Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky will meanwhile submit final proposals for the USAF’s CSAR-X combat search-and-rescue helicopter requirement during August, with the previous selection of Boeing’s HH-47 Chinook having also been derailed by a series of GAO protests. “We still hope for an award within the end of the year,” says Chadwick.

From Aviation Week

 

Pentagon Issues New Tanker Bid Parameters

Aug 6, 2008

Amy Butler

 

The Pentagon plans to take extra capabilities - including added fuel offload capacity - into account as it scores revised proposals from Boeing and Northrop Grumman/EADS that could lead to $35 billion in work replacing aging KC-135 tankers.

 

The Defense Department will consider "value over threshold" when reviewing the revised offers, said Shay Assad, director of defense procurement and acquisitions policy, during an Aug. 6 briefing at the Pentagon.

 

This could put Boeing's 767-200LRF-based proposal at a disadvantage as its cargo, passenger and fuel offload abilities are hampered by its size compared to the larger Airbus A330-200 design proposed by Northrop.

 

Today, a revised draft request for proposals (RFP) for the KC-X refueling tanker was provided to both teams, kicking off the recompetition of the controversial program.

 

The new draft RFP is intended to provide "clear and unambiguous insight into the relative order of importance" of various capabilities, including fuel offload, cargo and passenger capacity and survivability, among other aspects. Assad did not identify the capabilities in order of importance, and DOD officials did not publicly release the draft RFP, breaking with typical protocol, which calls for solicitations to be posted publicly online. The draft was, however, sent to Congress and is already drawing criticism because it may favor the larger A330 offering.

 

(Click here (6.1-meg pdf) and here (1.2-meg pdf) for the documents).

 

For instance, an aide to Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) argued there is an obvious change inserted into the system requirements document in the revised tanker RFP that "clearly" favors the larger Airbus aircraft "even though it is not necessarily connected to any real-world use of tanker."

 

The congressional Government Accountability Office found that in the earlier competition the Air Force did not clearly articulate how it would score attributes that surpassed the threshold requirements for the system. This, among other irregularities, called into question the Northrop Grumman/EADS North America win of a $1.5 billion development contract for the new refueler Feb. 29.

 

Both teams will have about one week to discuss the draft RFP with the Office of the Secretary of Defense. By mid-month, a final RFP will be released and contractors will have about 45 days to submit their revised proposals. Source selection should be finished by the end of the year with a final winner announced by New Year's Eve, Assad said.

 

The existing contract with Northrop Grumman will remain in stop-work status until a winner is selected. If Northrop Grumman again prevails, its contract will be revised and restarted. If, however, Boeing wins this new competition, Northrop's contract will be terminated, he said.

 

The Pentagon does plan to shift the life-cycle cost estimates from an expected useful life of 25 years to 40 years on the aircraft, Assad says. And, it will take into consideration the cost of fuel and anticipated fuel burn rates of each aircraft throughout those years.