Air Force Says Need Is 'Critical' To Advance Long-Delayed Program

The Pentagon has put an end to the challenge by Beechcraft for the award of the long-disputed LAS contract to Embraer and its U.S. partner Sierra Nevada Corp. The Air Force said that "unusual and compelling circumstances" were behind the move, and that it would move ahead with plans to build the airplanes in Jacksonville, FL.

It was the second time Embraer and SNC had won the contract, and the second time Beechcraft had cried "foul" over the deal. The first time, the program was delayed by over a year while the contract went back out for bids, which resulted in the second award to Embraer and SNC. The Pentagon gave no other explanation as to why they were shutting down the challenge brought by the Kansas planemaker, according to multiple media sources including The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.

But the company, which has just emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, does not plan to make this the last word in the dispute. In a statement, Beechcraft called the move "misguided."

"It will lead to the loss of American jobs and substantially higher costs to American taxpayers, the statement says. "By invoking this override procedure to outsource American defense jobs, the definitions of national security and the protection of the U.S. aerospace industrial base have been turned upside down.  Moreover, the Air Force’s decision to bypass the normal GAO review process deprives the American taxpayer of transparent answers to legitimate and well-documented questions to what has been a very opaque LAS acquisition.

"The correct decision would be to protect our national security interest by selecting the lower cost, American-made aircraft that the Air Force rated “Exceptional” and one that is built around an airframe, weapons and systems that are familiar to, and under the control of, the United States military.
 
"Beechcraft will review its options, with the goal of helping protect U.S. best interests and the Afghanistan Air Force, to reverse this misguided action."

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