U.S. reopening $35 billion aerial tanker bidding
Secretary of Defense's office will directly oversee process, not Air Force
WASHINGTON - Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. will submit new offers for a disputed $35 billion Air Force tanker contract, and the Pentagon will pick a winner by the end of the year.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that his office — not the Air Force — will oversee the competition between Boeing and the team of Northrop and Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.
The plan, which hands control to the Pentagon acquisition chief John Young and sets up a dedicated source-selection committee, shows that senior civilians at the Defense Department have lost confidence in the Air Force's ability to manage the contract.
"I think it's better," said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash. "No one has any faith in the Air Force."
The Government Accountability Office last month detailed "significant errors" the Air Force made in the original award to the Northrop team. The GAO said Chicago-based Boeing might have won the contract had the service not made mistakes in evaluating the bids.
The Pentagon will conduct a limited rebid that looks only at eight issues where government auditors found problems in the initial process, Gates said.
Sen. Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, where the Northrop Grumman team would assemble its plane, called it "the best of all options" that would address the "minor procedural flaws" the GAO cited.
Lawmakers from Washington state and Kansas, where Boeing employs thousands of workers, have put considerable pressure on the Air Force to reopen the bidding process and cancel the contract with the Northrop team.
The deal has emerged as the latest black eye for the service, which is trying to rebuild a tattered reputation after a procurement scandal in 2003 sent a top Air Force acquisition official to prison for conflict of interest and led to the collapse of an earlier tanker contract with Boeing.
The Air Force in February selected the Northrop team to replace 179 Eisenhower-era aerial refueling planes. Boeing filed its protest in March.
The deal — one of the largest in Pentagon history — is the first of three contracts worth up to $100 billion to replace nearly 600 refueling tankers over the next 30 years.
Shares of Boeing added 61 cents to $66.53 in afternoon trading, while Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman fell 10 cents to $66.07.
"I think it's better," said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash. "No one has any faith in the Air Force."
What do those assholes know about buying planes anyway?
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So basically, Air Force awards contract to foreign business, Boeing whines, and the Defense Department steps in to make sure Boeing gets the contract. I get that right?
We pissing our pants yet?
-Negan
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-Negan
He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches.
-George Bernard Shaw
Flagg wrote:So basically, Air Force awards contract to foreign business, Boeing whines, and the Defense Department steps in to make sure Boeing gets the contract. I get that right?
Right, except you missed the part where the Air Force changed the competition midstream, all but guaranteeing that Airbus would win the 2nd competition. What they need is a proper and fair competition (not that it's going to happen the third time).
And before you start shrieking that Boeing cheated the first time, I know. That doesn't mean fucking over Boeing the second time is better.
In Brazil they say that Pele was the best, but Garrincha was better
Flagg wrote:So basically, Air Force awards contract to foreign business, Boeing whines, and the Defense Department steps in to make sure Boeing gets the contract. I get that right?
Right, except you missed the part where the Air Force changed the competition midstream, all but guaranteeing that Airbus would win the 2nd competition. What they need is a proper and fair competition (not that it's going to happen the third time).
And before you start shrieking that Boeing cheated the first time, I know. That doesn't mean fucking over Boeing the second time is better.
No, there shall be no shrieking. Just marveling at the efficiency and fairness of the free market.
We pissing our pants yet?
-Negan
You got your shittin' pants on? Because you’re about to Shit. Your. Pants!
-Negan
He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches.
-George Bernard Shaw
lol, the "NorthWest Cable News" channel wasn't even trying to cover up their bias, they repeated the GAO line of "serious errors in the bid process" (or whatever it was they said) completely uncritically, and lined up several Washington-state politicians to all chime in about how Boeing supposedly got screwed over and how this was a victory for the state, without a single person to even offer the Airbus perspective.
I don't understand military contract bids so I have no idea who is actually right and who is actually full of shit.
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What is Project Zohar? "On a serious note (well not really) I did sometimes jump in and rate nBSG episodes a '5' before the episode even aired or I saw it."- RogueIce explaining that episode ratings on SDN tv show threads are bunk
Uraniun235 wrote:lol, the "NorthWest Cable News" channel wasn't even trying to cover up their bias, they repeated the GAO line of "serious errors in the bid process" (or whatever it was they said) completely uncritically, and lined up several Washington-state politicians to all chime in about how Boeing supposedly got screwed over and how this was a victory for the state, without a single person to even offer the Airbus perspective.
I don't understand military contract bids so I have no idea who is actually right and who is actually full of shit.
To some degree, everyone is right and everyone is full of shit. The Airbus tanker is a better plane, but it is being built by a foreign company, the Air Force did fuck over Boeing this last time, after Boeing was caught influencing the Air Force's decision the first time.
Hopefully Boeing gets its act together and offers the 777 instead of trying to save the 767 line. That airplane is more likely to beat the Airbus entry straight up (without influence or bribery). If Boeing resubmits the 767, then they should lose.
In Brazil they say that Pele was the best, but Garrincha was better
THis is nothing new, Boeing should have won the F-111 competition, and they did actually win it several times in a row -- but McNamara always awarded it to General Dynamics each time (which caused a repeat of the process each time)
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"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
