Final Tanker RFP Expected In January
Pentagon officials are working to
halt spiraling costs in the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter
aircraft program, while ensuring competition for a new refueling
tanker remains fair to all contenders, Deputy Defense Secretary
William J. Lynn III said Wednesday. Lynn told the Aerospace and
Defense Conference in New York he's concerned about both "cost and
schedule challenges" associated with the next-generation fighter
aircraft that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates calls "the heart of
the future of our tactical combat aviation." "We don't like some of
the trends we see, and we are determined not to accept those
trends," Lynn told the audience of aerospace executives.
Defense Department officials are reviewing the program and
exploring ways to get the contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp., to
share in the cost of scheduling delays, he said. Meanwhile, they're
revising and restructuring the program to make sure it delivers on
schedule. The big question, Lynn told the group, is: "Can we make
the test program more robust and more redundant so to ensure the
development comes in a timely way?"
When asked about the contentious aerial tanker competition, Lynn
said Pentagon officials are striving "to play it right down the
middle" to ensure it doesn't favor either Northrop Grumman Corp. or
Boeing Co. "We want a fair competition; we want a balanced
competition," Lynn said. "We think that is what will give the best
value to the taxpayer." The issue involves a contract for 179
aerial refuelers estimated at about $35 billion. The new tankers
will replace the aging KC-135R Stratotanker fleet. Gates told the
Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday he wants both contractors
vying to build the tanker to remain in the competition. "We believe
that both of the principal competitors are highly qualified, and we
would like to see competition continue in the process," Gates
said.
Northrop-Grumman has threatened to withdraw from the competition
if the bidding terms aren't changed, complaining that they favor
Boeing. Boeing, on the other hand, contested the initial contract
award to a Northrop Grumman/EADS/Airbus consortium in February
2008. The Government Accountability Office reviewed the protest and
recommended that the Air Force rebid the contract due to
irregularities in the contracting process. Lynn said yesterday he's
not surprised that both contenders, in comments about the new draft
request for proposal, "argued for changes that would stress some of
the benefits of their individual aircraft." "We are going to have
to play this down the middle, take fair account of any comments
that are made by both sides, and move through this," he said. "We
very much want to have competition, ... and we can't favor one side
over the other."
Lynn said he expects the department to issue a final request for
proposals in January.
The Air Force will be the source selection authority for the new
tanker, Gates announced during the Air Force Association's Air and
Space Conference in September. Defense Department officials are
working closely with the Air Force to design the strategy leading
up to the selection, Lynn told reporters during a late November
Pentagon news conference.