Fwd: USAF Orders Northrop To Stop Work on LRS-B

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: November 11, 2015 at 9:47:55 AM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: USAF Orders Northrop To Stop Work on LRS-B

USAF Orders Northrop To Stop Work on LRS-B

Nov 9, 2015 Amy Hillis | Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

 

LRSB

The U.S. Air Force has issued a stop-work order on the Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) to Northrop Grumman in accordance with standard procedures for contracts that undergo a protest.

The stop-work order was sent Nov. 6, says Maj. Robert Leese, an Air Force spokesman. The order came the same day Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the losing bidders, filed their protest of the award with the Government Accountability Office.

Northrop Grumman declined to say whether it would continue some work on its own dime as the GAO reviews the protest.

The losing team alleges that the Air Force did not properly weigh the risk associated with each contractors' bid and neglected to take into account how modern production and maintenance techniques could keep the price of the program down. The team claims the service unfairly added cost to each bid, roughly doubling the estimates from the $10-11 billion range as submitted.

Aside from the scoring issues, the team has raised the larger question of whether the entire process was errant from the outset, yielding a contract that fails to reduce cost during a time when Congress is demanding the Pentagon curb spending. GAO cannot rule on this issue, but it is likely to grab the attention of Congress.

The magnitude of the delay caused by the protest will be determined by whether GAO upholds any of Boeing and Lockheed Martin's complaints. In some cases – such as the KC-X program – a protest can result in an entirely new competition, consuming years. In other cases, a fix can simply prompt a rescoring of the bids.

The Air Force says it hopes to field the first LRSB in a conventional role in the mid-2020s. Initial operational capability for the nuclear-capable version, which requires rigorous testing and validation, would come later. Adm. Cecil Haney, who leads U.S. Strategic Command, says he wants the nuclear delivery version in the field around 2030.

The Air Force did have the option to issue a waiver to the stop work, allowing Northrop Grumman to continue its progress. However, this is only used when national security is at risk if a system is not fielded smartly. It is likely the Air Force opted not to issue such a waiver in part to avoid the political scrutiny such a move could make.
                               

Copyright © 2015, Penton.  All rights reserved.

 

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