TANKER USAF - Appels d'offres

The New York Times takes a stand on tanker, or not
The New York Times published a wishy-washy [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Wednesday on the Air Force's aerial refueling [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] competition.
My reading of the editorial:

• The Pentagon says it refined its idea of what it really needed, but suspicions linger that politics helped tailor the criteria;
  
• Europeans are "understandably charging protectionism" which "could cause problems down the road for the American defense industry";
  
• "Both jets have pros and cons. The Airbus is bigger and can carry bigger hauls of fuel or cargo. Boeing's jets are smaller and cheaper -- not to be frowned at in these lean times. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to matter. The Air Force seems stuck with the politically feasible jet. It might be the best one, but it might not."
  

I just wish The Times would come out and say whether it believes politics and protectionism affected the criteria, rather than using the "some say" approach. Never mind that it's unwilling to endorse one tanker over the other.
The Times did take a firm stand on one issue, writing: "The tanker tale is also one more reminder of why the Pentagon needs to clean up its procurement process -- and how much further it has to go, despite Defense Secretary Robert Gates' pledges of reform."

A Politically Feasible Jet

There has been yet another setback in the Air Force’s long, agonizing process to replace its fleet of Eisenhower-era aerial refueling planes. Northrop Grumman and its European partner, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, dropped out of the competition this month, charging that the new contract specifications are tilted against their much larger Airbus A330 in favor of Boeing’s 767.
That leaves the Pentagon with only one bid — hardly a recipe to get the best tanker fleet at the best cost.
From a capabilities standpoint, we could see advantages in both planes. The Pentagon says that between the two rounds of bidding, it developed a more precise idea of what it needed. But its repeated flip-flops feed suspicions that politics and lobbying are what mattered most. Boeing’s Capitol Hill supporters — mainly from Washington State — built a case around stars, stripes and American jobs and, by implication, against a consortium that had, gasp, a European partner.
For American taxpayers and their armed forces to get the best possible tanker fleet — or other military equipment — for the money, qualified European partners must be permitted to compete fairly. For the record, the Airbus tankers would have been assembled in Alabama. The nation’s European allies are now understandably charging protectionism. This could cause problems down the road for the American defense industry, the biggest military exporter in the world.
The tanker tale is also one more reminder of why the Pentagon needs to clean up its procurement process — and how much further it has to go, despite Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s pledges of reform.
The first attempt to replace the tankers came to grief in 2004. Senator John McCain scuttled a cozy, tailor-made deal to lease Boeing jets, unearthing evidence that an Air Force official had tried to get a job at Boeing while she was handling negotiations over the lease.
The Pentagon then ordered an auction for a $40 billion contract to buy the planes. But when the Air Force decided for the Airbus, Boeing and its favorite lawmakers cried foul. The Government Accountability Office agreed with Boeing, arguing that the Air Force favored Northrop: giving it points for size although the specs didn’t call for a bigger plane; giving Northrop advice along the way; and cutting it slack on several requirements.
The Air Force went back to the drawing board to craft new guidelines for the bidding. The rest is history. Both jets have pros and cons. The Airbus is bigger and can carry bigger hauls of fuel or cargo. Boeing’s jets are smaller and cheaper — not to be frowned at in these lean times. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to matter. The Air Force seems stuck with the politically feasible jet. It might be the best one, but it might not.

