Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
UPDATE 1-U.S. Air Force defends Afghan plane contract award
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/11/beechcraft-embraer-airforce-idUSL1N0C344L20130311UPDATE 1-U.S. Air Force defends Afghan plane contract award
Mon Mar 11, 2013 11:33am EDT
(Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force on Monday defended a decision to award a contract for 20 light attack planes for Afghanistan to U.S.-based Sierra Nevada Corp and its Brazilian partner Embraer SA after scrapping an earlier contract to the companies.
Competitor Beechcraft Corp said it was protesting the $428 million contract.
"We are confident that this decision is well supported and that the ... proposals were fully and fairly evaluated consistent with the evaluation criteria in the solicitation," said Air Force spokesman Ed Gulick. He had no immediate comment on whether the Air Force would issue a stop-work order.
Beechcraft, formerly known as Hawker Beechcraft, said on Friday it would protest the decision, which followed a new competition launched in May 2012 after the Air Force discovered problems with its handling of an initial $355 million contract award to Sierra Nevada and Embraer in December 2011.