Sikorsky, a division of United Technologies Corp. [UTX], has formally protested the Navy’s plan to buy a small fleet of Russian-made helicopters on the grounds that U.S. manufacturers were excluded from bidding on the contract.
Sikorsky has filed a protest against the decision by Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to purchase Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters without allowing other suppliers to compete for the deal, the company said yesterday. It says that the Navy plan violates the Competition Contracting Act of 1984, as well as the Federal Acquisition Regulation, both of which require solicitations to permit “full and open competition” in the procurement of property and services.
Sikorsky believes its upgraded S-61 helicopters can meet the Navy’s needs in Afghanistan at a lower life-cycle cost than the Mi-17.
Kazan Helicopters, an affiliate of UIC Oboronprom, produces the Mi17. UIC Oboronprom is part of the Russian Technologies State Corporation owned by the Russian government.
“Sikorsky is not challenging the [U.S.] government’s right to sole-source or ‘brand name’ contracts in the absence of viable alternatives,” Paul Jackson, a company spokesman, said via e-mail. “In this case, we believe we offer a highly viable alternative. As a result, we are asking that the [request for proposals] RFP be amended and re-issued so that we can compete for this U.S. government contract.”
Sikorsky filed its protest with the Government Accountability Office on Aug. 3, according to Jackson.
The existing bid request “precludes all consideration of offers to supply U.S. manufactured helicopters, irrespective of their technical or life-cycle cost advantages over Russian aircraft,” states the protest document, filed by law firm Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on behalf of Sikorsky.
The document also claims that the Navy’s purchasing plan ignores “persistent difficulties” that the U.S. government has had in its previous attempts to purchase Mi17 and similar helicopters from Russia for use in Afghanistan.
“Various U.S. agencies have attempted to purchase Mi-17 helicopters in recent years, without much success,” Sikorsky’s protest letter states. They cite the example of a $322 million U.S. Army deal for 22 Mi-17s that resulted in “not a single helicopter” delivered 18 months after signing, “despite full payment.”
On July 8, NAVAIR issued a solicitation for 21 Mi-17 variant medium-lift, multi-purpose transport helicopters and associated spare parts and tools. The aircraft are intended for use by the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A). CSTC-A is responsible for advising and training the Afghan National Army Air Corps. NAVAIR’s solicitation describes the mission as such:
“The primary mission is to transport passengers and cargo into and out of austere field sites located throughout the theater of operation, Afghanistan, in support of the U.S. Embassy. …Operations are often flown in very rugged, high mountainous terrain that requires optimum take off, climb and turn performance at high density altitudes. These aircraft will serve in remote areas with few bases from which to operate aircraft. Secondary missions included, but are not limited to, force protection, convoy escort, hostile force reconnaissance, quick-reaction-force movement and support, and medical evacuation.”
Earlier this year, the Quadrennial Defense Review–the Pentagon’s most comprehensive analysis of weapons systems and overall strategy–recommended the purchase of more rotary wing and unmanned aircraft for use in counterinsurgency operations (Defense Daily, Jan. 28).
NAVAIR referred requests for comment to the Office of the Secretary of Defense public affairs.