,
WASHINGTON: The U.S. Air Force has asked the Government Accountability Office to reopen its inquiry that led the office to uphold a protest of a $15 billion helicopter contract awarded last year to Boeing Co..
Michael Golden, a GAO lawyer, said on Wednesday the Air Force had filed a “request for reconsideration” but he could give no details as the matter is under a protective order.
The GAO said last month the Air Force should reopen the competition for combat search-and-rescue helicopters because it evaluated the life-cycle costs of the helicopters in way that was inconsistent with the terms of the competition.
An Air Force official, who asked not to be named, said the service wanted a better understanding of the merits of more than 20 other issues raised but not addressed in February's GAO recommendation. Otherwise, the Air Force could face a barrage of other protests even after it addressed the issue raised by GAO in its ruling, said the official.
Sikorsky, a unit of United Technologies Corp., and Lockheed Martin Corp. had filed protests with the GAO over the award to Boeing.
GAO's Golden said that before acting on the Air Force request, the GAO would seek comment from Boeing, Lockheed and Sikorsky.
If it accepts the request, the GAO would then have 100 days to address the “numerous” other issues raised by Lockheed and Sikorsky in their protests, Golden said.
The GAO has not identified the other issues, which are also under the protective order.
The Air Force had no official comment. Sikorsky said it was aware of the Air Force action, but could not comment, given the protective order.
Lockheed and Sikorsky could refile protests on those other issues with GAO, or take the matter to federal claims court.
Air Force officials initially said they viewed the GAO ruling as confined to the one technical issue — how the Air Force evaluated the life-cycle costs of the various aircraft.
But the GAO has repeatedly told the service over the past two weeks that it did not address other issues raised by the protesting companies since it believed those would be moot if the Air Force reopened the competition as recommended.
Boeing officials said on Tuesday the GAO had already gathered data on those other issues during a week of hearings before its ruling last month.
Van Horn, a Boeing official who led the company's drive to win the 146-helicopter contract, said any errors identified by the GAO needed to be corrected. But a complete redoing of the competition would give rival companies an unfair advantage and could delay delivery by more than a year, he said.
In addition to the GAO request, the Air Force is also meeting regularly with all the companies as it seeks a resolution that averts a long delay in delivery of the new helicopters, said one source familiar with the Air Force effort.
