DoD Cancels Refueling Competition, Tankergate Lives On

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates put the kabosh on the Air Force's tanker replacement competition today marking yet another end to yet another chapter in what has got to be one of the biggest black eyes in military procurement history. The program termination is being based on the fact that the DoD won't be able to complete the competition process before the end of the current presidential administration. Now either Obama or McCain will have the pleasure of adopting the red-headed step child that is the KC-X tanker replacement program. Aimed at replacing the venerable KC-135 Stratotanker, the program has been an embarrassment for the current administration for all eight years in office and has even led to the sacking of a few high ranking Air Force officials.

Ironically, McCain is one of the responsible parties from the early days of Tankergate. Since then the Air Force had rehashed the bid process and stunned the nation by awarding a contract to Northrop Grumman/EADS for their KC-45A based on the Airbus A330 airframe back in February. Not going down without a nasty catfight, Boeing filed a formal protest with the GAO citing inconsistencies in the Air Force's decision to select the KC-45A. The GAO accepted the protest and helped push the stop button on the KC-45A program in June. The very next month, the Defense Department said to hell with the Air Force and reopened the competition all over again this time running it straight from that 5-sided building on the Potomac. Things got nastier with some other Air Force SNAFUs and people up high on the chain lost their jobs as a part of this mess. So now it is only appropriate in considering the entire nightmare that has been KC-X for the whole thing to be called off.

"Over the past seven years the process has become enormously complex and emotional - in no small part because of mistakes and missteps along the way by the Department of Defense," says Gates. "It is my judgment that in the time remaining to us, we can no longer complete a competition that would be viewed as fair and objective in this highly charged environment." Now we are forced to sit through a "cooling off" period before the next administration starts their own chapter in what was supposed to be an already late retirement for the KC-135. Anyone really surprised? And yes, I realize that is not the current SecDef. It just really captured the theme of this post.

[Flight Global]

Home to PointNiner

ABL Fires High Energy Laser For First Time

The future of warfare is very very near. We're already seeing in Iraq and Afganistan autonomous drones that can loiter over combat for 24 hours and Humvee mounted microwave beams that can heat up the surface of the human skin. The Air Force also wants to develop laser gunships to replace AC-130s for precision ground...um...lasering. And now the Air Force's Airborne Laser program has reached a historic milestone in its quest to bring warfare into the 21st century when it achieved "first light" and fired its high-energy chemical laser during a ground test September 7th at Edwards AFB. The Air Force and the Missile Defense Agency are very optimistic about the future of the YAL-1 program and what it will mean for future combat. The prototype has been in testing for quite some time now and has had success in firing its beam control/fire control system, developed by Lockheed Martin. This has all lead up to the big ray gun (aka chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL)) developed by Northrop Grumman which is mounted on the modified 747-400F produced by Boeing. The multi-contractor team and the Air Force are moving one step closer with the recent test towards its first missile shoot-down demonstration scheduled for 2009. After that, perhaps the Defense Department should look into an Imperial Death Star for it's next futuristic weapon.

[Boeing]

Home to PointNiner

DoD reopens tanker contract bidding, bypasses Air Force

It shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone that the bidding has reopened for the lucrative aerial tanker contract. Especially after the GAO sustained Boeing's bid protest last month regarding the award given to the team of Northrop Grumman and EADS. What is a bit of a shocker, is that the new competition for the replacement of the KC-135 will not be overseen by the Air Force, as it was before. This time the DoD will run the contest straight from the Pentagon due to an overwhelming lack of confidence in the Air Force to manage the contract. Congressman Norm Dicks (of WA, it should be noted) was quoted as saying "I think it's better. No one has any faith in the Air Force." The GAO report pointed out some "significant errors" made by the Air Force in the original contest and suggested that Boeing might have won the contract if not for these mistakes. Boeing was pitting, and will again, its 767-based refueler against Northrop Grumman's Airbus A330 based tanker. The $35 billion contract will now have a limited rebid by the Pentagon, who claims they will pick a new winner by the end of the year. Meanwhile, a ragged old KC-135 somewhere around the world is begging to be put out of its misery.


