PROTEST BY RAYTHEON
CARGO BID DENIED
Mobile's shot at assembly plant appears dead
By GEORGE TALBOT
Business Reporter
The U.S. Government Accountability Office said Thursday it denied a protest from Raytheon Corp. regarding the Joint Cargo Aircraft contract, virtually ending Mobile's shot at a project that could have brought a 150-worker aircraft assembly plant to Mobile Regional Airport.
The decision upholds the U.S. Army and Air Force's award to a team led by L-3 Communications, Alenia Aeronautica and Boeing Co., which together plan to assemble their C-27J Spartan aircraft in Jacksonville, Fla.
Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon declined to comment Thursday, saying it needed time to review the decision. A GAO spokesman said details of the ruling would be issued next week.
"We found no basis to sustain the protest," said Michael Golden, managing associate general counsel for the GAO.
Mobile remains in the running for a contract to build aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force. Northrop Grumman Corp. and EADS North America are competing for the proposed $40 billion, 179-plane deal against rival Boeing Co.
The Northrop-EADS team would assemble its KC-30 tanker at the Brookley Field Industrial Complex, creating up to 1,500 direct jobs. A decision is expected by January.
New York-based L-3 won the proposed $2 billion Joint Cargo Aircraft contract June 13.
The deal for an initial 78 planes could rise to more than 145 planes and $6 billion. The light cargo planes are designed to replace the Army's aging fleet of C-23 Sherpas.
"We are very pleased with today's developments, which affirm our confidence that the C-27J is the best value solution for the government," said Michael T. Strianese, president and chief executive officer of L-3.
Raytheon and its bidding partner, EADS CASA, offered the C-295 cargo plane in the competition. The companies proposed to assemble the planes in a new plant at Mobile Regional Airport, creating at least 150 jobs.
Raytheon claimed in a 40-page protest filed June 22 that the C-295 matched the C-27J in every category used by the military to evaluate the two planes, and did so at a significantly lower price. Raytheon's bid was more than 15 percent cheaper than L-3's, according to Raytheon officials.
Raytheon could challenge the decision in federal court. Congress also has the authority to overturn the award.
The contest pitted a pair of foreign-made airframes that each have won orders on the international market. The turboprop C-295 currently is assembled in Seville, Spain, by EADS CASA, a subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. The larger C-27J is manufactured by Alenia in Rome, Italy.
Selection in the U.S. is expected to lead to additional orders worldwide.
"It's not just about replacing the Sherpa. It's an opportunity to form strategic partnerships on a global scale," Gen. Michael Moseley, the Air Force's chief of staff, told reporters in Washington, D.C., this week.
CUTLINES:
Photo courtesy Raytheon Co.
Raytheon/EADS CASA tested this C-295 cargo plane, dubbed the "Spirit of Mobile," late last year.
