Privately held US defence contractor Sierra Nevada Corp on Tuesday said it had filed a lawsuit in federal court against the US Air Force to win back a $355 million contract to supply 20 planes to Afghanistan that was abruptly cancelled in February.
Sierra Nevada, using a plane built by Brazilian planemaker Embraer, beat out Hawker Beechcraft to win the contract last year, but the Air Force cancelled the deal and launched a fresh competition after discovering that its own documentation of the contract award was insufficient.
Taco Gilbert, a retired Air Force officer and vice president at Sierra Nevada, said his company had filed a lawsuit in the US Court of Federal Claims to get the deal reinstated because it viewed the Air Force's corrective action as "excessive." Gilbert said his company, together with Embraer, was not seeking an injunction against the new competition, given the urgent requirement to get the new planes to Afghanistan. He said the team would continue to participate in that process, despite its concerns over how the new competition was structured.
The Air Force last month released final, revamped rules for the new competition in May, with an eye to awarding a contract in early 2013. The bidders must submit cost and technical data for the new bids by June 18. "We see the corrective action as excessive," Gilbert said, adding that his company had not received any briefing from the Air Force to explain its approach to the new competition. Embraer and Sierra Nevada have said they are disappointed that the restarted competition will not include head-to-head test flights or consider the results of a previous so-called "fly-off" between the two planes.
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