Estou chocado, a USAF acabou de comprar 179 AIRBUS!!!!!

[Immortal Horgh]

Pode ser naquele programa quadrinacional também


[ ]s

[Tigershark]

Pode ser naquele programa quadrinacional também


[ ]s

Pleno acordo!!!

[Tigershark]

18/06/2008 - 19h06 - Atualizado em 18/06/2008 - 19h10

Aviões de abastecimento: Força Aérea dos EUA estudará sentença do GAO
Da France Presse

WASHINGTON, 18 Jun 2008 (AFP) - A Força Aérea dos Estados Unidos anunciou em comunicado a intenção de estudar a decisão do Tribunal de Contas dos Estados Unidos - GAO (Government Accountability Office) de questionar o megacontrato de compra de aviões de abastecimento.



O órgão deu razão ao construtor aeronáutico Boeing na disputa pelo gordo contrato que havia sido concedido, antes, pela Força Aérea americana ao grupo formado por EADS e Northrop Grumman.



A nota do GAO diz que "nossa revisão da documentação nos leva a concluir que a Força Aérea cometeu uma série de erros significativos que podem ter afetado o resultado da licitação que envolveu a Boeing e a Northrop Grumman".



A decisão foi publicada pelo representante do GAO Norman Dicks, congressista democrata pelo Estado de Washington (noroeste).



O grupo europeu EADS chegou a expressar hoje "decepção" com a sentença do GAO: "apesar de nossa decepção, é importante reconhecer que o anúncio diz respeito a uma avaliação do processo de seleção, não se referindo a nossos méritos", reagiu o presidente executivo da EADS, Louis Gallois, em declaração lida por seu porta-voz.



"Apoiamos nosso sócio Northrop Grumman e continuamos convencidos de que o KC-45 é o aparelho que melhor responde às especificações das missões da Força Aérea dos Estados Unidos, como ficou demonstrado nas últimas quatro licitações ganhas por nosso avião abastecedor", acrescentou Gallois.

[Tigershark]

19/06/2008 - 19h15 - Atualizado em 19/06/2008 - 19h20

Northrop adia obras por questionamento do contrato com Pentágono
Da France Presse

WASHINGTON, 19 Jun 2008 (AFP) - A empresa Northrop Grumman, sócia da EADS na licitação pelos aviões-tanque para a Força Aérea, cuja assinatura de contrato foi questionada pelo Government Accountability Office (GAO), uma espécie de tribunal de contas do Congresso americano, anunciou nesta quinta-feira o adiamento, por tempo indeterminado, do início das obras de sua futura fábrica no Alabama (sul).



Na unidade a ser construída na cidade de Mobile, a previsão é instalar a linha de montagem dos aviões. A colocação da pedra fundamental seria em 28 de junho, disse a empresa, em um comunicado, sem divulgar uma nova data.



Na quarta-feira, o GAO deu razão à Boeing, que questionava as condições da concessão desse megacontrato à companhia americano-européia, o que permite prever uma possível reconsideração do caso.



A Força Aérea anunciou sua intenção de estudar essas conclusões, antes de se decidir sobre uma nova licitação. A corporação tem 60 dias para informar o GAO das ações que se propõe a empreender.

[soultrain]

Para os meus amigos, o relatório completo e confidêncial do GAO:

http://www.dodbuzz.com/wp-content/uploa ... cision.pdf

[[]]'s

[Tigershark]

Observem a força do Lobby nacional :

09/07/2008 - 14h00 - Atualizado em 09/07/2008 - 14h05

Pentágono abrirá nova licitação por aviões de abastecimento
Da France Presse

WASHINGTON, 9 Jul 2008 (AFP) - O senador Richard Shelby disse nesta quarta-feira que o Pentágono decidiu reabrir a licitação de um contrato de US$ 35 bilhões por um avião de carga que havia sido concedido ao Northrop Grumman.



"Esta é a melhor de todas as opções", afirmou o senador pelo estado do Alabama por meio de um comunicado de imprensa, acrescentando que o secretário de Defesa Robert Gates divulgará a nova licitação.



Em 29 de fevereiro, a Força Aérea americana escolheu o construtor europeu EADS, fabricante do Airbus, e a Northrop para que lhe fornecessem 179 aviões de abastecimento, em um contrato de US$ 35 bilhões de dólares, um dos maiores já assinados pelo Pentágono nos últimos anos.



