(Alexandria, VA) –Now more than ever,America needs the best value and capability for its defense dollars, which iswhy competitive bidding for a new Air Force helicopter program makes the mostsense. That’s the word from the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU),a nonpartisan citizen group. Recently NTU reached out to federal leaders urgingan open competition for the Common Vertical Lift Support Program (CVLSP),intended to replace aging UH-1N helicopters that perform missions such as patrollingAir Force missile fields and transporting VIPs.
AnNTU letter to Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee onDefense, as well as the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Air Force, andUnder Secretary of Defense for Acquisitions, noted that “a vigorous CVLSPcompetition among multiple bidders, under realistically defined missionrequirements, will deliver [the] value” that serves the Air Force and taxpayers.
Earlierthis year, an Air Force official stated that for CVLSP, the service mightconsider invoking the Economy Act of 1932 – designed for “fast-tracking” urgentgovernment purchases – to buy a helicopter model already in the U.S.inventory. However, NTU contended thatdoing so “is neither justifiable nor proper” since many near-term solutions fromthe private sector deserve examination.
Furthermore,supporters of “sole sourcing” for CVLSP claim this route is most cost-effective,yet, skipping an open bidding process makes it impossible to fairly assess howmuch savings could be achieved. For example, some alternatives might offersavings in hangar facilities, innovative supply systems, and aircrew that couldmore than offset the advantage of the military’s experience with thesole-source option, the UH-60 – perhaps by billions of dollars.
Althoughanother Air Force official has since told a Committee in the House ofRepresentatives that CVLSP would likely be competitively-bid, upcomingnegotiations over appropriations and deficit-reduction plans prompted NTU tooffer its active, vigorous support for this approach to policymakers now.
“CVLSPshould be open to competitive bidding so that the best helicopter in price andcapability wins,” NTU Executive Vice President Pete Sepp said. “The need to ‘steward every dollar,’ as JointChiefs Chairman Admiral Mullen aptly put it, has never been more urgent fortaxpaying members of the armed services as well as civilians.”
Sinceits founding in 1969 NTU and its members have been involved in a plethora ofdiscussions over defense purchasing policies, including in recent times theKC-45A program, the F-35 alternate engine, and the Medium Extended Air DefenseSystem. A copy of NTU’s letter on CVLSP is available here.
The 362,000-member NTU is a nonpartisan,nonprofit organization working for lower taxes, smaller government, andeconomic freedom at all levels. More information on NTU’s work, is available atwww.ntu.org.