Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
October 22, 2008
Pg. 1
The contract award for the U.S. Air Force's beleaguered $15 billion combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter replacement program is likely to be slipped until May or June of next year, according to sources familiar with the acquisition.
The Air Force has been steadfastly standing by its stated plan to award the contract this fall -- with a Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) review scheduled for December -- but additional review of the contract is taking longer than expected, sources say (Aerospace DAILY, Oct. 15).
The service also is still smarting from the intense scrutiny of the KC-X tanker contract award, the sources said. The lessons learned from the handling -- and mishandling -- of that contract are reverberating with other acquisitions, such as the CSAR-X helicopters.
Both the CSAR-X and the tanker acquisitions have been stained by competitor protests that were upheld by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Losing CSAR-X bidders Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky filed multiple protests over the original award to Boeing, for a Chinook derivative.
The CSAR-X also is under the microscope of Pentagon Inspector General (IG) investigators, who are checking to see if certain program requirements were altered incorrectly.
Despite the GAO slaps and IG cloud, Air Force officials said they still planned to award the contract this fall (Aerospace DAILY, Sept. 8).
However, such a timeline became doubtful this month when the Air Force canceled scheduled briefings with contractors to discuss their proposals. The service also had only recently hired an outside logistics company to review lifecycle costs estimates.
GAO had blasted the Air Force on certain lifecycle cost calculations when the agency upheld the protests.
-- Michael Fabey
October 22, 2008
Pg. 1
The contract award for the U.S. Air Force's beleaguered $15 billion combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter replacement program is likely to be slipped until May or June of next year, according to sources familiar with the acquisition.
The Air Force has been steadfastly standing by its stated plan to award the contract this fall -- with a Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) review scheduled for December -- but additional review of the contract is taking longer than expected, sources say (Aerospace DAILY, Oct. 15).
The service also is still smarting from the intense scrutiny of the KC-X tanker contract award, the sources said. The lessons learned from the handling -- and mishandling -- of that contract are reverberating with other acquisitions, such as the CSAR-X helicopters.
Both the CSAR-X and the tanker acquisitions have been stained by competitor protests that were upheld by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Losing CSAR-X bidders Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky filed multiple protests over the original award to Boeing, for a Chinook derivative.
The CSAR-X also is under the microscope of Pentagon Inspector General (IG) investigators, who are checking to see if certain program requirements were altered incorrectly.
Despite the GAO slaps and IG cloud, Air Force officials said they still planned to award the contract this fall (Aerospace DAILY, Sept. 8).
However, such a timeline became doubtful this month when the Air Force canceled scheduled briefings with contractors to discuss their proposals. The service also had only recently hired an outside logistics company to review lifecycle costs estimates.
GAO had blasted the Air Force on certain lifecycle cost calculations when the agency upheld the protests.
-- Michael Fabey