STRATFORD, Conn. — Sikorsky has lost a round in its battle to regain the contract to build helicopters for the U.S. Army.
"Our American men and women deserve the best," said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Friday.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied the company's protest of the Army's decision and said in a report Thursday the Army had "reasonably evaluated" the Connecticut-based company's proposal for building the aircraft.
"I am very fearful that the Army has, in effect, chosen a bright and shiny object, the latest and the greatest, which is going to be far more expensive and far less cost-effective," Blumenthal said.
Sikorsky and Boeing protested the U.S. Army’s decision to replace its UH-Black Hawk with a new aircraft by Textron-owned company Bell.
The companies filed a complaint with the GAO to review the Army’s decision on the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft contract.
Sikorsky, which is owned by Lockheed Martin, had challenged the agency’s assignment of a rating of unacceptable to its proposal under the engineering design and development evaluation factor, architecture subfactor, which ultimately rendered the proposal ineligible for award. The company also argued that the agency should have found Bell’s proposal to be unacceptable.
In denying the protest, GAO said the Army had reasonably evaluated Sikorsky’s proposal as technically unacceptable because the company failed to provide the level of architectural detail required by request for proposal.
GAO also denied Sikorsky’s allegations about the acceptability of Bell’s proposal, including the assertion that the agency’s evaluation violated the terms of the solicitation or applicable procurement law or regulation. Finally, GAO dismissed Sikorsky’s additional arguments on the basis that Sikorsky was no longer an interested party to further challenge the procurement.
Now, Connecticut’s legislators in Congress want answers.
"They owe us the facts about the merits of these two proposals, which they have refused to give us and I think that refusal itself is really regrettable," Blumenthal added.
He says Army leadership won't provide lawmakers with a detailed briefing to understand why Sikorsky lost to Bell, but at a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, the U.S. Defense Secretary agreed to give a "thorough briefing on this issue."
"Congress has the purse strings," continued Blumenthal. "Any of these helicopters or any other defense asset has to be funded by Congress and so there's plenty of precedent for our cutting back on funding for particular ships as well as aircraft because we have an oversight responsibility."
In a statement on Thursday, Lockheed Martin Sikorsky said it remains confident the team submitted "the most capable, affordable and lowest-risk Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft solution."
"We will review the GAO's decision and determine our next steps," a spokesperson said. The company does have the option to appeal.
Gov. Ned Lamont released a statement Friday regarding the decision:
"This decision is disappointing, but Connecticut’s Congressional delegation and I are committed to keeping Sikorsky and their world-class workforce here on the ground in Stratford and their choppers in the skies. America needs them. Our troops need them. We need them.
"With many years of production left for the Black Hawk and CH-53K King Stallion and additional competitions coming down the road, Sikorsky will keep Stratford, Connecticut, and democracy strong."
There are concerns about job loss, as Sikorsky currently employs about 8,000 people in Connecticut.
The company did lay off around 800 positions last month, related to this contract loss.
Blumenthal says employees shouldn’t be worried, though, adding the Blackhawk isn’t going away any time soon and citing another potential defense contract for the company in the future.
Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Doug Stewart is the Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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