Pentagon Replies, 'Hands Off'
Ever since the US Air Force awarded the contract to build its
new aerial refueling tanker to partners Northrup Grumman and EADS,
politicians at every level of government have threatened to
intervene on behalf of Boeing.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports the Pentagon's top
acquisition official is warning Congress not to interfere with the
decision. John Young, the undersecretary of defense for
acquisition, technology and logistics, told reporters on Friday
that moves to withhold funding would create, "slippery slopes and
dangerous precedents.
"It is going to be dangerous to set aside valid source
selections on a political basis," Young said. "Do we have the
California delegation kill a program because the Georgia delegation
won? I don't know where this stops."
As ANN reported, Boeing
launched a wide-ranging formal protest with the Government
Accountability Office in March, less than two weeks after the
selection of the Airbus-sourced KC-45A over Boeing's KC-767. Boeing
asserted its offering better-suited the original guidelines laid
down by the Air Force for KC-X... and added the USAF then changed
its own rules, to make the Airbus plane more competitive.
The Northrop/EADS team subsequently asked the GAO to throw out
that protest, saying Boeing -- and its influential supporters in
local, state, and federal government positions -- were posturing to
drum up nationalistic support over the foreign-sourced KC-45A. The
USAF filed a separate request, saying it chose the best plane for
the job, period. Both requests were later withdrawn, after Boeing
culled its protest down to a few hard, easily-debatable issues.
Representative Norm Dicks is a democrat from Washington state,
where Boeing has a major manufacturing presence. He's also vice
chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee. He
threatened last week to propose eliminating money for KC-X
outright, and push to "start this thing over again."
Young responds, "If I am going to demand that certain companies
or proposals must win regardless of what they cost, I am going to
disadvantage the taxpayer and war fighter. I am going to deliver (a
weapon with) less capability for more cost."
The initial contract award is worth $35 billion. Ultimately, the
Air Force may order $100 billion in new tankers, but new bidding
will be conducted for future project phases.