CSAR-X… “Canceled for Convenience”

HH-47 Concept(click to view full) The $10-15 billion CSAR-X competition aimed at replacing the USAF’s HH-60G Pave Hawk combat search-and-rescue helicopters has seen many twists and turns. From profiles of the original options, to transfers of program responsibility between AFSOC and the USAF and the withdrawal of the PRV-22 Osprey from competition, to Sikorsky’s decision to offer the H-92 Superhawk, to Boeing HH-47 Chinook’s contract win in November 2006, the CSAR-X/PRV program has been eventful indeed. February 26, 2007 added one more big event: the US Government Accountability Office, a non-partisan agency of Congress, upheld Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin’s protests over Boeing’s win. Would the GAO ruling be interpreted narrowly, triggering a double-checking exercise, or more broadly, triggering a renewed evaluation process? Worse, could the GAO’s follow-up defining the award’s problem areas create so many issues that further protests from whomever loses bring the program to a halt? The USAF released its RFP v2.0, but Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin filed renewed protests even before the new RFP’s due date. The USAF kept trying to push forward with an accelerated process, but barriers have mounted as it has lost – repeatedly. Meanwhile, the Pave Hawks aren’t getting any younger, or more […]