Officials poised to launch tanker contest

Senior Pentagon and Air Force officials on Thursday briefed key lawmakers on how they intend to pick a company to build a fleet of aerial refueling tankers, pledging not to make the same mistakes that plagued the last contest for the lucrative contract.

In a series of briefings held the day before the Air Force formally begins the competition, officials told lawmakers they hope to award a contract by the middle of next year, in the hopes of rolling the first tanker off production lines by 2015.

Northrop Grumman Corp. and EADS, the European consortium behind Airbus, won the $35 billion deal last year to build 179 tankers for the Air Force. But the Government Accountability Office upheld a protest filed by the Boeing Co., the losing bidder, and the Pentagon canceled the contract.

During Thursday's private meetings on Capitol Hill, Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter assured lawmakers they had taken GAO's findings - including concerns the Air Force took too subjective an approach in the selection process - very seriously.

The Air Force "aims to be much more objective, so it is crystal clear to each [contractor] what it takes to win; and transparent so that when a winner is chosen everyone can understand why they won," according to Pentagon briefing charts distributed Thursday during the meetings.

A draft request for proposals, which will be released Friday, includes 373 requirements for the tanker and 93 prioritized "nonmandatory requirements," the charts show.

Meanwhile, contractors will be able to see where they measure up at every step of the competition - a key concern raised by Boeing supporters who felt the company was blindsided when the Air Force favored the larger Airbus plane.

Officials also signaled they would not penalize the Northrop/EADS team for interim findings in a World Trade Organization case that found Airbus received unfair subsidies from the European Union. But the draft RFP will contain a hold-harmless clause, meaning any penalties assessed in final rulings would not affect the program price.

The acquisition strategy for the program drew immediate reactions from lawmakers, including House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pa., who said it "appears to be both open and less subjective."

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a strong Boeing supporter, said she plans to hold the Pentagon to its promises of a fair and open competition. "I will be looking specifically at how this RFP was constructed, how clearly it lays out what the Air Force wants, how requirements will be weighted, and why the consideration of illegal trade subsidies was left out," Murray said.

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., who backs the Northrop/EADS team, said the Air Force made a "fair and just determination" not to penalize the Airbus plane for "unfounded results of an interim World Trade Organization report."