Resolution Of Copter Bid Issues Sought

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Hartford Courant
March 14, 2007
Pg. E1

By Eric Gershon, Courant Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN -- Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne said Tuesday he would like to find a way to avoid re-bidding a $15 billion program for the branch's next combat rescue helicopter.
During a visit to Pratt & Whitney's jet engine test center in Middletown, Wynne said he would prefer to negotiate a resolution of criticisms of the bidding by the Government Accountability Office.
In November, Sikorsky Aircraft -- like Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of Hartford-based United Technologies Corp. -- formally protested the Air Force's selection of a competing helicopter built by Boeing.
It was joined by another bidder, Lockheed Martin Corp. The competition was for a contract to supply 140 new helicopters.
Wynne said that re-bidding would be too expensive for the industry and that he wants to avoid a second round of protests. He offered no specifics about how he might do that.
Last month the GAO, the independent investigative arm of Congress, upheld Sikorsky's protest, saying the Air Force inconsistently evaluated the helicopter models that Lockheed, Boeing and Sikorsky proposed and urged the Air Force to reopen the bidding.
A UTC spokesman said the company still wants the Sikorsky entry, the HH-92 Superhawk, a military version of the S-92, to be considered by the Air Force.
``The Air Force and the GAO are going to decide what's going to happen, and we'll wait and see,'' said the spokesman, Paul Jackson.
A Lockheed spokesman could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Lockheed proposed its US101 helicopter.
The Air Force picked Boeing's HH-47 model. Many defense industry analysts considered the Boeing helicopter a long shot because, as the largest of the three, it makes the biggest target.
The Air Force has 60 days to decide on a course of action. It is not legally obligated to accept the GAO's recommendation, but would be reported to Congress for non-compliance if it does not, according to the GAO.
Asked whether he considers the Boeing helicopter the best choice for the combat search-and-rescue mission, Wynne said: ``I would say it this way: It's the one we chose, and I've got to wait for all the assessments to find out.''
Wynne, a longtime executive with General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin who became head of the Air Force in late 2005, spent Tuesday morning touring Pratt & Whitney facilities in East Hartford and meeting with company executives.
He later addressed Pratt employees in Middletown.
Wynne's visit was to recognize Pratt's progress in placing bar codes on engine parts purchased by the military to make it easier for the Defense Department to track its possessions.
 
I have thought that the Air Force is not supposed to have the helicopters in accordance with Key-West Agreement...
Am I mistaken?
 
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