Statement by Deputy Secretary William Lynn on Northrop Grumman Tanker Announcement

“We are disappointed by Northrop’s decision not to submit a bid for the U.S. Air Force tanker replacement program.

In the last tanker replacement (KC-X) competition, Northrop Grumman competed well on both price and non-price factors. We strongly believe that the current competition is structured fairly and that both companies could compete effectively.

Based on the inputs we received from both offerors to the Department’s draft Request for Proposal (RFP), we made changes to reduce the out-year risk to the potential manufacturers of KC-X. However, we did not change the war-fighters’ requirements to accommodate either offeror.

The Department strongly supports trans-Atlantic defense industrial ties and believes they benefit the American war-fighter and taxpayer.”

The statement was published here.

The Air Force and Department of Defense acquisition officials briefed Congress and the press today on the new RFP for the KC-X. It had some slight changes from the draft release a few months ago. The key question is will Northrop bid this time around?

They won the last contract to have that thrown out on Boeing’s protest. Much more to come on this in the days ahead.

Seattle’s Channel 5 covered the Governor’s press conference on the KC-X Tanker contract, in Washington D.C, this afternoon. According to Channel 5:

At the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Washington state Gov. Chris Gregoire announced the launch of a bi-partisan coalition of governors to push for Boeing-built refueling tankers. It’s called the U.S. Tanker 2010 Coalition, and other states represented include Oregon, Kansas, Connecticut, Maine, Utah, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa – all states with a stake in the outcome, mostly as suppliers of parts.

“Together, we are going to make it known we’re going to fight for this work,” Gregoire said Monday.

Read more at King5.com.

Tens of thousands of American jobs across the country depend on decision

OLYMPIA – Governors from states across the country are organizing a broad-based coalition to advocate for awarding the U.S. Air Force refueling tanker contract to the Boeing Company.

“Awarding the refueling tanker contract to Boeing will provide work for 40,000 to 50,000 people all across the country at a time when the national economy is still struggling mightily,” Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire said.  “Boeing has a long history of making great tankers and is ready to start with these today.  Boeing has the facilities, the technical expertise and the experienced work force to get the job done.”

The coalition is a bi-partisan effort committed to ensuring the tanker that is selected can produce the best product for the Air Force, will create the most American jobs and wisely spends taxpayer dollars.

Gregoire, who is spearheading the formation of the coalition, will be in Washington, D.C., on Monday, February 22, 2010 to make the case for an all-American refueling tanker. Joining Gregoire in the coalition are Governors Mark Parkinson of Kansas, Jodi Rell from Connecticut, Chet Culver of Iowa, John Baldacci of Maine, Jay Nixon of Missouri, Ted Kulongoski of Oregon and Gary Herbert of Utah.

Governors will speak at the National Press club on Monday, February 22, 2010 about the coalition and the case for buying the U.S. Tanker.  For details contact Bill McSherry in the office of Gov. Gregoire at (206) 790-3167.

The Pentagon is expected to release the final tanker Request For Proposals (RFP) as early as Tuesday, February 23, 2010.

Event Date: Monday, Feb. 22

4:30 p.m. EST

Governors Parkinson and Gregoire to hold media availability

National Press Club, Murrow Room

Washington, D.C.

It is expected that the final RFP for the KC-X New Aerial Tanker program will be released this week. At a recent forum the Secretary of the Air Force, Michael Donley, said that they hope to have the contract awarded by the end of the summer. This means that if you allow a few months for the proposals to be prepared and submitted the source selection will only take ninety days or so. This is an aggressive time line for a contract this large.

It may be that the Air Force is expecting the Boeing (BA) and Northrop Grumman (NOC) proposals to be much like the ones they submitted in 2008. This will make it easier to do an evaluation and award. There is a great deal of historical work to draw upon. Of course that competition ended in a Northrop win, a Boeing protest, and the GAO upholding it. This led to the current attempt at a contract.

Of course if only Boeing submits a bid as might happen it will make the whole selection process easier.

