Says Boeing's Plane Offers Some Advantages... Minor Ones

In its latest salvo against American planemaker Boeing, on Monday Northrop Grumman Corporation restated the US Air Force found their bid to build the next generation of aerial refueling tankers superior to Boeing's in four of the five most important selection criteria.

As ANN has reported, Boeing filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office to overturn the Air Force's February 29 decision to award the contract to a partnership between Northrop Grumman and EADS. Boeing is contesting the fairness of the bidding process, saying the Air Force changed some of its own standards to give the Northrop/EADS offering a more favorable competitive standing.

"Boeing likes to claim that its proposed aircraft was rated better than Northrop Grumman's winning KC-45 tanker, stating that it was rated superior to Northrop Grumman on 98 items -- called "discriminators" -- while Northrop Grumman was superior on 30," Northrop representatives said Monday. "But discriminators are not just "added up" -- they vary greatly in significance. Instead of focusing on the most important discriminators, Boeing is counting items that the Air Force judged were much less critical to the KC-X's core mobility mission.

"In all, the Air Force identified approximately 800 requirements of varying importance. And the Air Force Request For Proposal (RFP) made clear that it considered Aerial Refueling and Airlift to be the two most important performance criteria. In these critical categories -- which go to the heart of the KC-X mission -- Northrop Grumman was clearly superior to Boeing, attaining a two-to-one advantage in key discriminators."

Northrop acknowledges Boeing's 767-based entry (shown below) does possess some advantages over its Airbus A330-derived KC-45A. For example, the Boeing plane offers more interior electrical outlets, better flight deck seats, and the ability to carry secondary fuels like Swedish Kerosene... which Northrop adds is rarely used.

"How do more electrical outlets stack up against increased fuel offload over range? How do better flight deck seats compare to greater airlift capability?" Northrop asks. "The conclusion is obvious. The Air Force made clear what its priorities were in the RFP, rated the two competitors, and selected the KC-45."

The GAO is scheduled to rule on Boeing's protest next month.

FMI: www.northropgrumman.com