Boeing [BA] is protesting the U.S. Air Force’s decision to forego a competition when it picked L3 Technologies [LLL] to provide a replacement for the EC-130H Compass Call electronic-attack aircraft.

“We believe that the U.S. Air Force and taxpayer would be best served by a fair and open competition,” said Boeing, which filed a formal challenge with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) last week.

An EC-130H Compass Call flies a training mission over Lake Mead, Ariz. (U.S. Air Force photo)
An EC-130H Compass Call flies a training mission over Lake Mead, Ariz. (U.S. Air Force photo)

The Air Force has tasked L3 with choosing a new airframe and migrating mission equipment from the old airframe, a heavily modified C-130, to the new one. But Boeing objected to L3’s airframe selection role, saying the Air Force “has improperly delegated that inherent government function to L3.”

Boeing also alleged that L3 has a conflict of interest because it already works on one of the new airframes under consideration, the General Dynamics [GD] Gulfstream G550. “If the G550 is selected, L3 stands to make more money on its existing G550 work, and is likely to benefit from the future selection of the G550 for other Air Force recapitalization efforts,” Boeing said in a statement.

At a May 25 hearing before the House Armed Services Committee’s seapower and projection forces panel, Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, military deputy for the Air Force acquisition office, defended the Air Force’s decision, saying that only L3 has the equipment and knowledge needed to do the work. L3 has had a similar integration role on the existing aircraft for the past 15 years.

“We, the Air Force, remain committed to the acquisition strategy that we brought forward to address this critical need,” Bunch testified.

Bunch also told the panel that the Air Force plans to review L3’s airframe selection to ensure the process is comprehensive, fair and compliant with legal requirements.

“We’re not stepping out of this and just watching the process play out,” he said.

Air Force officials revealed May 15 that they began moving ahead with the program after the fiscal year 2017 omnibus appropriations bill became law earlier in the month (Defense Daily, May 15). The measure provides $103 million to launch the program.

L3 declined to comment on the protest. The GAO has 100 days to review the matter, or until Aug. 28.