USAF and US Army initially buying 78 C-27Js

Raytheon filed a formal protest with U.S. federal auditors June 22, asking the Government Accountability Office to scrutinize the Army and Air Force’s selection of the C-27J Spartan in the military’s Joint Cargo Aircraft program, said company spokesman Jon Kasle.

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The race is on for this project.
Any thoughts?????

My thoughts?

Oh great, so is US defence procurement now in the hands of corporate lawyers?

This has a familliar bad smell to it. First the years long debacle (how many years is it now?) that is the replacement tanker program, the protests and innacurate pro American whinging over the EH-101 winning the "Marine 0ne" contract, the dummy spit from loosing manufacturers over CSAR-X, and now this. Meanwhile the people who need the equipment are just expected to wait while $2000+ a day lawyers haggle it out in court or over lunch. Whatever happened to impartial judgements by experts in the services of competing designs based soley on merit and affordability? Why is the decision no longer final?

Meanwhile allies are told to relax over problems with major international programs like the F-35. And of course allied nations are encouraged to choose equipment based on its "interoperability" with the US, ie "if you choose what we choose there are benefits". This sort of circus act does nothing to engender trust in a major arms supplier by friendly nations. In short if you cannot be trusted to choose the right equipment for yourselves AND solve disputes between rival manufacturers BEFORE announcing a contract winner, then what does that say to an ally when you encourage them to buy a particular piece of your equipment over foreign rivals?

LEE.

Its funny though the casa bird is flown and operated by the US coast guard
and the USAF operated the original G222.

You would think they would know exactly what it would cost to
operate both these planes?
There shouldnt be a problem. We will see what happens next