The U.S. Air Force reportedly is considering expanding a contract coveted by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. to include lower-price helicopters for guarding convoys of nuclear material and ferrying personnel.
Last November, the Air Force awarded a potential $15 billion contract to Boeing Co. for more than 140 search-and-rescue helicopters.
Stratford-based Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin Corp. have since protested the award, claiming the Air Force deviated from its published contractual guidelines in awarding the deal to Boeing, ignoring what Sikorsky says would be substantial savings it offered in ongoing maintenance requirements of the expensive choppers.
Sikorsky is a subsidiary of Hartford-based United Technologies Corp.
The companies”™ protest has won support from the federal Government Accountability Office, which in late August asked the Air Force to assess revised bids from Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin.
The Air Force is now considering expanding the contract to include the purchase of low-end helicopters to ferry personnel and escort convoys of nuclear materials, according to a report in Aviation Week, which cited an undisclosed source close to the program. A revised contract negotiation could include up to 55 new helicopters.
In separate Sikorsky news, the company was sued by a widow whose husband was among 14 people killed in an August 2005 crash of a Sikorsky helicopter operated by Copterline Oy of Finland. The lawsuit follows a January suit from family members of two Copterline pilots killed in the crash.
Estonian aviation regulators blame the crash on the failure of a rotor mechanism. In court responses to the lawsuits, Sikorsky has denied responsibility.
Copterline recently announced plans to resume its Baltic Sea shuttle service between Finland and Estonia using helicopters from a Sikorsky competitor.
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