The Air Force released its final amended request for proposals (RFP) for the Afghanistan Light Air Support (LAS) contract, according to a service spokeswoman.
The RFP, which is posted on Federal Business Opportunities, was released Friday to original offers Sierra Nevada Corp. and Hawker Beechcraft Defense Corp. The Air Force targets a source selection decision in early 2013, which would allow the first aircraft delivery to Afghanistan by third quarter 2014, according to a statement.
According to a May 4 memorandum for offerors, proposals are due June 4.
The Air Force canceled Sierra Nevada’s $355 million LAS contract to provide Afghanistan with 20 of Brazilian manufacturer Embraer’s A-29 Super Tucano turboprop aircraft in late February after the service’s former acquisition executive, David Van Buren, was dissatisfied with the source selection documentation. The service then ordered a Commander Directed Investigation and announced it would re-open the competition to include Hawker Beechcraft.
Hawker Beechcraft sued the Air Force in December after being disqualified from the LAS competition with its AT-6 aircraft for not having its proposal in the “competitive range.” Hawker Beechcraft protested the decision with the Government Accountability Office, but the case was dismissed on the grounds the company didn’t file a timely protest request (Defense Daily, Feb. 29).
The company then filed a lawsuit in the Court of Federal Claims seeking to block execution of the contract on the basis of the Air Force “being unresponsive to a request for an explanation as to how it lost.” This move prompted the Air Force to order Sierra Nevada on Jan. 4 to stop work until the dispute was resolved (Defense Daily, Jan. 6).
The LAS final amended RFP can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/ISISAA