(via MSNBC)

Home to PointNiner

GAO tells Air Force, "not so fast" on new tanker

Of course we always knew it was never really over. In a big victory for Boeing today, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a bid protest by the Chicago-based aircraft manufacturer over the Pentagon's decision to select the Northrop Grumman/EADS proposal for the KC-X tanker replacement program. The GAO press release states "the Air Force had made a number of significant errors that could have affected the outcome of what was a close competition between Boeing and Northrop Grumman". As if this project has been drawn out enough, the GAO is now proposing the Air Force "reopen discussions with the offerors,obtain revised proposals, re-evaluate the revised proposals, and make a new source selection decision." So instead of preparing to receive their 179 Northrop Grumman KC-45A's to partially replace the fleet of venerable KC-135's, it looks like the Air Force may be back to the drawing board on this one. Of course this decision has thrilled Boeing, who still hopes to supply the Air Force with its 767 based aerial refueler. Northrop Grumman, on the other hand, is still confident they will be producing the Air Force's next tanker, even with the re-evaluation. Round and round we go! I hope those mechanics can keep the 135's together at least another year longer than they were expecting.

Home to PointNiner

Navy gets 1st Growler, enemy radar operators mess their pants

The US Naval Fleet received it's first EA-18G Growler aircraft today at a ceremony at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington. While the Navy had been testing the Growler in recent years, this aircraft will be the first to gain operational capability now that it has joined the U.S. Navy's Electronic Attack Squadron, (VAQ) 129. The Vikings of VAQ 129 have been operating the Growler's predecessor, the EA-6B Prowler, since 1971 with the Fleet Readiness Squadron at NAS Whidbey Island, which is home port for all airborne electronic attack aircraft in the Navy.

So what's so great about the Growler (other than a sweet name)? This next-gen aircraft leans on the airframe of the combat-proven F/A-18F Super Hornet to build the world's most capable airborne electronic attack aircraft with the equipment, advanced weapons, sensors and communications to totally obliterate enemy air defenses. The team of Boeing and Northrop Grumman have done a fabulous job creating this next great electronic attack system. The Vikings of VAQ 129 should be getting the first 5 fleet Growlers, which I'm looking forward to seeing on the deck of a carrier ready to strike around the world. Some poor soul manning an air defense scope is going to regret painting this bad boy with radar. Of course, it will all be over before he knows it.

Home to PointNiner

Northrup Grumman already building Next-Gen Bomber?

Recent financial statements from defense contractor Northrop Grumman may indicate that the company is building the Air Force's Next Generation Bomber (NGB). First Quarter statements reveal nearly $2.6 billion (yes billion with a B) that was awarded to them for "restricted programs" according to Aviation Week. That's a nice way of putting it. This has led to many analysts in the industry to suspect the money was awarded by the Air Force for Northrop Grumman to build the prototype NGB as a black project. While the Air Force "officially" has nothing in their budget for the program, they keep on saying the NGB will enter service in 2018. The other team vying for NGB (Boeing/Lockheed Martin) claims they haven't received any government funding.

The other interesting anomaly pointing to a Northrop Grumman bomber is that after the J-UCAS program was terminated last year, the Pentagon decided to split the funds between a Navy program (which Northrop Grumman won) and a classified Air Force project. Hmmmm.

Home to PointNiner

Northrop Grumman wins again, this time for BAMS

Northrop Grumman has done it again. After a highly contentious victory over Boeing for the KC-X program, Northrop Grumman has won another high profile, high dollar contract with the Pentagon, this time with the US Navy for the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) aircraft. Northrop, with its sweet Global Hawk proposal, beat out Boeing once again on this one along with a Lockheed Martin-General Atomics team following a grueling 89 month competition. The $1.16 billion contract will initially provide the Navy with two Global Hawks equipped with the BAMS suite of electro-optical and 360 degree Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) active electronically scanned array capabilities. This will give the Navy what it likes to call maritime Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) data. Another follow-on phase could include additional aircraft for the Navy.

