Tue, May 20, 2008
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.
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