The Government Accountability Office has rejected the protest lodged by the losing Joint Cargo Aircraft team—Raytheon and EADS North America. Earlier this year, the Army and Air Force awarded the JCA contract to the L-3-led team’s C-27 Spartan. In a statement, Robert Drewes, president of L-3 Integrated Systems Group, said the team, which includes Alenia North America, Boeing, and Global Military Aircraft Systems, is “anxious to get started so that we can promptly deliver this capability to our warfighters.” He added, “The C-27J is the most rugged, versatile, and survivable aircraft in its class and unquestionably provides the highest degree of tactical utility.” In a separate statement, Giuseppe Giordo, president and chief executive officer, Alenia North America, said that the GAO decision “validates a detailed and exhaustive competitive process during which the US Army and US Air Force both recognized the unique capabilities of our C-27J aircraft, our team, and our JCA offering as a whole.”
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.