Proposal Promulgated

Hawker Beechcraft has submitted a proposal for a contested contract that would deliver 20 aircraft to the Afghan military.

The company is offering its Beechcraft AT-6 aircraft for the Light Air Support contract and delivered a proposal for that contract to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, today, according to a company statement. Hawker Beechcraft was the losing competitor for the $355 million contract last year. The company sued the Air Force for information that would back up the service's decision to eliminate the company from the competition and, in response, the Air Force rescinded the contract, yanking it out of the coffers of Sierra Nevada Corp. and Brazil's Embraer, the contracting team which initially won the right to produce aircraft.

Last week, Sierra Nevada filed a lawsuit against the Air Force, seeking to have the contract reinstated.

Allegations have cropped up in recent months regarding the safety of the aircraft. Some of the safety issues include the ejection-seat requirements for the aircraft, which some sources claim to be sub-standard. Other safety issues hone in on the Air Force's decision to eliminate a flight-demonstration requirement that was in the initial request for proposals. The requirement was cut out of the request for proposals after the service revised the RFP.

Hawker, in its statement, assured the public that its aircraft met Air Force requirements.

"Our proposal clearly demonstrates that the AT-6 meets or exceeds all LAS requirements with an integrated solution of systems that combine an American-made production aircraft, worldwide logistics and USAF-standard training capabilities," the statement reads. "Both the U.S. Air Force and the Afghanistan Air Force will benefit from the AT-6's unmatched LAS capability. It is the best value solution for America's Building Partnership Capacity needs."

But those Air Force requirements are being questioned by several congressmen, including House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA), who is keeping an eye on the contract at the request of Reps. Rick Crawford (R-AR), Tim Griffin (R-AR), Mike Ross (D-AR), Steve Womack (R-AR), Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Mike Pompeo (R-KS) and Kevin Yoder (R-KS). The congressmen sent a letter to McKeon earlier this month voicing their concerns about the safety standards that the service drew up for the aircraft.

In a June 13 statement, the Air Force told Inside the Air Force that NATO Air Training Command was responsible for defining the aircraft requirements, not the service.