USAF Wants GAO to Release Full CSAR-X Review

The U.S. Air Force wants the Government Accountability Office to release its entire review of a contract award for Boeing to build the next-generation combat search-and-rescue helicopter, Reuters reports. It quoted Kenneth Miller, a special assistant to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, as saying release of the GAO’s full review would help address concerns raised by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and others on Capitol Hill about the propriety of the Air Force’s choice for the contract, valued at more than $10 billion. The GAO generally only releases redacted versions of its rulings, blacking out details that protesters argue are trade secrets. The GAO in February told the service to re-bid the contract, upholding protests by Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky Aircraft over the Air Force’s calculation of life-cycle costs for the three contenders—Boeing’s HH-47, the Lockheed Martin/AgustaWestland/Bell Helicopter US101, and Sikorsky’s H-92. The GAO subsequently ruled that roughly 20 points raised by the protesters didn’t justify a re-bid. The Air Force has said it will re-bid the contract. For related news