The Air Force is in the process of developing a revised request for proposals for the Light Air Support (LAS) program, which will be available in “a few months,” according to the service’s top civilian.
“We’re in the process of developing the next RFP,” Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told reporters yesterday during a Defense Writers Group breakfast in Washington. “Our intention is to continue with this program with a slightly revised RFP going forward. That work is underway…(It) will be publicly available in a few months.”
Donley also said the service is continuing its Commander Directed Investigation into the documentation issues that led to the termination of the LAS contract with Sierra Nevada, but the results of that investigation would not be made public due to “sensitive information.”
The LAS program is designed to provide Afghanistan with a light ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft. Sierra Nevada had won the competition in late December with a $355 million deal for 20 of Embraer’s A-29 Super Tucano light propeller aircraft, but the Air Force announced in late February it would terminate the contract due to documentation issues.
Shortly before announcing the termination, the service was due in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to answer to a lawsuit by Hawker Beechcraft Defense Company, which bid for the LAS contract with its AT-6, but was eliminated from contention by the Air Force for not having its proposal in the “competitive range” (Defense Daily, Feb. 29).