EADS Takes Wait-And-See Approach On KC-X

NEW YORK — EADS still has not given up hope entirely on competing in the U.S. Air Force KC-X tanker replacement program, and is waiting to see if the U.S. government will open the door.
Given the current timeline to respond to the request for proposals, and the wording of the solicitation, EADS CEO Louis Gallois rules out bidding. But he does leave open the door to a bid if things change. The ball is in the government’s court, he signals, saying: “Are they ready to change elements to help competition or not?” The Pentagon has said that EADS North America has expressed interest in a tanker bid.
Gallois refused to be pinned down on what changes might elicit an independent EADS bid or one with another prime contractor. More time is clearly one of those issues, but he would not say whether that would be enough. Despite the disappointment of the turn of events on KC-X, Gallois signals the general strategy to push into the U.S. market is unchanged, even if some of the growth targets may have to be moderated.
Several new programs are in the cards, adds Sean O’Keefe, head of EADS North America. EADS just responded to the U.S. Army’s armed aerial scout program, offering a version of the EC 165 and a version of the UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopter that the U.S. is already buying.
The company also is putting both the NH90 and EC725 forward for consideration for the U.S. Air Force ballistic missile field support role during the request for information phase. EADS is not looking to get into the battle over a future presidential helicopter. Another field where EADS wants to become more aggressive in the U.S. is in services, which is part of the corporation’s broader Vision 2020 growth plan.

NEW YORK, 19 mars 2010 (AFP)

Le Pentagone, déjà approché par Boeing et peut-être par Airbus, devrait également étudier une proposition du constructeur russe des Iliouchine, intéressé par son appel d'offres à 35 milliards de dollars pour la fourniture d'avions ravitailleurs.

2010 AFP

Russians, EADS eye rich U.S. aerial tanker deal

WASHINGTON/FRANKFURT, March 19 (Reuters) - A surprise Russian bid was reported in the works Friday for a multibillion-dollar U.S. aerial-refueling fleet even as Europe's EADS ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]) sought three more months for a possible bid of its own.
The fresh competitor is a joint venture due to be announced by a U.S. defense contractor and United Aircraft Corp of Russia, an aerospace consortium partly owned by the Russian government, said John Kirkland, a Los Angeles-based attorney representing the planned partnership.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the tanker contest with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Moscow Friday and "would very much like to discuss it further before she leaves," Kirkland said, citing a senior Russian aerospace-trade official.
The developments shook up the U.S. Air Force's troubled, nearly decade-long effort to start replacing its fleet of Boeing-built KC-135 tankers, which are close to 50 years old on average.
They raised the prospect of a three-way contest pitting the Russians against EADS, the corporate parent of Airbus, and Chicago-based Boeing Co ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]).
The U.S. Defense Department is "right now seriously considering the extension request from EADS," Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said in an emailed statement. The current deadline is May 10.
"We have always made clear that this is a fair and open competition and we welcome all qualified bidders," he added in response to a question about the reported Russian offer.
EADS, which lost its U.S. partner for the job last week, could rejoin the race if it determines "there is a fair chance to win, after evaluating all relevant factors," the company said earlier on Friday.
Northrop Grumman Corp ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]), teamed with EADS, bested Boeing for a 2008 deal to build an initial 179 tankers, only to have that award canceled after U.S. auditors found the Air Force had failed to follow its own judging rules.
Los Angeles-based Northrop, which would have been the prime contractor, withdrew on March 8 from the planned rematch, which is valued at up to $50 billion.
In dropping plans to bid, Northrop Chief Executive Wes Bush said the Pentagon's final tender "clearly favors" Boeing's smaller 767-based plane over the larger Airbus A330 derivative pitched by EADS.
EADS had hoped to use the tanker contract as a beachhead in United States, the world's most lucrative market for military goods.
The Pentagon, battling cries of foul and charges of protectionism from European allies, reiterated on Thursday that it would welcome an EADS bid and would weigh a "reasonable" deadline extension.
Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state, where Boeing would do much of its tanker work, said she was disappointed the Defense Department was "even considering giving in to Airbus" and extending the deadline.
"I believe in a fair and open competition, but this is no time to put American service members and workers on hold while a foreign company waffles," she said in a statement.
In the latest twist, Russia's UAC would seek to offer a tanker version of its Ilyushin Il-96 widebody jetliner, dubbed the Il-98, Kirkland said in a telephone interview.
The planes would be largely built in Russia, and assembled in the United States, according to the Wall Street Journal, the first to report the plan.
"They've been planning this for more than a year," Kirkland said, adding he had been involved for more than six months. "If it's a fair competiontion, UAC wins," he said. He declined to name the U.S. joint venture partner, but said it was publicly traded and due to be announced by Monday.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Clinton at a meeting in Russia on Friday that Russian companies needed more help to penetrate the U.S. market.
EADS, in its statement, said the Defense Department had welcomed a possible proposal under which EADS North American unit would be prime contractor, not merely the partner of a U.S.-based firm.
The company declined to comment on how long of an extension it was seeking. Indeed, EADS still has not decided whether it will bid at all, but extending the deadline is a critical first step, said Guy Hicks, a spokesman.
EADS North America became a prime contractor for the Pentagon when it was selected in 2006 to build UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopters for the U.S. Army.
Boeing, the Pentagon's No. 2 contractor by sales after Lockheed Martin Corp ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]). recognized it must earn the deal by meeting or beating all requirements with a tanker that is "cost-effective to buy, own and operate," said spokesman William Barksdale in an email.
This is the third attempt since 2001 to start buying new tankers, which are used to refuel other planes in mid-air.
The first effort, a $21.5 billion plan to lease and buy Boeing 767 tankers, collapsed in an ethics scandal that sent two Boeing employees to prison for conflict of interest, one of them a former top Air Force arms buyer. The second contract award took place in February 2008 before it was canceled.
In line with Northrop, EADS has said the U.S. Air Force's terms for the rematch are skewed in favor of Boeing's smaller 767-based tanker and fail to give enough credit for the added capability of the larger Airbus A330.
EADS shares closed up 1.0 percent at 14.83 euros on the Paris stock exchange on Friday.
Boeing shares closed 15 cents lower in New York. They had been up earlier in the session, lifted by the company's statement that it will accelerate planned production increases of its 777 and 747 aircraft.

