Y2KPony

Boeing Drags Its Heels on Air Force Bid

I might have made a mistake, User 249704 is a bigger moron than Respirate.

"Important to Note here: Air Force doesn't know what Northrop's bid will contain, therefore it's impossible for them to slant the RFP towards Northrop - right?"

Are you kidding me? From the start of the competition, the USAF knew exactly what plane the NG team was going to use.

And in regards to #6, the Air Force changed specifications DURING the competition WITHOUT telling Boeing, but they DID tell NG.

In regards to #9, this change was made AFTER the initial RFP, not before. Check the 67 page report on the GAO's website.

To make this whole thing fair, here's what I suggest.

1.) Do not re-bid, go back and use the original submittals from both EADS and Boeing.

2.) Re-evaluate based on the RFP Boeing was originally given, not the revised one that Boeing didn't see until after the competition was over.

3.) This time base it on a 50-year life cycle cost, not the 25-year cost to account for real-world conditions. (You have to admit that the aircraft had better last more than 25-years. Boeing's will, but will EADs?)

4.) Adjust for any costs required such as airport construction, hangars, additional training, etc.

Based on that above criteria (which you pretty much said was fair), the Air Force along with help from the GAO and the Pentagon should be able to re-evaluate the original proposals from both suppliers and come up with a fair answer.

What do you think? Or would you complain about that too?