Boeing on KC-X: “Methinks We Doth Protest to You”

KC-767: In the dark?(click to view full) Our FOCUS Article “The USAF’s KC-X Aerial Tanker RFP” has covered the lead-up to Boeing’s protest, in the wake of the Airbus/NGC win. Today, Boeing issued a release that discussed its claims in the coming GAO protest. Boeing claims that the USAF: Arbitrarily discounted the KC-767’s strengths, compromising on the ability to refuel a wider range of aircraft such as the V-22 and on “the survivability of the tanker during the most dangerous missions.” DID has asked Boeing for clarification re: which aircraft were left out, and what factors would allow the KC-767 to refuel them where the A330 MRTT could not. We have also requested elaboration on what would make the KC-767 more survivable, given that both aircraft would be equipped with the same defensive systems. The release continues… “…in reality Boeing and the Northrop/EADS team were assigned identical ratings across all five evaluation factors… an objective review of the data as measured against the Request for Proposal shows that Boeing had the better offering in terms of Most Probable Life Cycle Costs, lower risk and better capability.” This would appear to be an argument that the USAF misapplied their own criteria […]