Em 11 de março, a Boeing apresentou um recurso ao GAO, questionando a atribuição do contrato por "irregularidades no desenvolvimento da licitação e na avaliação das ofertas".



Mais recentemente, em 12 de junho, a Northrop Grumman, sócia da européia EADS, reconheceu que o Pentágono havia cometido muito erros na avaliação dos dois candidatos na licitação para renovar sua frota de aviões-tanque.



"A Força Aérea americana descobriu cinco erros no cálculo do custo mais provável do ciclo de vida (do programa), o que implica um leve ajuste dos custos operacionais dos dois aparelhos", declarou na ocasião o grupo de defesa americano, em nota enviada à AFP por e-mail.



Esses erros menores ficaram em evidência durante a revisão do processo de avaliação realizada a pedido do GAO (Government Accountability Office, o braço investigativo do Congresso americano), dentro do recurso apresentado pela Boeing, o outro grupo que havia feito uma oferta.

[soultrain]

Tanker Truths
26 June 2008
Procedural Flaws Don't Mean Northrop Grumman Selection Was Wrong
Numerous media reports, today, focus on a single sentence in the 67-page GAO analysis reached yesterday supporting its decision to sustain the Boeing tanker protest. "But for these errors," the GAO stated, "we believe Boeing would have had a substantial chance of being selected for award." What readers should note is that the suggestion that the procedural errors it found might have led to a different result is the standard language included in any sustained protest.

The GAO also said its analysis does not "reflect a view as to the merits of the firm's respective aircraft." And, on the merits, the data provided in the GAO report clearly shows that the KC-45, which has been built, flown and tested, is superior to the Boeing airplane which, at this time, is only a design on paper.

As important as it is to understand the procedural flaws that led the GAO to sustain the protest, it is just as important to consider what the GAO analysis did not find. Out of 111 separate Boeing complaints, the GAO accepted only 8. The GAO found nothing that contradicts the initial Air Force conclusion - that the Northrop Grumman KC-45 was the winner in four out of the five major selection criteria established by the Air Force, and tied on the fifth.

In Mission Capability, the GAO did not say the Air Force was wrong. The GAO criticized the wording of the RFP but did not object to the Air Force's conclusion that the KC-45 outperformed the KC-767 in almost all areas.

In Proposal Risk, the GAO did not dispute the Air Force finding that both offerings had equal risk.

In Past Performance, the GAO took no issue with the Air Force finding that Northrop Grumman had better past performance. Note that while much of the GAO report on this point is redacted, there is no question about Boeing's delivery record. Its Japanese tanker - delivered one year late - is still not ready for service. Its tanker for Italy - now three years late - has not even been delivered.

In Cost/Price, the GAO stated that greater specificity was needed in some areas, but "Most Probable Life Cycle Cost" remains a dead heat. Further, the underpinning of the Air Force decision on cost was risk, and the GAO had no objection to the Air Force conclusion that the KC-767 remains a higher risk.

Finally, in its Integrated Fleet Aerial Refueling Assessment (IFARA), a real world simulation of how the competing tankers would operate in a combat situation, the GAO had no objection to the manner in which the Air Force conducted the simulation and the Air Force conclusion that the KC-45 provided better combat capability.

The Air Force needs a new tanker now and with a plane and a boom that have been built, flown and tested, the Northrop Grumman KC-45 is ready now to fulfill the Air Force need.

[Penguin]

DATE:09/07/08
SOURCE:Flight International
BREAKING: Boeing gets chance chance to compete for tanker contract
By Stephen Trimble

The US Department of Defense has confirmed today that Boeing will have a second opportunity to compete for a heavily disputed $35 billion contract to build tankers for the US Air Force.



Northrop Grumman won the contract in February, but that decision was overturned last month with the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained eight elements of Boeing’s protest.



Secretary of Defense Bob Gates has decided to strip the authority to make the selection decision from the US Air Force. John Young, DOD’s undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, will oversee an expedited, but complete, acquisition process.



“This is the third time we’ve gone at this,” Gates told reporters. “We are most likely, most quickly to gain the confidence of Congress in the way forward by having the undersecretary oversee this contract.”



Young plans to issue an amended draft request for proposals in late July or early August, receive modified proposals from Boeing and the Northrop team, and make an award decision in December.



