Image via Wikipedia
ARTICLE: Air Force to separate CSAR, CVLSP competitions
The Air Force said Monday that it will hold separate competitions for its Common Vertical Lift Support Platform and HH-60 recapitalization programs…Service officials anticipate that both programs will draw industry bids based on aircraft derived from helicopters in production.
I’m not at all plugged in to the acquisition process for the Pavehawk’s replacement so my initial reaction may be wildly off the mark, but this sure looks like we haven’t progressed too far since April 2009 when Sec Gates canceled the CSAR-X program. That’s not a critique of the people–the process is cumbersome and the AF was left without a clear way forward when hte program got axed.
But this is taking sooooo looooonng…
For the HH-60 replacement program, [Maj Gen Randy] Fullhart anticipates a request for proposals will be released in 2012.
No RFPs until 2012. Oy vey!
And the sharks are already circling–the competition will be intense between compaies that are know how to fill out the “I protest the contracting decision” paperwork. Consider:
“Sikorsky welcomes a competition to offer the proven H-60M Black Hawk aircraft for both the HH-60 Recap and CVLSP missions,” said Tim Healy, Sikorsky’s director for Air Force programs. Healy said that the Air Force would derive significant savings from “Sikorsky’s mature H-60M multi-year production line for the U.S. Army, and an established logistics support and aircrew/maintainer training effort.”
and
AgustaWestland also plans to compete for both tenders. It plans to bid its AW-139M helicopter for the CVLSP, and the larger AW101 for the HH60 replacement program….”We’re enthusiastic and look forward to working with the Air Force as they develop their specs for the CVLSP program and HH-60 recap, and we anticipate being very competitive,” AgustaWestland vice-president for strategy Dan Hill said. “We’re ready.”
and
Said John Williamson of The Boeing Co.: “Boeing looks forward to fully supporting the recently announced acquisition strategy to recapitalize the U.S. Air Force helicopter fleet.”
To add to the suspense, the AF Times article notes that “the Air Force did not say how many aircraft it would buy.” With the rising influence of fiscal hawks, does anyone believe that that number will be an upside surprise?
If you combine that ambiguity with the looming (and massive) defense cuts that are coming and with the President’s reassessment of roles and missions recently announced, I think USAF CSAR is going to take it in the shorts.
Here are some similar links:
Air Force officials announce helicopter acquisition strategy. That link takes you to an AF press release that contains a glimmer of hope. This time, the AF does not intend to allow its CSAR force to be mischaracterized by other services as a one-trick pony:
HH-60 recapitalization, officials said, is the Air Force’s program to replace the 112 aging HH-60G Pave Hawks. The HH-60G is used primarily to conduct combat search and rescue, but is also used for emergency aero-medical evacuation, homeland security, humanitarian relief, international aid, non-combatant evacuation operations and special operations forces support.
AF lays out helo-buying strategy. This DoD Buzz article sums up the whole issue very succinctly:
Air Force officials don’t yet have a target date for when they’d like to see the Pave Hawk replacement in service.
Related articles
- USAF CSAR’s continued existential crisis… (personnelrecovery.wordpress.com)
- Female Pave Hawk pilot fulfills dreams, avoids clouds (waronterrornews.typepad.com)
- Excerpt of AF testimony to Senate Armed services committee (personnelrecovery.wordpress.com)
Personnel Recovery Issues 
Pingback: Personnel Recovery Issues