Will Boeing and its supporters agree? If the shoe were on the other foot, would Northrop agree?
Pentagon Tells Bidders To Stop Battling Over Lost Contracts(AP) WASHINGTON - Quit complaining.
That's the message from the Pentagon and Congress to defense companies that cry foul when they don't win contracts.
Resolving the protests costs the government time and money. That means it can take longer to build needed combat gear or buy critical supplies, making U.S. troops and American taxpayers the real losers.
Far more often than not, the complainers don't win anyway, according to statistics from the Government Accountability Office.
It's become a big enough problem that the House Armed Services Committee has raised the possibility of fining companies that submit "frivolous or improper" protests to the GAO.
Determining a frivolous or vindictive protest from a legitimate one is tricky business, though. In February, the Air Force selected a European-led consortium for a $35 billion contract to build aerial refuelers. Lawmakers who backed the competing bid by the Boeing Co. cheered the Chicago-based company's move to challenge the choice.
Boeing has argued the Air Force changed its method for evaluating the tanker it wanted after asking for proposals. That allowed a larger tanker offered by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. and its U.S. partner, Northrop Grumman Corp., to beat Boeing's offer, the company said.
A ruling from the GAO on Boeing's protest is expected next month.
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