The Ilyushin Il-96 is a four-engine, wide-body, longer range passenger and freighter aircraft based upon the Il-86 airliner. The Il-96 aircraft features a fuselage shortened approx. 4 meters, a new wing layout, a seating capacity between 235 and 436 passengers, and fly-by-wire controls. The Il-96 wide-body aircraft family includes the Il-96-300 and Il-96-400 airliners and the Il-96T and Il-96-400T freighters. The Il-96 powered by western engines and the Il-98 twin-engine airliners were cancelled. The Il-96 maiden flight was carried out on September 28, 1988. In July 1993 the first Il-96-300 airliner entered into service.

The Il-96M long-range, wide-body airliner is a stretched derivative of the Il-96-300 equipped with western engines and avionics. The aircraft's seating capacity was increased to accommodate up to 375 passengers. The most significant improvement introduced into the Il-96M compared to the Il-96-300 are the four US-built PW2037 engines rated at 37,000 pounds of thrust. These engines are far more reliable and fuel efficient than Russian made PS90A turbofans.

Ilyushin and the Russian Industry were studying the development of a re-engined Il-96 with more powerful turbofans and the development of a twin-engine variant called the Il-98 which would be powered by western turbofans such as GE90, Trent 800 and PW4000. Both projects Il-96M and Il-98 were finally rejected by Ilyushin Aviation Complex.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] North America has confirmed that the company could submit a proposal for the KC-X tanker contract as a prime contractor, although several concerns about the timing and fairness of the competition remain.

"EADS is assessing this new situation to determine if the company can feasibly submit a responsive proposal to the department's request for proposal," a statement issued by the company on 19 March says.
The announcement comes one day after a Department of Defense spokesman said the 10 May deadline for receiving proposals could be extended by a "reasonable" amount to allow EADS to bid.

Louis Gallois, EADS chief executive, also told reporters on 18 March that the current deadline would make it impossible for the company to submit a bid.
The company's new announcement, however, notes that several major concerns remain even if the proposal deadline is postponed.
The Pentagon has not addressed "EADS' underlying concerns that the RFP clearly favours a smaller, less capable aircraft, and that the additional combat capability offered by our system may not be fully valued", the company says.

