Reportedly the Government Accountability Office is ready to perform a quick alternative dispute resolution to settle the new protest filed by Lockheed Martin on the combat search and rescue helicopter replacement program. On Monday, Lockheed protested to GAO that the Air Force’s amended request for proposals doesn’t comply with GAO’s recommended corrective action. Revised bids from the three offerors—Boeing, Lockheed, and Sikorsky—are due June 19. The original CSAR-X winner—Boeing’s HH-47—has been pilloried by defense analysts and veteran pilots, but the company has remained relatively quiet throughout the protest process and subsequent RFP revision. Earlier this year, Boeing’s HH-47 program manager, Rick LeMaster, did tell reporters that the version being offered to the Air Force is a marked improvement over earlier Chinook models. In a new interview with Reuters news service, LeMaster says, “It’s not a sports car, but it is sized right to go do this mission.”
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.