March 10, 2008

Dicks Comments on Boeing Protest of AF Tanker Decision

Press Release: Following the announcement today by The Boeing Company that it intends to protest the award of a $40 billion air refueling tanker contract to the European-U.S. partnership EADS/Northrop Grumman, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said the company’s action was “an appropriate response to the Air Force’s flawed and unsupportable decision.”

            “The Boeing KC-767 met and exceeded all of the ‘key performance parameters’ for the medium sized tanker that the Air Force stated in its Request for Proposals, and then it ultimately selected a much larger tanker based on exceedingly bad analysis of each company’s capabilities,” said Rep. Dicks, who serves as the Vice-Chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

            “If the Air Force wanted a larger tanker, Congress was seriously misled because throughout the proposal and source selection process we were continually assured that the competition was for the procurement of medium-sized tankers to replace the existing KC-135 tanker aircraft,” he said.

            “It also strains credibility to contend that the life-cycle cost of acquiring, fueling and maintaining a force of KC-30 tankers that are 53 percent larger and much less efficient would be the same as the buying KC-767 tankers. And it is impossible to accept the analysis that concluded there is a lower risk in the proposal to produce KC-30 aircraft at a facility that has yet to be built with a workforce that is yet to be hired,” the congressman continued.

            “This was a seriously flawed decision and I believe it is entirely appropriate for GAO and Congress to make a final determination regarding the best option for replacing the critical capability that aerial refueling tankers provide for the Air Force,” he said.

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