Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Sikorsky have all turned in their updated CSAR-X bids to the Air Force, meeting the service’s Jan. 20 deadline for this latest round in its combat search and rescue helicopter recapitalization saga, reports Flight. Unless the new Administration changes the CSAR-X program’s course, it now appears that we are looking at an announcement sometime in the spring or summer on the long-delayed source selection. Boeing won the initial contest more than two years ago in November 2006 with its HH-47 design. But two subsequent rounds of successful legal challenges by Lockheed and Sikorsky over how the Air Force conducted its evaluation of the bids, including their respective HH-71 and HH-92 models, caused the Air Force to accept revised bids and redo its evaluation. The winning helicopter will replace the service’s HH-60s, which are elderly and limited in areas like range and cabin space. The Air Force wants to field the first squadron of what will eventually be a fleet of 141 new rescue helicopters no later than the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2014, if not earlier.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.