The amended solicitation will correct flaws in the original process uncovered by the GAO, but still leave as much of the requirements unchanged as possible, Young said.



“We would like to err on the side of changing the minimum amount" in the amended solicitation,” Young said.



The USAF’s decision to select the Northrop/EADS North America KC-30B, a modified Airbus A330-200, for the contract launched a protest claim by Boeing, which had offered the KC-767.

[Penguin]

Boeing to Get New Shot at Tanker Award, Gates Says (Update2)

By Gopal Ratnam and Tony Capaccio

July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. will get another shot at the $35 billion military-tanker contest it lost to Northrop Grumman Corp. after the U.S. Air Force decided to reopen parts of the competition, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said.

``I've concluded the contract cannot be awarded at present'' because of flaws found by the Government Accountability Office, Gates said at a press conference at the Pentagon today.

The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, three weeks ago said the Air Force made ``significant errors'' in awarding the contract to Northrop over Boeing, the sole supplier of Air Force tankers for more than a half-century. Northrop and Airbus SAS parent European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. won the 179-plane program using an entry modeled after the Airbus A330 commercial jetliner. Boeing's bid was based on its 767 commercial plane.

``Boeing gets a do-over and it knocks a bird out of the hands of Northrop,'' said Howard Rubel, a New York-based analyst with Jefferies & Co., who doesn't own shares of either company.

The new contest will reexamine eight of Boeing's concerns that were upheld by the GAO, out of more than 100 it had raised, by seeking ``revised proposals from the industry,'' Gates said. The review will be led by Pentagon officials under the supervision of Undersecretary for Acquisition John Young and be complete by year-end, Gates said. ``This does not represent a return to the first step,'' the secretary said.

`Faith in Air Force'

``They are taking it away from the Air Force, which I think is proper, because I don't think anybody up here has any faith in the Air Force at this point after they mishandled this thing,'' said Representative Norm Dicks, a Washington state Democrat whose district includes Boeing workers.

Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican whose state of Alabama would benefit from a Northrop win, said in an e-mail that the Pentagon's plan ``is an appropriate solution to remedy'' the flaws the GAO found in the initial Feb. 29 award. Northrop has said it would build a plant in Alabama to assemble the Air Force tanker.

Northrop Grumman is ``reviewing the decision to ensure the re-competition will provide both companies a fair opportunity,'' company spokesman Randy Belote said in a statement. ``The United States Air Force has already picked the best tanker, and we are confident that it will do so again.''

Boeing spokesman Dan Beck didn't immediately have a comment.

Boeing rose 13 cents to $66.05 at 3:36 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Northrop fell 39 cents to $65.78. EADS, which is based in Paris and Munich, earlier today rose 3 cents to 12.09 euros in Paris trading.

Bids in October

The Pentagon will issue a request for proposals in August asking Boeing and Northrop to submit their bids by October, Young said in an interview today after the press conference. That would allow the Defense Department about 45 days to make a decision by December, he said.

The Pentagon wants to change ``fewer things rather than more things'' when it issues a request for new proposals, Young said in the news conference.

John Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee's defense panel, said in a statement that he's ``hopeful'' a decision can be made by December.

``Once the competition is complete, the subcommittee's goal will be to build 24-36 Air Force refueling tankers per year,'' said Murtha, a Democrat from Pennsylvania.

[Pablo Maica]

E depois dizem que é so no Brasil que acontece compra politica... agora tah ai a USAF corre o risco de ter que aceitar 180 aéronaves goela abaixo só pra agradar o congresso e a Boeing.



Um abraço e t+

[manuel.liste]

Los EUA anulan el contrato con EADS y anuncian una revisión del concurso. El ganador se conocerá el próximo diciembre:

http://www.elmundo.es/mundodinero/2008/ ... 71906.html

Los EUA, república bananera?

[P44]

grandes trafulhas!

vou apelar á UEFA!

[Bourne]

Essa estória está estranha. Parece que a ação das "forças ocultas" vai tirar a EADS da licitação e dar o contrato de presente para a Boeing. mesmo com a Boeing oferecendo um produto inferior, e a EADS ter oferecido um produto superior e estar associado a North Grumman, um gigante do setor de defesa norte-americano.

Depois reclamam que isso só acontece no Brasil.

[Plinio Jr]

Tava demorando....

[Tigershark]

Lá,como aqui,a política manda.