washingtonpost.comRenae Merle von der Washington Post wrote:August 2, 2006
Lockheed Martin Put Out of Army Aircraft Bid
The Army eliminated Lockheed Martin Corp. from a $5 billion competition to provide it with more than 100 small cargo aircraft.
The decision is a blow for the Bethesda-based defense contractor, which had offered a version of its C-130J Hercules aircraft. Lockheed spent $1 billion of its own funds developing the aircraft, but it had been plagued by rising costs and questions about its performance. The Pentagon proposed canceling the C-130J program last year but later decided it was too expensive to terminate.
Carole H. Hubbard, an Army contracting officer, said in a letter to Lockheed that the company's submission did not meet the competition's standards, including a requirement that the aircraft be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration. The C-130J "is not FAA certified as verified by the FAA," the letter said.
The company disagreed with the decision, Lockheed spokesman Jeff Adams said. The C-130J is based on another FAA-certified aircraft already in use by the Air Force, several other services and some foreign countries.
"We believe the C-130J is the best value solution for the Army and is the only aircraft which meets the stringent operational requirements of both the Army and the Air Force," Adams said. The company will decide whether to file a protest after it is briefed on the Army's ruling, he said.
The decision leaves L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. and Raytheon Co. in the fight to build the planes, which would deliver small amounts of cargo to military hot spots with unpaved or rough airstrips. The aircraft will replace the C-23 Sherpa, C-12 and other small cargo aircraft used by the Army for this work. The Air Force plans to use some of the planes.
2 Europ
2 Europ
Langsam wird die europäische Luftfahrtindustrie auch in den USA salonfähig: Hinter beiden Finalisten stehen Konsortien mit europäischen Firmen: L-3 kooperiert mit Alenia North America, einer Tochter von Finmeccanice S.p.A., zu Raytheon gesellt sich EADS North America.
For radar identification, throw your jumpseat rider out the window.