In a post on BNET Industries, Matthew Potter notes that the Department of Defense is willing to go ahead with only Boeing bidding on the KC-X:

The Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in testimony to the House Armed Services Committee made it clear that the Defense Department and U.S. Air Force will release the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the new KC-X tanker and award a contract even if only Boeing (BA) submits a proposal. The Department hopes that the Northrop Grumman (NOC) and EADS (EADS:P) will submit a bid but will go forward with the planned contract even if they don’t.

In early December Northrop Grumman’s CEO sent a letter to the Air Force stating that due to the terms of the draft RFP they felt that it so favored Boeing that they and their partner EADS, parent of Airbus, would not submit a proposal. Northrop had won the contract in 2008 only to lose it on protest by Boeing with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) saying that the Air Force changed the requirements and was not completely fair to Boeing. An earlier attempt to award Boeing a lease for KC-767 aircraft collapsed amid scandals and Congressional desire to have contest.

Read the entire post Defense Department Willing To Do KC-X With Only Boeing Bid for more.

Jason Lean, the Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) has sent a letter to the Tallahasee Democrat opposing the award of the KC-X contract to Airbus on the grounds that “taxpayers shouldn’t pay for foreign jobs.” The letter reads:

“Nearly all Americans know how dire the unemployment picture is today. Unfortunately, the recent job loss numbers show that even harder times are on the horizon (“Jobless rate inches higher statewide but drops slightly in Leon County,” news article, Jan. 23).

But what most Americans don’t know is that the Department of Defense is considering awarding to the Europeans a major defense contract that outsources an additional 50,000 jobs abroad.

Even worse, the European defense contractor in question — EADS/Airbus — is a pariah company that was just found by the World Trade Organization to have thieved tens of thousands of American jobs in an illegal subsidy scheme that allowed it to steal market share from the U.S. aerospace company, Boeing.

There may be controversy about whether we need another federal stimulus plan to create American jobs. But there should be no controversy over the view that American taxpayers should not fund a European jobs stimulus plan for an outlaw company.”

You can read the letter at Tallahasee Democrate.

Congressman John Murtha (D-PA) a senior Democratic Representative and the Chair of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee died yesterday from surgery complications. Murtha had at one time pushed the idea of awarding KC-X contracts to both Boeing (BA) and the Northrop Grumman (NOC) and EADS (EADS:P) teams as a way to rapidly replace the aging KC-135 aircraft. He eventually gave up on the idea.

The rationale for the split buy is that it builds the aircraft quicker while also removing the uncertainty of a protest over a single award. The U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense have made it clear that they do not want to do this due to the increased logistical cost associated with operating two different aircraft. The systems might complement each other with the bigger, longer range KC-30 being based further back in the U.S. and its more permanent bases overseas with the KC-767 flying forward and supporting operations in-and-around South West Asia.

The dual award would also mean that Northrop and EADS will be guaranteed work so their threat not to participate in the latest round would not need to be carried out. That is why organizations like the Aerospace Alliance representing Mississippi, Alabama and Florida support they idea. Some work in Mobile, AL is better then none.

The chances of a split buy are fairly remote but there are still those who want it.

The Mayor of Mobile, AL was recently on Capitol Hill raising the issue of buying the new KC-X tanker from both Boeing (BA) and Northrop Grumman (NOC). Northrop and its partner EADS (EADS:P) plan to assemble the A330 aircraft in Mobile and then fit them out with the necessary equipment at a Northrop plant. The idea of awarding contracts to both companies has been discussed before. The primary benefit besides avoiding a protest and delaying the program again would be to more quickly replace the KC-135 aircraft.

The U.S.A.F. and Defense Department have not been positive about this idea in the past due to the larger, more expensive logistics tail required to support two dissimilar systems. During World War II and the Cold War the U.S. often did invest in multiple systems for a mission often operated by separate services. The U.S. military has not had the resources to afford this kind of commitment.

The new RFP is expected to be released within a matter of weeks. For the Air Force to do a dual award it would require development and approval of a whole new acquisition strategy. This would lead to even further delays in this contract. The chances of buying the two aircraft in the next year or so are very slight.