I've gotta say, I have been a huge Global Hawk fan from the beginning. I've been truly impressed with it's abilities such as 24 hour loiter time and 60k+ foot ceiling. Plus, it just looks menacing. This is just another notch in the belt of Northrop Grumman who seems unbeatable right now.

Click here for a sweet BAMS video produced by Northrop Grumman.

Home to PointNiner

GAO Throws Out Motions to Dismiss Boeing's Protest Claim

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has decided to review Boeing's protest against the well-known KC-X contract award, while all other parties involved KC-X program continue to bicker over the details of the US Air Force selection process.

One month after the USAF awarded the long term contract for the KC-X program to Northrop Grumman/EADS North America's KC-45A, the GAO rejected separate motions by the Air Force and NG/EADS to throw out Boeing's protest claim. The GAO has until mid-June to adjudge Boeing's case for overturning the contract award. Currently, the GAO is awaiting the USAF's response to Boeing's claims, due on April 16.

Meanwhile, Boeing and NG have teams of lawyers stationed at the GAO's offices reviewing thousands of pages of official USAF documents, seeking to dig up new details to support their respective cases.

Those discoveries have prompted Boeing to submit three updates to its original protest document, submitted in mid-March, which are naturally not being disclosed. Boeing's original protest focused on two points - that the USAF selection team "unfairly" rejected some of Boeing's cost estimates, and that "last-minute" changes to a software-based evaluation model biased the outcome of the competition in favor of NG/EADS offering.

Surely there is more to come in the following days, stay tuned to PointNiner.

Home to PointNiner

First KC-45 already set for mods?

Very sneaky Northrop Grumman, or should I say...Airbus! After being a bit coy about the current status of any A330 already being prepped for tanker conversion, the team has apparently let the cat out of the bag by indicating that ship D-1, the first KC-45, has already arrived at EADS' passenger-to-cargo conversion shop in Dresden Germany. It had mainly been kept under wraps until late last week due in part to the current protest over the tanker contract award by Boeing. Dresden is just the first stop for D-1. After there it will fly to CASA's Madrid shop for it's refueling systems, then on to Northrop Grumman's Melbourne, Florida facility for defensive systems. All these mods plus assembly should take place at the new Mobile plant when the program finally gets rolling. The KC-45 team is still speculating a 2010 first flight, protest pending. Would it really take that long? Check out the picture below...don't the flags have you fooled?



Photos: Northrop Grumman

Return to Contact Ground .9

Northrop Grumman Touts Its N-UCAS

Northrop Grumman officials are promoting their unmanned strike aircraft being designed for the U.S. Navy as a “first-generation” unmanned combat aerial system (UCAS) with capabilities that include early missile defense intercepts.

The platform for a new strike fight design is based on the NG's X-47B, but NG is assembling an internal system that could fit into a variety of airframes. The aircraft could incorporate air-to-air refueling and advanced sensors, targeting, and weapons.

Officials are also contending that their F-35's and NG's UCAS would be a more powerful combination than Boeing's Super Hornet teamed up with the UCAS because of the F-35's ability to penetrate foreign airspaces in combination with the UCAS.

NG claims the UCAS would be capable of carrying a payload of electronic attack devices, which is important as the United States military (mainly Navy) is to begin phasing out its main electronic attack aircraft, the EA-6B Prowler, in 2012.

And, as you can see from the above picture, the aircraft will be quite stealthy, incorporating next-gen stealth technology.

Northrop Grumman video outlines Bama KC-45 assembly

This video from the Northrop Grumman website sheds a little light on how Northrop Grumman and Airbus (shhhh) plan on building the Air Force's newest aerial refueler here in the good ole' US of A. For the sake of the multi-billion dollar contract and Aaron's sanity, we must stress this is a genuine American-made product. No proceeds of this contract containing US tax dollars will go to line the pockets of any socialistic European dignitaries bent on EU domination. I've read this is expected to bring $1 billion of economic activity to the Mobile, Alabama area. What I haven't heard is how much may actually float back across the pond. Video refers to aircraft as KC-30 as this video was produced prior to contract awarding and subsequent name change to KC-45.