Robert Gates: Air Force Tanker RFP Was “Fair,” “We Kind of Let [Public/Private Partnerships] Get Out of Control”
March 12th, 2010 by Jack Mann
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
During a town-hall style meeting with Air Force servicemen yesterday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates commented on the recently-updated RFP for the Air Force’s next-generation refueling tanker, saying that the RFP was “fair” and expressing disappointment that Northrop Grumman Corporation has withdrawn from competition for the $35 billion contract. He also expressed concern over the role of government contractors in the acquisition oversight process.
Earlier this week, Northrop Grumman Corporation announced that it would withdraw from the competition to build the KC-X tanker, leaving Boeing the probable winner. Secretary Gates said, “I wish that we had had a competition; I wish that both companies had stayed in it. I think the RFP that the Air Force sent out was fair and balanced and was based on Air Force requirements.”
He went on to say that the DoD will “certainly be sharpening our pencil when it comes to negotiating with Boeing,” and that he “[doesn’t] see any reason for this outcome to bring any further delays.”
Secretary Gates also expressed concern about inherently governmental work being done by contractors: “In contracting, we’re going to convert 10,000 acquisition jobs to permanent civil servants who belong to the Department of Defense, and are only looking out for the Department of Defense and not their home company. Then we will add another 10,000 civil servants to that.”
Secretary Gates said that his plan was “not disparaging to contractors,” adding that “we need them, and we have an important partnership…but we kind of let it get out of control, in my view. I think we’re beginning to get our arms around the problem by making better choices about what’s done by people in uniform, what’s done by career civil servants and what’s done by contractors.”
