Farnborough 2008 Show News - July 15, 2008 - (Page 66) FA R N B O R O U G H 2 0 0 8 USAF KC-X: What Kids Call a ‘Do-Over’ A top retired Pentagon official who spent most of his career inside the U.S. Defense Department’s acquisition community says he is perplexed at how the procurement of the U.S. Air Force’s KC-X tanker program has played out. “I do not know how they could have messed this up so badly,” he said. A program of this size (179 tanker aircraft at a cost of $40 billion) is unquestionably going to introduce some high-level political Will it ever get to do what it’s supposed to do? maneuvering. But the effects of strong congres- my years in Congress, I have never seen the secusional opposition to the Boeing bid (particularly rity and fiduciary responsibilities of the federal by presumptive Republican U.S. presidential government quite so nakedly subordinated to the nominee Sen. John McCain), the number of years interests of one defense manufacturer. Indeed, that a next-generation tanker has been debated any objective analysis of the deal would conclude and evaluated, the missteps by USAF procure- that the sole purpose served by this lease is to ment, the ultimate imprisonment of a Boeing maximize the profits of Boeing, with the consesenior executive (Darleen Druyun) for providing quent under-funding of other defense priorities.” “The ultimate decision to grant NG the coninsider information to Boeing while she was still a Pentagon USAF procurement official—all have tract,” said the former Pentagon official, “is surprising, given all of the animosity toward proved to be a poisonous combination. McCain’s opposition to Boeing’s being selected McCain” over his previous statements. The as the winner goes back to a 2003 decision to lease USAF, he and others thought, would be inclined Boeing 767 tankers instead of purchasing them. to award the contract to Boeing just to spite the In an official statement, McCain said that “in all Arizona Senator if nothing else. The decision to award the contract to Northrop Grumman, which joined with European manufacturer Airbus to design a tanker based on the A330 airframe, was made in February. Boeing filed a protest in March that charged irregularities in the USAF selection criteria, the merits of which were supported in a densely-worded statement by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in June. This has, in turn, prompted U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to re-open the bidding process last Wednesday. Michael B. Donley, the acting secretary of the Air Force, commented on the GAO’s findings by stating that the USAF acquisition system is not “fatally flawed” as others have described it. “However,” he said, “the GAO did sustain the protest in eight areas, and this has been sufficient to cast doubt on the Air Force’s management of the overall process. The Air Force needs to rapidly apply the lessons learned from this experience and move forward…other Air Force acquisition decisions are on the horizon.” Donley did admit that the USAF process is “not always adequately prepared to withstand the detailed audits and the legal challenges that we can now expect.” Sec. Gates is not taking any chances. The rerun of the tanker competition will now be overseen by Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics John Young, with a decision expected by the end of the year. Northrop Grumman Is Proceeding Apace Although the USAF KC-X program is now officially in a re-bid status, Northrop Grumman is continuing on as if it expects to be awarded the contract when Undersecretary John Young’s office makes a final determination in December. Today the Northrop Grumman Tanker Team announced that all four of their System Design and Development (SDD) are scheduled for final assembly and flight-testing by the end of 2009. The first SDD air frame was assembled and flown in 2007; the second flew in May 2008. All four must be built and flight-tested before transitioning to the Initial Low Rate of Production. At present, the first two aircraft are awaiting modification to the tanker configuration. Paul Meyer, the vp and general manager for Air Mobility Systems at Northrop Grumman re-iterated that “the Air Force selected the KC-45, the only system that is ready to replace the aging tanker fleet and ensure that our airmen have the very best tanker available—and we’re confident we will be selected again.” Air India has 68 Boeing aircraft on order, and has brought its new 777-300ER here. Air India’s 777 in It for the Long Haul Air India is showing one of its new Boeing 777-300ERs at Farnborough. Having the new aircraft here will allow Air India to show off its new livery, interior and passenger amenities. The extended-range jet will provide service on its route from India to the U.S. via London. It has a three-class configuration, including four first-class, 35 executive-class and 303 economy seats. Air India, which has a total of 68 Boeing aircraft on order, became the first airline in India to provide non-stop service to the U.S. with the 777-200LR in July 2007. 66 July 15, 2008 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews
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