Tanker Bidding To Be Reopened--Gates Halts Northrop Award

The Washington Post ^ | July 9, 2008 | Dana Hedgpeth

[2ndDivisionVet]

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday that the Pentagon will hold a new, fast-tracked competition to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers, a move that overturns the previous award of the contract to Northrop Grumman.

The decision follows criticism of the selection process by the Government Accountability Office and underscores the sharp divisions over the contract. The deal to replace the Air Force's entire fleet could be worth up to $100 billion over the next two decades.

Gates said he expects the Pentagon to choose a new winner by the end of the year.

On Feb. 29, the Air Force choose Northrop Grumman and its partner, European Aeronautic Defence and Space, parent of Airbus, to build 179 refueling tankers. In March, Boeing protested the decision, saying it was treated unfairly. The Government Accountability Office agreed, saying the Air Force made "significant errors" in how it conducted the procurement and its mistakes "could have affected the outcome of what was a close competition."

Gates said he had concluded that the contract couldn't be awarded "because of significant issues pointed out" by the GAO.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Back to the drawing board.

[Bahbah]

Gates is politically deft.

[DakotaRed]

Coming out of Washington State, this should be expected. Just like our Governor's race in 2004, Gregoire will undoubtedly keep re-bids going until Boeing wins the contract, just like how she stole the election from Dino Rossi.

[True Republican Patriot]

Yea! Hurrah!! Justice is served! We dont want any French crepes fueling Our Fighters and Bombers. AIRBUUST is going bankrupt as we speak. May the better Tanker win, and Boeing will provide the Best Tankers ever!

[GAB-1955]

Why? The Northrop-EADS KC-30 costs less per unit and is more flexible than the Boeing model. In a fair competition, Northrop would win.

[A.A. Cunningham]

May the better Tanker win,

It already did.

[Oztrich Boy]

Boeing will provide the Best Tankers ever!

That's what the Italians were told.

[VORTAC]

Why? The Northrop-EADS KC-30 costs less per unit and is more flexible than the Boeing model. In a fair competition, Northrop would win.

Just this morning here in the Washington, D.C. metro area, I heard a Northrop Grumman ad on the radio touting just that type of statistic. The 30 second spot made absolutely no mention of Boeing, preferring instead to use terms such as, "our competitor's offering ...".

[vox_freedom]

Did Gates work for Boeing as a consultant after he left the federal gov’t during Bush 41’s admin? This is not an attempt to impugn him, but thought he worked in the NW and was a consultant for a time...

[boycott]

Looks like Boeing is going to steal another one. They have to be one of the most corrupt in the nation. They’ve got a long history of corruption in the bid process. They will do absolutely anything to win.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Lets see Boeing was and is responsible for very significant aircraft that have won wars both hot and cold.World war two was finished by...you guessed it,A Boeing B-29.Just exactly what has eads done? Whatever it is it aint enough.Eads sneaky little merger games with NG doesnt pass the smell test.

[True Republican Patriot]

The Italians are getting the Best Tankers ever too. I am sure they could have purchased AIRBUUST if they felt good about them.

[True Republican Patriot]

So say You. Obviously greater minds disagree which I agree with,obviously understanding that my mind is quite great as well:-)

[True Republican Patriot]

Boeing doesn’t hold a candle to EADS when it comes to sleeze and under the table mischief. Sounds like you work for AIRBUUST, just a hunch?

[True Republican Patriot]

AMEN! Pass the plate!

[djwright]

It would have if the EADS bid had been disqualified for not meeting requirements. I think you may still hear Boeing press the case that they actually won the first bid.

Also look for congress to press for the release of the price of fuel used in the calculation. when it comes out that is was $40 a barrel (or some other low number by today's standards) people will demand to recalculate the cost with more realistic numbers which will favor the smaller airplane.

[djwright]

If my state governor had that kind of power I would consider voting Dem.

[DesScorp]

"Why? The Northrop-EADS KC-30 costs less per unit and is more flexible than the Boeing model."

That is simply not true. Not only did the Airbus entry cost more per unit (not by much, but it did cost more), that cost was partially covered by European government subsidies for Airbus component production in Europe (where most of the parts will actually be fabricated before they'd be shipped to Alabama for final assembly), plus, the GAO found that NG-Airbus understated long-term costs of owning the aircraft by a significant margin. The Airbus entry was in no way cheaper than the Boeing entry. Repeatedly saying so doesn't make it so.

"In a fair competition, Northrop would win."

In a "fair competition", these two planes wouldn't even be competing with each other. USAF asked for a medium-airliner replacement for the KC-135. They repeatedly stressed that they did not want a wide-body aircraft like a KC-10... which is pretty much what the KC-30 is. While the 767 is slightly larger than a 707, the A330-based Airbus entry is a much larger aircraft, in the 777's class. Part of the reason that the Defense Department made USAF re-do the competition was GAO's finding that USAF told Boeing they wanted one thing, but then awarded the tanker contract on totally different criteria. According to Air Force Magazine today, SecDef Gates announced that USAF would not be in charge of the competition this time; higher ranking Defense Department officials will be in charge of the evaluation this time. That's a pretty damning indictment of the DOD's confidence in USAF leadership on this matter.

[anymouse]

Looks like the fix is in for Boeing.

[jneesy]

whatever happened to the US govt buying only american products?