Boeing, Lockheed Martin suspect foul play, protest Air Force bomber contract award

Nov. 6, 2015
ST. LOUIS, 6 Nov. 2015. Boeing [NYSE:BA] and Lockheed Martin [NYSE:LMT] officials filed a formal protest asking the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the decision to award the U.S. Air Force Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B) contract to Northrop Grumman Corp. Boeing and Lockheed Martin officials assert that the selection process for the Long Range Strike Bomber was fundamentally flawed.

ST. LOUIS, 6 Nov. 2015. Boeing [NYSE:BA] and Lockheed Martin [NYSE:LMT] officials filed a formal protest asking the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the decision to award the U.S. Air Force Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B) contract to Northrop Grumman Corp. Boeing and Lockheed Martin officials assert that the selection process for the Long Range Strike Bomber was fundamentally flawed.

“The cost evaluation performed by the government did not properly reward the contractors’ proposals to break the upward-spiraling historical cost curves of defense acquisitions, or properly evaluate the relative or comparative risk of the competitors’ ability to perform, as required by the solicitation,” officials say. “That flawed evaluation led to the selection of Northrop Grumman over the industry-leading team of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, whose proposal offers the government and the warfighter the best possible LRS-B at a cost that uniquely defies the prohibitively expensive trends of the nation’s past defense acquisitions.”

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 112,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s net sales for 2014 were $45.6 billion.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Defense, Space & Security is a $31 billion business with 53,000 employees worldwide.

About the Author

Courtney E. Howard | Chief Editor, Intelligent Aerospace

Courtney enjoys writing about all things high-tech in PennWell’s burgeoning Aerospace and Defense Group, which encompasses Intelligent Aerospace and Military & Aerospace Electronics. She’s also a self-proclaimed social-media maven, mil-aero nerd, and avid avionics and space geek. Connect with Courtney at [email protected], @coho on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and on Google+.

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