EADS also requires a "significant extension" to the 10 May deadline if the company decides to submit a bid, the statement says.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] had previously fronted a bid based on the EADS-owned [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], but the US prime contractor announced on 8 March its withdrawal over concerns about the RFP's fairness.
Both Northrop and EADS officials have complained since October that the revised KC-X evaluation process favors an aircraft smaller than the A330. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] has proposed a new version of the KC-767 called the NextGen Tanker.
The Pentagon declined to adjust evaluation requirements using the Boeing KC-135R's fuel offload capacity as the baseline for refuelling performance, as Northrop demanded. But the DoD did adjust the fixed-price contracting formula so that taxpayers would shoulder more of the financial risk in the event of cost overruns caused by factors other than inflation.

Jeannot a écrit:Moi je trouve que si EADS fait une offre, elle devrait s'appuer sur du RR. Cela serait assez drôle.

Washington has offered an olive branch to Europe by indicating it will consider EADS, the Franco-German aerospace group, as a prime contractor if it decides to re-enter the multibillion-dollar competition to supply air tankers to the US air force.
EADS confirmed on Friday the Pentagon had indicated it would welcome the company fronting a bid, describing it as “a significant development” which it was assessing. It cautioned that while “a positive sign” the development did not address the company’s underlying concerns that the bidding rules favour “a smaller, less capable aircraft and that the additional combat capability offered by our system may not be fully valued”.

“In the end, the company will only submit a proposal if there is a fair chance to win, after evaluating all relevant factors,” it added.

Nevertheless, the move by the Pentagon is significant. Defence insiders had previously deemed it impossible for a foreign company to act as prime contractor on the $50bn contest to replace 179 of the the US air force’s ageing refuelling tankers given its size and political sensitivity.
Although EADS already holds prime contractor status in the US for military helicopters, fronting such a bid would represent a huge boost to the group’s ambitions to break into the US defence market. Prime contractor status – in effect the main supplier to the US government – on such a big contract could open up other large tenders that have previously been out of reach.

Nonetheless, a prime contractor role may not be enough to entice EADS to re-enter the bid on its own. It will still hold out for a revision of the terms and conditions, which it believes favour Boeing’s smaller 767 aircraft over its own converted A330.

Any revision would impose a delay on a tender that has already lasted several years, and so would present difficulties to the Pentagon.

But US authorities are trying to find ways to respond to the anger in Europe over the terms of the competition after EADS and its US partner [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]decided to pull out alleging that the rules had been biased in favour of Boeing.
France, Germany and the UK have criticised Washington’s handling of the bid process, won by EADS and Northrop Grumman in 2008 but revoked after complaints from Boeing, and said they would discuss with European partners the possible “implications”.
Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, intends to raise the issue on a visit to Washington this month.
EADS executives were due on Friday to meet Pentagon officials to discuss the terms of any bid extension. “It has got to be more than just another 30 days,” said a person close to the situation.

EADS is seeking three more months to prepare a bid to build a multi-billion dollar US aerial-refuelling fleet in the latest twist in a nearly decade-long saga, the Pentagon said on Friday.
"We're considering that request," Bryan Whitman, a department spokesman, told reporters at the Pentagon. The current deadline is May 10.

A contest would pit EADS, Airbus's corporate parent, against Boeing, its arch-rival in the commercial airliner market.
Northrop Grumman and EADS had bested Boeing in a similar race two years ago, only to have their award cancelled after US government auditors found the Air Force had failed to apply its own judging rules.

Los Angeles-based Northrop, which would have been the prime contractor, withdrew on March 8 from the latest contest, saying the Pentagon's final tender "clearly favours" Boeing's 767-based tanker over the Airbus A330 derivative pitched by EADS.

