May Reevaluate Operating Costs Instead

Despite strong recommendations from the Government Accounting Office to the contrary, representatives at Boeing say they doubt the US Air Force will reopen competition for the $15 billion CSAR-X contract award for a new search-and-rescue helicopter.

As Aero-News reported, last month the GAO ruled on protests by Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky, and recommended the USAF reopen bidding on the CSAR-X contract awarded to Boeing in November 2006. Last week, Air Force officials replied, essentially, the USAF doesn't have to comply with the GAO suggested -- as the agency's ruling is nonbinding, and carries little real legislative weight.

Though of course Boeing doesn't want to see its contract slip away, this week the American aerospace manufacturer took something of a middle-of-the-road position on the matter, opining to Bloomberg the Air Force will probably opt to review operating and support costs figures for the three entrants in the competition.

Rick Lemaster, Boeing program manager for its winning CSAR-X entry, the HH-47, said that was the main point of the GAO's recommendations, anyway.

"We expect the Air Force will address the specific issue identified by GAO and not permit other bidders to set an agenda for an entirely new competition that might be in their interests but not in the best interests of the service," Lemaster said.  "Enhancing the Air Force's ability to save the lives of our soldiers and airmen sooner rather than later should be the most important consideration."

Lockheed had offered its US101(center), jointly produced by Bell and a variant of the helo named as the new Marine One presidential transport in 2005. Sikorsky pitched its S-92-based HH-92 (bottom) in the competition to replace the Air Force's existing fleet of Sikorsky-built HH-60 Pave Hawks.

FMI: www.af.mil, www.boeing.com