I didn’t say anything about that. :P
The thing is, only one outfit showed up with a proposal that met *all* the rules set forth ahead of time. Their price is their price. I would love to see Beech get the contract as well, because that would be a big boost for them. But if they can’t follow the rules, that’s too bad.
Also, the $427 mil of the contract isn’t just for the airplane. It’s also for training, parts and other support, rendered on site in Afghanistan. To put that in perspective, the Beech projection for their plane that does not exist in production form yet was $14.85 mil a copy when the T-6 it’ll be based on cost roughly $6 mil per copy.
It should also be noted that when Beechcraft bid the JPATS competition and got the contract for the T-6, they pulled a similar gag. They promised the planes for $3.9 million despite only having prototypes. The final delivery cost ended up being $6 mil, an 80% or so increase.
Well, I could see the training of pilots and ground crews being a lot more expensive than the aircraft...