By Marina Malenic
ORLANDO–Air Force officials said last week that they expect and have prepared for a protest from the losing bidder in a multibillion dollar contest to replace its aging aerial refueling tankers.
“We have assumed that there might be a protest,” Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told reporters during a Feb. 18 briefing at the Air Force Association’s annual winter conference.
“We have taken a lot of care and time…to document all of the necessary aspects of our source selection process,” he added, to provide information to the Government Accountability Office in case of a review.
“We certainly hope the offerors will not decide to protest,” he added. “But we recognize it is their right to do so.”
Donley said acknowledged that the service is poised to award a contract “soon” but would not specify a date. Industry sources here said they expect an announcement this week.
The North American division of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) announced last week that it has lowered the price of its offering (Defense Daily, Feb. 17).
EADS and rival Boeing [BA] last week submitted final proposals for the KC-X competition (Defense Daily, Feb. 11). Boeing’s proposal offers a fleet of 767-based aircraft, while EADS North America is pitching the KC-45, based on the Airbus A330 MRTT.
Late last year, Air Force officials said the decision would come early in 2011. The service at that time sought to “level the playing field” after inadvertently providing the companies data about each other’s bids by later intentionally releasing the information to the firms (Defense Daily, Dec. 2).
Neither Boeing nor EADS officials have ruled out legally protesting the release of the information (Defense Daily, Nov. 23).
The contest is the Air Force’s second attempt to replace its Eisenhower-era tankers. Boeing successfully protested a previous win by EADS NA and then-partner Northrop Grumman [NOC].