GAO Turns Down Boeing Protest Over Bomber Contract
16 Février 2016 - 7:50PM
Dow Jones News
Northrop Grumman Corp. can resume work on developing a new Air
Force bomber after a federal overseer on Tuesday rejected a protest
led by Boeing Co. against the award on a program that could
ultimately cost more than $80 billion.
The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, turned down
Boeing's protest against the award last October to Northrop
following one of the fiercest bidding contests in more than a
decade.
Northrop had to stop work on the classified program after Boeing
and partner Lockheed Martin Corp. lodged a protest in November,
alleging the Air Force selection was "irreparably flawed" because
of its treatment of cost and performance estimates submitted by the
opposing bidders.
The Air Force and Northrop stood behind the award process.
"GAO reviewed the challenges to the selection decision raised by
Boeing and has found no basis to sustain or uphold the protest,"
the agency said in a statement.
"In denying Boeing's protest, GAO concluded that the technical
evaluation, and the evaluation of costs, was reasonable, consistent
with the terms of the solicitation, and in accordance with
procurement laws and regulations."
Northrop said last month that it had included some revenue from
work on the long-range strike bomber in its 2016 guidance, and
planned to increase hiring on the program, which has been under
development for several years.
The company was awarded a $21.4 billion deal to complete the
bomber's development alongside a contract to build an initial 21
jets. The Pentagon didn't reveal the size of the production deal,
but wants to eventually field 100 of the jets to replace aging
aircraft such as the B-52, with the first aircraft due to be
fielded from 2025.
The decision moves attention to the two next big Air Force
contracts expected to be awarded over the next two years, including
a fleet of new training jets and the JSTARS reconnaissance
plane.
Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 16, 2016 13:35 ET (18:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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