Round Two Comments

Reacting to yesterday’s GAO decision on the KC-X tanker contest, Boeing’s Mark McGraw, VP for tanker programs, said in a statement the company appreciates the “professionalism and diligence” shown by the GAO in reviewing Boeing’s legal complaint and welcomes “GAO fully sustaining the grounds of our protest” (see above). (We aren’t sure about the “fully” assertion since GAO did deny some of Boeing’s challenges.) McGraw said Boeing looks forward “to working with the Air Force on the next steps in this critical procurement for our warfighters.” Northrop Grumman spokesman Randy Belote issued a statement saying, “We respect the GAO’s work in analyzing the Air Force’s tanker acquisition process.” However, he added, “We continue to believe that Northrop Grumman offered the most modern and capable tanker for our men and women in uniform.” The company will review the GAO findings before commenting further, he said.