Remember when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pulled an about face last year and decided to save the C-130J program from cancellation? The DOD Inspector General, in a recently released audit report, now says that the Air Force provided bum data upon which Rumsfeld based his decision, but—here’s the rub—the IG agrees with the Air Force that it provided data “based on the information that was available at the time.” No fault, no foul, right? The IG goes on to say that the Air Force “should not have entered into a contract that could cost almost as much to cancel as to complete.” Meanwhile, the Air Force already has renegotiated the “offensive” contract.
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.