Reference News website reported on April 3 that the article titled "Why Did the U.S. Air Force Choose Boeing to Manufacture the F-47 Fighter?" was published on the website of the U.S. biweekly National Interest on March 28. The author of the article is Harrison Case. The following is an excerpt from the full text: Fortunately for Boeing, in selecting the F-47 project, the U.S. Air Force did not overly consider "past performance," but prioritized "best overall value" in the contract. The contract for the U.S. Air Force's "Next Generation Air Dominance" program was recently awarded to Boeing. Now, a deeper examination of this decision by the U.S. Air Force will officially begin. When asked about the decision to select Boeing over Lockheed Martin to implement the sixth-generation fighter project, an air force spokesperson said that Boeing's proposal "represents the best overall value to the government and best meets the requirements of the Air Force." Let us delve into this decision to better understand what "best overall value" might mean. Boeing has long been praised for its exquisite craftsmanship and the integration of engineering technology priority concepts into corporate culture. However, in recent decades, Boeing has been on a downward trajectory. Critics believe that the reason for Boeing's decline lies in the shift in its values. In short, this aircraft manufacturer began to prioritize profits over safety, quality, and performance. Boeing's shift toward profit maximization was undoubtedly marked by the significant embarrassment caused by the Maneuver Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). Both Boeing 737 MAX8 aircraft crashed due to the faulty software of MCAS. This scandal escalated further when it became known outside the company that Boeing had been aware of the defects in the software but initially downplayed their severity to investors and regulators. This incident caused public outrage and plunged Boeing into a "self-inflicted" crisis. The crashes caused by MCAS malfunctions are not isolated cases. Aerospace Magazine reported: "Boeing is currently facing difficulties with projects it is conducting for the U.S. Air Force, including the KC-46 tanker, T-7 trainer aircraft, and the 'Air Force One' presidential aircraft, resulting in years of delays and losses of approximately $10 billion." Not to mention its troubles in the commercial aviation sector, which includes an especially embarrassing incident last year: an emergency door fell off during a flight, causing an emergency landing. So how did Boeing win the contract for the "Next Generation Air Dominance" project? The initial value of this contract is $20 billion, and during the project period, its value may reach hundreds of billions of dollars. For a company that has disappointed both commercial and military customers in the past few decades, this is an opportunity to change its fate. Aerospace Magazine reported that evidently, "past performance carried little weight in the evaluation, accounting for less than 10% of the score." This makes sense. If past performance were a key factor in the evaluation criteria, Boeing's own performance record might have become an insurmountable obstacle. Ultimately, the decision was made by an "anonymous official" on the Air Force assessment team and then approved by Air Force senior procurement executive Darleen Costello. In addition to the explanation of "best overall value," the specific criteria for making this selection remain unclear. Aerospace Magazine speculated that sometimes, a bidder offering "best overall value" may be selected despite a higher bid because the evaluation authorities consider their proposal more realistic or because their technical performance is superior, maintenance costs are lower, or other factors add more value. Over time, the factors that led to the decision regarding the contract for the "Next Generation Air Dominance" project may gradually come to light. At the same time, it can be expected that Lockheed Martin will file a protest, and the Government Accountability Office will have 100 days to review and determine whether the awarding of the "Next Generation Air Dominance" project contract was fair. Given the huge stakes involved, Lockheed Martin will undoubtedly use the Government Accountability Office's appeal process to determine whether Boeing indeed provided the "best overall value." (Translated by Zhu Jie) Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7488921604894999094/ Disclaimer: The article only represents the views of the author. Please express your attitude by clicking the "upvote/downvote" button below.