[ Post a Response | 1941 Aircraft Group Message Board ]
Posted by Tom Kwiatkowski Sr. - 309C
on 10/29/2009, 11:58 am
74.44.81.74
From airforce-magazine.com
Let's Work It Out: Days after the formal comment period on the Air Force's KC-X tanker draft request for proposals closed, Northrop Grumman officials publicly expressed their displeasure with the current format of the competition during a press conference Wednesday in Washington D.C. They said they had voiced their concerns to the Air Force during this initial feedback phase. They also intimated that the company reserved the right to withdraw from the contest if key concerns about proprietary information from the last competition are not resolved. The rebooted KC-X is "fundamentally different" than the requirements worked out in the last competition, said Mitch Waldman, Northrop's vice president of business development for advanced aerospace programs and technology. Continue
Winds Of Protest?:
http://www.airforce-magazine.com/Features/modernization/Pages/box092909protest.aspx
Continuation of "Let's Work It Out:
http://www.airforce-magazine.com/Features/modernization/Pages/box102909northrop.aspx
==================================================
Proprietary Concerns: Northrop Grumman Spokesman Randy Belote on Wednesday reiterated the company's stance that it is a "significant disadvantage" in the current KC-X tanker contest since the Defense Department released pricing information on Northrop's tanker bid to rival Boeing during the previous KC-X round. Contrary to the government's assertion, Belote said these pricing data are not outdated, and federal regulations "expressly preclude" the Pentagon from revealing them. Boeing, Belote asserted, was provided with the actual bid prices for the proposed system development aircraft as well as the production units. He said Northrop is "interested in working with our customer on resolving this" but noted that the company is considering a "number of options," ranging from a FOIA request for Boeing's pricing data from the previous round to outright litigation. "Obviously, that would be of great interest to us," he said when asked if receiving Boeing's data would resolve the matter.
Bye-Bye For Now, KC-X:
http://www.airforce-magazine.com/DRArchive/Pages/2008/September%202008/September%2010%202008/Bye-ByeForNow,KC-X.aspx
==================================================
Keep it Fair: That's the advice Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has for Defense Secretary Robert Gates concerning the Air Force's KC-X tanker contest. "The competition has to be completely above board," Reed told defense reporters Wednesday in Washington D.C., when asked for the counsel he'd give Gates. Reed said he thinks Gates is already "acutely aware" of this. Reed also said the competition has to be one that "both the competitors agree is fair" upfront. (This one may not be so easy. See above.) Reed said the tanker contest is still going to be a tough political battle on Capitol Hill. But Congress may now have a deeper appreciation than last year for "the difficult choices" that Gates has to make and may be more inclined than last time to accept the Pentagon's decisions on KC-X if those two factors are present.
Welcome Back:
http://www.airforce-magazine.com/DRArchive/Pages/2009/September%202009/September%2016%202009/WelcomeBack.aspx
15
Responses: