Thursday, March 13, 2008

Air Force officials respond to Boeing protest

WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Air Force officials received a copy of Boeing's formal protest March 11on the KC-45A contract award, recently submitted to the Government Accountability Office.

It is the company's right to formally submit a protest. Air Force members will carefully evaluate the protest, defend their source selection decision and allow the GAO to make its final decision, officials said.

In order to protect the integrity of the procurement process, Air Force officials do not publicly comment on the merits or specifics on any issues under review.

Proposals from both offerors were evaluated thoroughly in accordance with the criteria set forth in the Request for Proposals. The proposal from the winning offeror is the one Air Force officials believe will provide the best value to the American taxpayer and to the warfighter.

Air Force members follow a carefully structured process, designed to provide transparency, maintain integrity and promote fair competition. Air Force members and the offerors had hundreds of formal exchanges regarding the proposals throughout the evaluation process.

Air Force officials provided all offerors with continuous feedback through discussions on the strengths and weaknesses of their proposals. Several independent reviews assessed the process as sound and thorough.