Tanker Hearing Set

The Senate Armed Services Committee has scheduled a hearing next week to review the Air Force's inadvertent disclosure of KC-X tanker evaluation data.

While the witnesses testifying at the Jan. 27, 9:30 a.m. hearing are “to be determined,” it's fair to say that David Van Buren, the Air Force's acting acquisition executive, would likely be one of them. The hearing is the latest bit of drama to surround the service's tanker replacement effort.

Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) agreed to hold the hearing late last year in response to an incident in which the Air Force mistakenly sent Boeing bid evaluation data to EADS and EADS data to Boeing. Boeing-friendly Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) urged Levin to hold the hearing.

The announcement comes one day after Cantwell sent a letter to Levin urging him to ask the Air Force the following questions:

• What steps were taken to ensure EADS did not gain an unfair competitive advantage by having Boeing data for more than a month before the investigation was completed by the Air Force?
• What did the Air Force’s forensic analysis show?
• Were each company’s actions consistent with ethics rules, standards and practices described in the Air Force’s ethics briefing each bidder received?
• Will the data release compromise the part of the bidding process that includes the three adjustments to price?
• If so, what does this means for the competition?

Last week, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said he does not expect the congressional investigation into inadvertent disclosure of KC-X data to hinder the service's plans to award the $35 billion contract. "I don't think the hearing issue is connected to our source-selection process," Donley said at a Jan. 12 Air Force Association-sponsored breakfast.