EADS could rejoin the race if it determines "there is a fair chance to win, after evaluating all relevant factors," the company said on Friday.

The Pentagon, battling charges of protectionism, had reiterated on Thursday that it would welcome an EADS bid and would consider a "reasonable" extension of time.
Whitman declined to define what the Pentagon had in mind as a reasonable delay. He said the Pentagon considered EADS a "qualified" offeror.

EADS' North American unit likely would become its own prime contractor rather than seek to partner again.
The company has not yet decided to bid, said Guy Hicks, an EADS spokesman in Washington.
Extending the deadline for bids is a critical first step, Hicks said.

EADS North America became a prime contractor for the Pentagon after it was selected in 2006 to build UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopters for the US Army.
In line with Northrop, EADS has said the US Air Force's terms for the tanker contract, valued at up to USD$50 billion, were skewed in favour of Boeing's smaller 767-based tanker and do not give enough credit for the added capability of a larger tanker based on the Airbus A330.

The Airbus model has been chosen over Boeing 767 derivatives as a tanker by Australia, Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the four most recent contests, according to EADS.
The US Defence Department said on Thursday it invited proposals from qualified contractors and, if necessary, would consider pushing back the deadline. Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, added that this was not unusual, citing a half dozen cases where deadlines had been extended.

(Reuters)

Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel yesterday presented a united Franco-German front against Washington's handling of a $50bn military tender, saying they would discuss "possible implications" with European partners.
"The chancellor and the president of the Republic, together with the European Commission and the European partners concerned, will examine the implications of future developments in this affair," a joint statement said.
It comes just days after France and the UK issued a similarly forthright joint statement on a visit to London by Mr Sarkozy, the French president.

The growing campaign is likely to exacerbate further trade relations with the US, already stretched by a proposed European clampdown on hedge funds.

European countries were outraged last week after EADS, the Franco-German aerospace and defence group, decided to pull out of the tender for 179 air refuelling tankers for the US Air Force, alleging foul play.
It was one of the world's biggest defence contracts on offer, with a potential value of up to $100bn (€72.7bn, £65.7bn).

EADS and Northrup Grumman, its US partner, won the contract in 2008 but their victory was successfully challenged by Boeing, the US rival, and the tender was relaunched. The group and Northrup said that revised tender rules favoured Boeing, now the sole bidder in the race.
People close to both governments said the statement had been issued to show that feelings were still running high in Europe.

However, they dismissed the suggestion that Europe was preparing any form of trade sanctions against the US. "We have no intention at this stage to go beyond the declaration," a French official said. "They are expressing their common concerns about the procedure and it is a message that they hope the process can be conducted in a fair manner."
However, it is unlikely that either EADS or Northrup would be interested in returning to the fray unless the rules changed. The failed bid has already cost both companies significant amounts of money and man hours.

Le russe UAC ne serait pas candidat

MOSCOU, 22 mars (Reuters) - La société United Aviation Corporation (UAC), contrôlée par l'Etat russe, n'a pas l'intention de se porter candidate à l'appel d'offres pour les avions ravitailleurs de l'armée de l'air américaine, a déclaré lundi à Reuters une source au sein du groupe.
John Kirkland, un avocat de Los Angeles, avait déclaré à plusieurs organes de presse au cours du week-end qu'UAC allait annoncer ce lundi une coentreprise avec un groupe de défense américain afin de présenter une offre pour ce contrat de 50 milliards de dollars (37 milliards d'euros) (Voir [ID:nLDE62J007]).
L'information a été démentie par un responsable au sein du groupe russe. "Nous n'avons pas l'intention de faire d'offre", a-t-il dit.
John Kirkland avait déclaré que le russe pourrait faire une offre, citant les propos d'Alexandre Chichkine qu'il présentait comme un employé d'une agence de défense russe.
Contacté par Reuters, Alexandre Chichkine a répondu "qu'il ne pouvait rien dire du tout", sans même pouvoir confirmer son appartenance au Service fédéral de coopération militaro-technique.
Jointe à son tour, l'agence en question a déclaré n'avoir aucun employé portant ce nom dans ses fichiers.
Boeing est pour l'instant le seul candidat déclaré mais l'européen EADS , qui a perdu le 8 mars son associé, le groupe américain de défense Northrop Grumman , n'a pas exclu de faire une nouvelle proposition s'il estime avoir de réelles chances de l'emporter face à Boeing.

