According to a statement released yesterday evening by Lockheed Martin, the Government Accountability Office has sustained the company’s second protest over the Air Force’s combat search and rescue aircraft replacement program. CSAR-X competitor Sikorsky also submitted a second protest. And, Congress has asked for much more information about the service’s award process. This latest setback makes it extremely unlikely that USAF could award a new contract by year’s end. Lockheed spokesman Mike Drake said the company is “pleased with the GAO decision and await information from the Air Force on its plans to implement the recommended corrective action.” He added that Lockheed is still ready to “support a schedule that will deliver this urgently needed capability to the warfighter as quickly as possible.”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. still “believes” in his mantra of “Accelerate Change or Lose”—and indicated the doctrinal changes it produced when he was Air Force Chief of Staff played a role in the service’s recent response to Iran’s aerial assault on Israel, he…