USAF CSAR program apparently flops

Yet again, the USAF bidding process appears to have fallen on its face. The CSAR (Combat Search And Rescue) Helicopter program that the Air Force has been trying to bid for some time now, may have only one bid submitted, as of the close of bidding on January 3.

Sikorsky has confirmed that they submitted a bid based on the H-60 airframe. Other possible competitors for the contract, valued at $6.8B have said that they would skip the competition, with one saying that they were considering their options for a legal challenge to the process.

Lieutenant General Charles Davis said that the process was set up to tell the competitors exactly what the Air Force needed in the helicopter, and what they could afford. Rumors are that the RFP was set up to favor the H-60, which he denied.

Boeing previously won the competition with the H-47 airframe, but lost the $15B contract to legal challenges.

The Air Force has refused comment as to whether only one bid was received. They say that once they select a winner, they can comment.

KC-46 anyone? I swear the Air Force doesn't know how to bid a contract anymore. It seems like every single contract that they bid is overturned at least once, if not multiple times, because they don't know what they're doing. It's like the Keystone Kops have taken over procurement for them.

The U.S. Air Force on Friday declined to confirm that it had received only one bid for a $6.8 billion helicopter competition that closed on Thursday, saying that information was “source selection sensitive.”

All but one of the contractors expected to bid to build a new combat search and rescue helicopters for the Air Force announced last month that they would not compete, raising the prospect that the Air Force would have to adopt a different approach to the acquisition program.

Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp , did submit a bid for the competition, based on its H-60 helicopter, according to a company spokesman. Other potential competitors confirmed that they had decided to skip the bidding, and at least one of the companies said it was exploring a possible legal challenge to the terms of the competition.

Source

reply to post by Zaphod58


Can someone explain why they need a new one? The last time I checked the Black hawk worked just fine for just about anything like that.

reply to post by Patriotsrevenge


Survivability and age. The new CSAR will be able to get on scene faster, and take more damage than a Black Hawk and get home. When they rescued the F-117 pilot that was shot down in Yugoslavia, there were unfriendly troops all around him. They were lucky that they weren't hit on the way in and out. Same with Scott O'Grady, except they were fired on heading out. The HH-60G is getting old too.

Ok, now that my brain is awake. They need new replacements for the PJ,s. They are some bad mofos who train just like the Navy Seals. My good friend from High School was actually shown graduating the course in the Discovery Channel program about them.

For what they do and where they go, they need to have some of the Stealth ones that the Navy Seals use to rescue downed pilots behind enemy lines. The rest they can just rebuild as the Pave Hawk H-60 is perfect for everything else.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by Patriotsrevenge

 

Survivability and age. The new CSAR will be able to get on scene faster, and take more damage than a Black Hawk and get home. When they rescued the F-117 pilot that was shot down in Yugoslavia, there were unfriendly troops all around him. They were lucky that they weren't hit on the way in and out. Same with Scott O'Grady, except they were fired on heading out. The HH-60G is getting old too.

edit on 1/5/2013 by Zaphod58 because: (no reason given)

Pretty sure they used Navy Pave Lows for that op since they flew from a carrier. A bigger helicopter. I know they need some for Pilot rescue but the whole fleet does not need to change because we don't have the money for it since Congress is loaded with Greedy do nothing for anyone scumbags.

I say give them what the Navy Seals have and call it a day.

reply to post by Patriotsrevenge


Well apparently they're going to get a new Black Hawk, because Sikorsky appears to be the sole bidder. It's a 14 year development contract, and proves yet again that the Air Force can't bid a contract to save their lives (pun intended)

reply to post by Patriotsrevenge


The Air Force is rapidly getting to where the only things that aren't 20+ years old are the F-22s, and eventually the F-35s. Yes, the economy is in bad shape, but so is the Air Force, and it's getting worse. There are rumors of some interesting black projects out there, but those are small scale projects right now. We're going to get to a point where they're going to give a war, and the Air Force is going to call time out because they don't have anything capable of fighting if we're not careful.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by Patriotsrevenge

 

Yes, the economy is in bad shape, but so is the Air Force, and it's getting worse.

I think "and" is a more appropriate conjunction to use there -

"Yes, the economy is in bad shape, AND so is the Air Force... " - the 2 are inextricably linked.

And in my extremely non-professional opinion, they aren't going to change until the US realises that wealth is created by making stuff - adding value - and not betting on whether an exchange rate will rise or fall.