Help
Air Chief: Even Without Senior Officials, USAF Can Run Tanker Competition
September 16th, 2009 | AFA AWS 2009 | Posted by John Bennett
The U.S. Air Force can complete its latest KC-X tanker competition at the speedy pace desired by Pentagon brass even with several top posts still vacant, says Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force chief of staff.
The Obama administration has not yet nominated individuals for several key Pentagon jobs, including Air Force undersecretary and acquisition executive.
But that situation should not impact the soon-to-launch KC-X competition, Schwartz told reporters.
The chief’s comments came just hours after Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the conference the service had been given back control of the embattled KC-X program.
The defense secretary took over the program in June 2008 after government auditors found flaws with the service’s process used to award a 179-plane, $35 billion KC-X contract to EADS and Northrop Grumman.
That team beat out Boeing. The Chicago-based defense giant is again expected to compete for the contract against the EADS-Northrop team.
Industry sources have whispered during the conference that another protest is almost guaranteed — perhaps even of the draft request for proposals (RfP). That initial solicitation should be issued in the next few weeks, sources say.
Schwartz said the Air Force must “make sure the [competition] is as pristine as possible to prevent even the temptation of a protest.”
The onus, the air chief said, “is on us to do this in a way that minimizes the likelihood that there will be a protest.”
Gates has said for months the service had to prove to him it was up to the test of running the competition.
Schwartz said he feels the defense secretary saw enough n the last few months to think the air service “has the right kind of team, with the right oversight, to move this across the goal line.”
Tags: boeing, EADS, gates, kc-x, Northrop Grumman, schwartz, tanker
Quote of the Conference Award
September 16th, 2009 | AFA AWS 2009 | Posted by John Bennett
“With one more dollar, I would buy the ink that would fill the pen that would write the law that would make it illegal to protest the next tanker competition.” — Gen. Donald Hoffman, Air Force Materiel Command chief
Gates: Keep Down Next-Gen Bomber Costs, Requirements
September 16th, 2009 | AFA AWS 2009 | Posted by John Bennett
The Pentagon should field a new long-range bomber, but not one so expensive that losing one would be “a national disaster,” said Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Gates wants the next bomber effort to lead to planes that “realistically can be produced and deployed in the numbers originally envisioned.”
The last U.S. bomber program led to the B-2 fleet. But those planes cost $2 billion each, meaning the nation could afford only a fraction of the 132 initially envisioned. And at that price, the loss of a single B-2 is a major event.
“That is why it is so important that with aircraft — as with all of our major weapons systems — schedules are met, costs are controlled and requirements are brought into line with reality,” Gates said.
Gates Gives Tanker Back to USAF
September 16th, 2009 | AFA AWS 2009 | Posted by John Bennett
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has given the Air Force control over the KC-X tanker program back to service brass.
“I am pleased to announce that source selection authority is returning to the Air Force,” according to a copy of his speech.
Still, he will tell the conference, “my office will continue to have a robust oversight role.”
Gates wants to avoid the kinds of “letdowns, parochial squabbles, and corporate food fights that have bedeviled this effort in the past.”
The secretary was a competition “done soon and done right.”
Air Chief: Where F-22 Stumbled, JSF Will Soar
September 15th, 2009 | AFA AWS 2009 | Posted by John Bennett
With the F-35 slated to soon be the lone fifth-generation American fighter in production, Gen. Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, expects the program will avoid major problems.
“Because of things learned from F-22” Schwartz told reporters he anticipates the F-35 will not experience the kinds of technical ailments that typically plague – and delay – fighter development programs. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for both fighters.
“Do I expect there will be software shutdowns that jeopardize the entire [F-35 program]? No,” Schwartz said.
Meantime, the air chief said he opposes a Senate Appropriations Committee plan to use Air Force dollars to develop an exportable version of the F-22. The Pentagon this year shepherded through Congress a plan to cap the American F-22 fleet at 187 planes.
Schwartz said he believes developing an exportable version would not be “the best use of our acquisition talent,” which he would rather tap to develop and field new a new aerial tanker and long-range bombing aircraft.
He noted the appropriations panel’s provision is merely a “recommendation, and not a mandate.”
Tags: F-22, F-35, JSF, lockheed, schwartz, Senate Appropriations Committee
Schwartz Promises “Fool Proof” Tanker Solicitation
September 15th, 2009 | AFA AWS 2009 | Posted by John Bennett
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz today vowed the draft solicitation the Pentagon this month will release seeking industry bids for a multibillion-dollar tanker aircraft contract will be “fool proof.”
