A recent contract dispute involving the Air Force will delay production for Nevada-based Sierra Nevada Corp., which was awarded the original light air support plane contract. The dispute will delay the hiring of many Florida workers at their facility.
At dispute is a $354 million contract that the Air Force rescinded because it was not satisfied with the documentation supporting the decision to hire Sierra Nevada Corp. Hawker Beechcraft Corp. of Wichita, Kansas, challenged the award claiming that its own aircraft was wrongly excluded from the selection process.
The dispute revolves around which company will build the light air-support aircraft that will support security efforts in Afghanistan. The contract is estimated to be worth nearly $1 billion, depending on future orders.
Hawker Beechcraft sued the government after they were dismissed from the contract, but recent developments from the Air Force now state that the Department of Justice will take corrective action and set aside the contract with Sierra Nevada until documentation supporting the award decision is reviewed.
Both companies feel that their company has the superior product for the Air Force. The dispute also brings into consideration which company will provide more jobs to the United States. Hawker Beechcraft claims that if they win the contract, they will support 1,400 U.S. manufacturing jobs and Sierra Nevada claims that the contract for them would mean 1,200 U.S. supplier jobs including 50 new high-tech and engineering positions at its Jacksonville, Florida, facility.
The case is currently being reviewed and no decision has been made as to which company will be awarded the contract.
Source: Air Force Times, "Air Force investigating disputed plane contract," Roxana Hegeman, Feb. 28, 2012
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