The Defense Department’s newest selected acquisition report, released late Thursday, includes four critical or significant Nunn-McCurdy breaches, including the Air Force’s Airborne Warning and Control System Block 40/45 upgrade. The AWACS Block 40/45 upgrade program acquisition unit cost increased 22.5 percent and the average procurement unit cost increased 19.3 percent above the current acquisition program baseline, states the report. That means the program is considered a “significant breach,” because the unit cost increased at least 15 percent, but less than 25 percent of the current acquisition program baseline. This was due primarily to a reduction from 31 to 24 aircraft, states the report. “There were also unit cost increases associated with a stretch-out of the procurement buy profile caused by congressional reductions, which resulted in the loss of synergies and required an additional year of interim contractor support,” states the report. Though not a Nunn-McCurdy breach, the SAR also notes that the Air Force’s Joint Direct Attack Munition program increased by $788 million, “due primarily to a quantity increase of 30,758 tailkits … and associated schedule and estimating allocations.”
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