NEW YORK, 22 mars 2010 (AFP)

L'avocat américain John Kirkland, qui vendredi avait affirmé que la société russe UAC s'apprêtait à briguer le méga-contrat des ravitailleurs américains, a communiqué lundi ses échanges avec UAC et les autorités russes, les sommant de s'expliquer sur leur démenti.

2010 AFP

Sean O'Keefe, le directeur général d'EADS North America, a confirmé lundi que le groupe de défense sollicitait un report de quelque 90 jours de la date-limite du 10 mai fixée par le Pentagone pour l'appel d'offres d'un contrat d'avions ravitailleurs.
Sean O'Keefe a dit à des journalistes qu'EADS NA comptait avoir des nouvelles du Pentagone dans les jours qui viennent au sujet de cette demande.
Le porte-parole du Pentagone Bryan Whitman avait dit à la presse vendredi qu'EADS sollicitait un prolongation de 90 jours et que le Pentagone examinerait une "demande raisonnable" en ce sens.

Pentagon firm on leaving subsidies out of tanker contest

Defense Secretary Robert Gates Wednesday reiterated that the Pentagon would not account it its Air Force aerial refueling [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] competition for improper European [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] of Airbus jets.
A World Trade Organization panel [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Tuesday that European subsidies violated trade rules. Speaking to the House of Representatives' Appropriations committee Wednesday, however, Gates said (according to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]): "(M)y lawyers tell me that the WTO case, that it gives us no basis on which to make a judgment."
The WTO found the improperly subsidized programs included the A330, which is the basis for the tanker that Airbus parent EADS might pitch to the Air Force.
"(T)he WTO report finds that most of the $5.7 billion in aid Airbus received from European governments in developing the plane would be deemed illegal export assistance under the WTO agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures," Defense analyst Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the non-profit Lexington Institute, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Wednesday. "The U.S. Trade Representative has argued in filings with WTO that the A330 never would have been developed without the use a low-cost or no-cost loans now deemed illegal."
Washington Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell Tuesday tied the ruling to the tanker, with Cantwell saying: "EADS cannot be allowed to use these subsidies to lowball its bid for this important defense contract."
According to Reuters, Gates said the Pentagon was still considering EADS' request to extend the tanker request deadline so the company could file its own bid in the wake of tanker partner Northrop Grumman's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] to pull out of the contest earlier this month. That pullout has drawn fierce protests from European politicians, who accuse the Defense Department of writing protectionist tanker criteria.
Gates reportedly said Wednesday that the Pentagon would not change those requirements.

A day after a World Trade Organization panel upheld the U.S. complaint that European governments improperly [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Airbus planes, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk is in Brussels.
Kirk may get a rough reception from European leaders who say the U.S. Air Force's aerial refueling [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] request for proposals is slanted toward Boeing's 767-based tanker over a rival based on the Airbus A330. European politicians have [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] to allege protectionism in the tanker request.
U.S. politicians from Boeing-heavy states, meanwhile, continue to push for the Pentagon to penalize any bid involving the A330-based tanker.
Kirk is scheduled to talk trade with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, EU Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht, EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli, and EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Ciolos, and hold a joint news conference with De Gucht, scheduled for Friday, according to his office.
Kirk also is scheduled to host discussions with local business, non-governmental organization, and labor leaders and speak at the joint EU American Chamber of Commerce, BusinessEurope and Belgian American Chamber of Commerce lunch on Friday.