USAF Confident About CSAR-X Progress

USAF Confident About CSAR-X Progress (NSI News Source Info) August 20, 2008: The U.S. Air Force is still confident a design will be selected as planned this fall for the armed service's controversial rescue helicopter replacement program, even though forthcoming draft findings of a Defense Department inspector general (IG) investigation could slow the process of announcing a winner. Maj. Gen. Scott Gray, USAF director of acquisition for global reach programs, said he doesn't expect the IG's findings to impact the schedule of the contract award announcement. "We've heard nothing from the DOD IG that causes us concern," he told Pentagon reporters. Service officials are folding lessons from Government Accountability Office's findings in the beleaguered aerial refueling tanker contest into future acquisition programs. In the case of CSAR-X, "we feel pretty confident that there was nothing...that needed to be fixed," Gray said. The new aircraft are needed to replace aging HH-60G Pave Hawks now in service. Gray says that as of 2006, 7 percent of the Pave Hawk fleet of 101 helicopters was past its service life of 7,000 hr. He projects that in 2015, 58 percent will exceed their service life. Initial operational capability is now set for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 at the soonest, Gray said, a delay of earlier plans to field the first aircraft in fiscal 2012. The delay is a result of the protest period and time to conduct the present competition. This period has also cost the Air Force about $1 billion, including the money needed to keep the Pave Hawk fleet relevant in today's operating environment. The acquisition strategy still calls for a Block 0 capability with objective features fielded in a later Block 10. Teams led by Boeing, Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin are vying to sell 141 Combat Search and Rescue-X (CSAR-X) helicopters to the Air Force for a deal worth up to $15 billion. This fall's winner will be the second awarded; losing bidders Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky launched multiple protests after the selection of Boeing's Chinook-based design in November 2006. Lockheed and AgustaWestland offered a US101 derivative while Sikorsky proffered a S-92-based option. GAO found irregularities in the acquisition process, specifically errors were found in how the Air Force calculated lifecycle costs of competitors. The forthcoming selection will be made based on proposals in response to a request for proposals that was amended six times. Boeing's development contract has been on a stop-work status since the protests were launched shortly after the award. In the course of the recompetition, the inspector general began an investigation to look into changes to the requirements for the aircraft; some observers of the program claimed the requirements had been altered to keep Boeing's Chinook design in the competition. In parallel with the IG review, the Office of the Secretary of Defense is also examining the Air Force's source-selection process next month.