In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Boeing HH-47 program manager Rick Lemaster asserted that to recompete the combat search and rescue helicopter replacement program would be unfair to Boeing because Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky now were privy to Boeing cost data. That information would make the two losing companies more competitive and put Boeing in a “less competitive posture” the second time around, said Lemaster. “If there were errors, those need to be corrected, but a wholesale recompetition would not be appropriate,” Lemaster added. The Air Force has stated that it doesn’t necessarily believe it must hold a new competition to satisfy the faults cited in the Government Accountability Office protest decision. However, some lawmakers have a different view.
General Atomics, the maker of one of the Air Force’s first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, has ambitious plans for its family of semi-autonomous drones beyond the FQ-42, including a flying-wing aircraft capable of carrying out both reconnaissance and strike missions. Meanwhile, the Air Force Research Laboratory announced a new program to…