EADS Continues Efforts To Gain Support Of Tanker

It has been reported that EADS spent almost $200,000.00 last quarter on just tanker related lobbying. It is not uncommon for larger companies of all sorts to spend time in Congress working to support their programs and proposals.

The KC-X contract being so important this effort will be even more concentrated. EADS work with its supportive Congressional members has already worked out well especially with the delegation from Alabama. Support like this will be key as the RFP goes final, proposals are submitted and the source selection works its course. The next quarter reports should show similar numbers.

Austria Invests In Machine Guns

Defense procurement and contracting often focuses on the big deals but a modern army must purchase all sorts of things from beans, bullets, small arms and support equipment. Austria just signed a twenty-five million Euro (about $37.5 million) contract with Elbit Systems to buy 12.7 mm machine guns and mounts for vehicles. While this may seem like peanuts to a country like the U.S. that spends six hundred billion a year on defense it represents a significant investment for a country that size.

The contract also illustrates how the lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan are flowing out into the world. The U.S. invested a lot of money into remotely manned turrets for their HUMVEE and MRAP vehicles. This allowed the crew to remain behind the most effective armor of the vehicle. Of course these systems drive up the cost of what used to be basic vehicles for troop transport and light utility missions.

Air Force leadership interfered in contract award, disciplined

It turns out, according to this article, that the Air Force violated all sorts of laws and regulations in awarding a media company a contract to help promote the Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team. The company that won cost twice as much as the other bidder, who protested the contract award in 2006. It turns out that the company that won had a recently retired Air Force general as a partner and the current uniformed leadership of the Air Force interfered to steer it to that company. Now several people have been admonished and reassigned. Read more

JSF costs levelling

On Monday the Pentagon released the annual Selected Acquisition Reports (SAR) this is a formalized report that goes to Congress that details the performance of Acquisition Category (ACAT) ID and IC programs. Congress and OSD can also add programs to the list that don’t meet the ACAT I categories. See the press release here. In a related move the USAF and Lockheed Martin released an audit of the JSF program that shows that cost growth is leveling off. See that story here. Read more

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