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DOD
Announces Requirement |
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Secretary
of Defense Robert M. Gates,
National Harbor, MD, Wednesday, September 16, 2009 " I am pleased to announce that source selection authority is returning to the Air Force for the KC-X refueling tanker, with a draft Request for Proposals to follow" |
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Pentagon Around The News |
DOD
Announces Requirement
for New Aerial Tanker Competition on September 24th, 2009 |
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KC-135
Stratotanker Tribute:
A simple photo montage honoring the 50th anniversary of the KC-135 Stratotanker |
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UNITED
STATES By
Jim Garamone This is the second time the contract has been competed. The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, recommended that the Air Force re-bid the contract - originally won by a Northrop-Grumman/EADS/Airbus consortium in February 2008. Boeing protested the decision, and in June 2008 the GAO agreed that there were irregularities in the contracting process. The GAO said the previous process for selecting a winner was too subjective. DOD took this to heart, and officials stressed this draft RFP is not a rerun of the last competition. "This time we will be crystal clear about what we want and what the bidders need to do to win," Lynn said. Price is important in the competition, but it will not be the only factor, Lynn said. "First of all, we'll look at price from a broad perspective, not just acquisition cost," he said. "We're going to include certain aspects of life-cycle cost, in particular fuel burn and military construction; and we're going to look at non- price factors, particularly how each aircraft that the companies might bid would meet warfighting requirements." DOD and Air Force officials worked closely together to ensure the process this time will be fair, open and transparent. Air Force and DOD officials developed the source selection strategy and it has been approved by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. "The Air Force source selection authority will execute this strategy," Lynn said. The warfighter requirements - devised by Air Mobility Command - for the tanker fleet have not changed since the last procurement try. "But the warfighter has specified which requirements are necessary for the tanker to 'go to war on Day 1,'" he said. These requirements are on an acceptable/not acceptable basis, he said. The team has also identified capabilities that would provide some additional value, but are not mandatory. The buy is for 179 aircraft valued at around $35 billion. If all goes as planned the contract could be awarded next summer. The draft RFP will hit the streets tomorrow. It will be a fixed-price incentive contract in the development phase, and the first five production lots will be a firm fixed-price contract. The remaining production will be a not-to-exceed contract. "This is going to constrain prices considerably, we believe," Lynn said. "It's shifting the department from a cost-plus world more towards a fixed-price world, and we think that that's going to be an important element in avoiding cost overruns." Air Force Secretary Donley said the newest KC-135R entered the Air Force in 1964. The first production model of whatever aircraft is selected would enter the force in 2015 with an initial operating capability set for 2017. Donley said the defense and Air Force teams reviewed the 808 requirements the old RFP had. "We conducted extensive reviews of the requirements, eliminating duplication, refining definitions, combining where appropriate and ensuring all requirements were measurable," Donley said. The draft RFP has 373 mandatory requirements. Still there is some value in non-mandatory capabilities, and Donley said the team identified 93 of these added-value capabilities and assigned points to them. The defense officials said they want to make the selection process as objective as possible. The RFP spells out exactly what warfighting capabilities are needed, but also details what efficiencies are desired, said Undersecretary Carter. To test warfighting effectiveness, evaluators fly each of the offeror's aircraft against he Integrated Fleet Aerial Refueling Assessment model, Carter said. The model posits a situation where the United States is executing several major war plans simultaneously, and tanker demand is at a peak. The model will answer the question of how many tanker aircraft are needed to execute these real-world war plans. But there is another consideration: The cost of ownership, Carter said. "These are the elements, of the life-cycle cost of the tanker, that are under the control of the offerors and which therefore can fairly be used to discriminate the offerors," he said. "The vendors do determine the aircraft design, which in turn determines how much fuel they will burn, over the next 40 years, carrying out the day-to-day tasks." Military construction projects needed to accommodate the aircraft are also taken under consideration, he said. Costs to adjust hangars, ramps, taxiways and runways for the aircraft will be taken into account. "So both wartime effectiveness and peacetime efficiency we will assess for each aircraft," Carter said. "We will 'dollarize' those assessments and in dollar terms adjust the bid prices." --------------------------------------------------------- The Pentagon press on the draft RFP to replace the Air Force's aging KC-135R tanker fleet. The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker was the first jet powered aerial refueling tanker of the US Air Force, replacing the KC-97 Stratotanker. Similar in design to the later and enlarged Boeing 707 airliner, it was initially tasked to refuel strategic bombers, but was used extensively in the Vietnam war and later conflicts such as Desert Storm to extend the range and endurance of both Air Force and Navy tactical fighters and bombers. Serving with the United States Air Force since 1957, it is one of just six military aircraft with over 50 years of continuous service with the original service along with the Tupolev Tu-95, the C-130 Hercules, the B-52 Stratofortress, and the Lockheed U-2. Supplemented by the larger KC-10, complete replacement by aircraft based on the Boeing 767 and KC-30 are still under study by the Air Force. Despite increased maintenance costs, studies conclude many of the aircraft could be flown until 2040, with ages reaching 80 years before reaching lifetime flying hour limits.
Eventually
the KC-135s will retire along the way by 3 stages
United States Air Force operated 505 KC-135 aircraft as of September 2007 (199 active duty, 80 reserve, and 226 guard). According to DOD news dated April 15, 2009 report shows that, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates is committed to moving forward on the re-bid for the Air Force’s KC-X tanker as quickly as possible. On June 9, 2009, He stated that he wants to ensure that it is a fair, open, and transparent process. September 16, 2009 DOD report shows that He is pleased to announce that source selection authority is returning to the Air Force for the KC-X refueling tanker and the Air Force is committed to the integrity of the selection process. On the other side, the tax payers want to make sure that unfair subsidies must be judged and take serious consideration for the global world trade center harmonized balance and fair economic trade in which will make the money market to grow for world bank and keeping suppliers and partners in line as the world market circulates what it's should be even if the world bank is already crashed. It makes sense to start fresh again without the subsidies and let the finance bank grow in order to keep the economic circulates instead of freezing the bank with subsidies like Airbus has been for 37 years and more. Once
the KC-X accepted by the Boeing, more than 12,000 unemployees will
be able to going back to work what they should and will be able to
pay their tax pay to the Government to recover the economic and improve
the nation and balance the global economic with the suppliers and
partners all around the world. Many suppliers and partners are waiting
to pick up Boeing KC-X. According to the request for consultations from the United States, measures by the EC and the member States provide subsidies that are inconsistent with their obligations under the SCM Agreement and GATT 1994. The measures include: the provision of financing for design and development to Airbus companies (“launch aid”); the provision of grants and government-provided goods and services to develop, expand, and upgrade Airbus manufacturing sites for the development and production of the Airbus A380; the provision of loans on preferential terms; the assumption and forgiveness of debt resulting from launch and other large civil aircraft production and development financing; the provision of equity infusions and grants; the provision of research and development loans and grants in support of large civil aircraft development, directly for the benefit of Airbus, and any other measures involving a financial contribution to the Airbus companies. The subsidies in question include those relating to the entire family of Airbus products (A300 through the A380)(2) The Boeing Company has more than 77 years of experience since they have built the aerial refueling transport.
Resources: Department of Defense YouTube: 2) WTO dispute settlement - the diputes DS310. Wikipedia Yahoo |
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