McCain Questions KC-X Draft RFP Process

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McCain Questions KC-X Draft RFP Process
Aviation Week's DTI | Amy Butler | November 16, 2009

Sen. John McCain, who singlehandedly started investigations that led the U.S. Air Force to scuttle plans to lease Boeing 767 tankers in 2002, is now raising questions about the service’s source selection methodology for yet another attempt to procure replacements for aging KC-135 refuelers.

The questions from McCain, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, are outlined in an Oct. 29 letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates that was also sent to Pentagon acquisition czar Ashton Carter and Air Force Secretary Michael Donley.

McCain asks why the KC-X source selection criteria laid out in a September draft request for proposals (RFP) for the forthcoming competition estimated to be worth $35 billion lacks some commonly used data in Pentagon pricing. Typically, Air Force ownership estimates include a probable lifecycle cost (including pricing for research and development, operations and maintenance and depot-level maintenance.

In the draft RFP, the pricing includes fuel usage rates and a calculation of military construction needs. “Why should the current source selection methodology not require that the be adjusted to reflect those (and perhaps other similar) ownership costs?” McCain asks.

Furthermore, echoing complaints from the Northrop Grumman/EADS team offering the Airbus A330-based design, the senator questions why the pricing requirements in the draft RFP would “not favor mostly smaller airframes offered in response to the request for proposals.”


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