Friday, April 26, 2024
Friday, April 26, 2024
Key Issues Optical clocks Prototype funding SPAFORGEN
U.S. Aerospace announced this morning that it will accept a Government Accountability Office ruling that the Air Force properly disqualified the small California-based defense company and Ukrainian partner Antonov from the KC-X tanker competition.
GAO ruled last week that the company submitted its bid late, which bars the Air Force from reviewing its proposal. The company had alleged that it was intentionally delayed at the security gate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, where the bids for the $35 billion competition were due in July.
In a release today, U.S. Aerospace stated:
In an Oct. 6 ruling, GAO said its attorneys concluded that “the U.S. Aerospace proposal to build the KC-X tanker was received after the deadline for the receipt of proposals. Consequently the Air Force acted appropriately in rejecting the proposal.”After comprehensive discussions of the Government Accountability Office's decision, including the advise of counsel that there are substantial legal grounds to proceed in court, the Company has determined that it will not continue to pursue its bid to supply the U.S. Air Force with its next generation of aerial refueling tankers.
“America's service men and women have been forced to wait too long for new tankers,” commented CEO Jim Worsham. “We feel a deep responsibility for their safety and ability to fulfill the important missions our nation calls upon them to perform, they must always remain our top priority.”
The Company intends to continue to bid on projects for the U.S. Department of Defense, and looks forward to actively pursuing both military and commercial opportunities beneficial to U.S. Aerospace, Inc. and its strategic international partners.
As InsideDefense.com reported earlier this month:
GAO ruled that U.S. Aerospace “offers no evidence to support its assertion other than its messenger’s representations regarding the timing of events prior to proposal submission, and the messenger’s conclusion that 'the proposal was submitted by 2 p.m.,'” the protest decision states.