Air Force and industry officials during the first two days of the conference have thrown around various time tables for when the Defense Department will release a draft version of a request for proposals. Those vary from next week to 14 days to by the end of this month.
Boeing and a team of EADS and Northrop Grumman are expected to again compete for the contract.
As the crescendo for the service’s latest try at replacing its aging KC-135 tankers ramps up, Schwartz was asked about rumors in defense circles that if either of the competitors feel shortchanged by the coming solicitations, they will protest before formal bids are even submitted.
Asked about those rumors, Schwartz said with a grin: “Do you think we’d put an RfP on the street that isn’t fool proof?”
Tags: boeing, EADS, kc-x, Northrop Grumman, scwartz, tanker
Air Force Looks to Cancel C-130 AMP Program
September 15th, 2009 | AFA AWS 2009 | Posted by John Bennett
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz told reporters today the Air Force has proposed killing the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP), aiming to replace it with a less-expensive alternative.
Calling the decision “largely an affordability issue,” Schwartz said service brass have pitched the idea to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Under that pitch, the AMP effort would be replaced with one that would fit air lifters with “stand-alone integrations” as opposed to the planned across-the-board avionics upgrades.
Boeing had been the contractor the AMP program, but was expected to compete against Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems for a new contract.
Industry officials at the conference had little to say, noting the companies with a stake in the AMP program were only informed of the service’s proposed approach shortly before Schwartz talked with reporters.
“The bottom line is we couldn’t afford it,” Schwartz said.
He said OSD still must approve killing the AMP effort before the new plan is enacted: “No decision in this town is final.”
The price of an installed C-130 Amp kit is around $9 million. Boeing was aiming to get those costs down to about $7 million, the air service’s desires price target, according to media reports.
Deptula Sees Possible ISR Budget Growth
September 15th, 2009 | AFA AWS 2009 | Posted by John Bennett
As U.S. defense budgets tighten, Lt Gen. David Deptula is predicting Air Force ISR budgets could grow.
“ISR is an area that [Pentagon officials] agree is an area that needs more, not less, resources and attention,” said the deputy air chief for ISR.
Asked about the 2011 budget outlook for service ISR efforts, Deptula said he expects spending levels to remain the same “if not be increased.”
All things ISR will be the topic of a four-star level Sept. 29 “ISR Summit” that he said will be hosted by Air Force Secretary Michael Donley.
Among the proposals that will be discussed at the summit will be whether the air service needs a new major command dedicated to ISR, Deptula said.
Meantime, the three-star added that the United States in the next few years will face a greater threat from enemy fighter aircraft than at any other point in history. And that is in terms of “both quantities and capabilities.”
Deptula said the threat growth is being fueled by ongoing Russian and Chinese future-fighter development efforts.
Both nations will field a new fighter “sooner rather than you might realize,” he said.
Tags: 2011 budget, China, David Deptula, fighters, ISR, Russia
Cover Story
September 14th, 2009 | AFA AWS 2009 | Posted by John Bennett
A year after raising eyebrows by putting an F-15 fighter on the conference program cover, AFA this year featured the embattled F-22 Raptor there.
All indications are the F-22 Raptor fleet will be capped at 187. That’s shy of the nearly 390 the service initially wanted.
Lockheed Martin, F-22 prime contractor, and the Air Force have ceased to publicly lobby for more Raptors as the Obama administration has made clear it is strongly opposed to more than 187.
Sources say service and Lockheed officials have gone quiet to steer clear of White House anger. But that didn’t stop AFA from splashing a Raptor on its program cover.
Tags: F-22, Lockheed Martin, Obama administration
AWS 09: Volunteers key to sustaining Reserve
February 27th, 2009 | AFA AWS 2009 | Posted by Karen Walker
The U.S. Air Force Reserve is working to ensure that employers of Reservists who volunteer for duty as opposed to being mobilized are treated equally by their civilian employers.
Air Force Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner said today that focus groups were in place to address the issue internally within the Force and externally with civilian employers.
“Right now there is a perception that you can volunteer to go, or volunteer to be mobilized, or be mobilized, and that’s not quite true. You can volunteer, but that changes nothing,” Stenner said.
He said the rights and privileges of volunteer reservist are exactly the same as a mobilized reservist, but some employers don’t understand this and may put a negative connotation on the volunteer.
“We are getting feedback from some reservists that some employees are wondering if there is a difference.”
Volunteers are essential to the Reserve Force and critical to sustaining deployment rotations, Stenner explained. In fact, the Reserve offers a guaranteed level of resources to the Air Force knowing that it can typically double or triple that commitment because of its volunteers, he said.