The House Armed Services Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces met to discuss the contract award protest filed to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) by Boeing and the future of the KC-135 aerial refueling tanker. Ranking committee member Jim Saxton (R-Nj.) said that he was not going to advocate Boeing or Northrop Grumman, the Los Angeles based corporation that secured the 35 million dollar contract from the Department of Defense (DOD). Boeing filed a protest with the GAO after they lost the contract to Northrup Grumman.

Deputy General Counsel for the GAO, Daniel Gordon testified. He said that Boeing raised a number of challenges to the contract between the DOD and Northrop Grummon. As a result the AGO conducted a five-day hearing, in which 11 witnesses from the DOD testified. At that point, Gordon said, it was understood that the air force made numerous errors that could have affected the outcome between Boeing and Northrop Grumman.

Saxton said that the most important thing is that the aging aerial refueling tankers are replaced. He said that it is imperative to get new tankers out to the “war fighters” as soon as possible.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell speaks about the Government Accountability Office report that sided with a protest lodged by Boeing over a government contract for a refueling tanker given to a competitor. Morrell says that the process of this procurement has gone on seven years too long and that the GAO report is holding up the process even further. (0:28)

 

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