Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

The Government Accounting Office last month sided with the Boeing Company's complaint that the contract contest for a new refueling tanker airplane was unfair.

Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisitions Policy Shay Assad addressed the revised and reopened bidding process in a briefing at the Pentagon. He reiterated statements made by the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that each of the findings in the GAO report were serious matters and that each issue is being addressed in "a measured and serious way." Assad said that the Defense Department is trying to keep the interest of the warfighter and the taxpayer at the forefront.

The Department of Defense has created a new draft request for proposals and will meet with the two principal bidders Boeing and Northrop Grumman to discuss the new elements of the the request. The two companies will meet with the procurement and acquisitions teams over the next month and will talk through the final version of the request for proposals. The companies will then have 45 days to submit revisions. The end result is not expected until the very end of December 2008.

Assad said that in this request the Department of Defense has given clear and unambiguous insight into the level of importance given to performance factors and requirements valued by the Pentagon.