DOD To Get CSAR Requirements By September
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By Michael Fabey
The Pentagon is looking to have its new combat, search and rescue (CSAR) aircraft requirements by September.
Defense acquisition czar Ashton Carter officially canceled the $15 billion CSAR-X replacement helicopter program May 28, following years of controversy surrounding certain requirements development, as well as bidder protests that overturned the initial contract award to Boeing.
In the memo canceling the program, Carter notes, “The Secretary of Defense directed the director, Program Analysis & Evaluation, and the Joint Staff, in coordination with the military departments, to re-evaluate the CSAR-X requirements in the context of the joint forces’ capabilities and provide a report by Sept. 1, describing the requirements for a replacement CSAR-X aircraft.”
The Air Force has maintained for years that the CSAR-X requirements for the now-canceled program were the result of extensive research and analysis — and then properly vetted through a process that considered the military’s joint needs.
As an example, the Air Force points to its analysis of alternatives — the size of a big-city phone book — on CSAR requirements and acquisition strategy.
But shortly before he left, Carter’s predecessor, John Young, questioned not only the Air Force’s CSAR-X program evaluation, but even the need for a dedicated single-service mission to do the job (Aerospace DAILY, Jan. 28).
Essentially, Young questioned the need for the CSAR-X program as structured. As an alternative, he cited the V-22 Osprey as a possibility for CSAR missions. That aircraft had been ruled out of the earlier CSAR-X competition following cost concerns and downwash questions.
While Young’s comments sparked a firestorm of opposing views within the CSAR community, his views seemed to reverberate through the higher levels of the Pentagon, which crossed the CSAR-X program off its acquisition roster.
While the current fleet of aging CSAR aircraft continues to be repaired and renovated to meet current mission needs, the CSAR community has continued to try to dispel the notion within the Pentagon that dedicated CSAR aircraft fleets are unnecessary.
Photo: Wikipedia
