Taco Gilbert, a retired Air Force officer and vice president at Sierra Nevada, called the Air Force’s corrective action an “extreme response to what appears to be paperwork errors.”

He said Air Force officials did map out their plan for the follow-on competition, but never explained why they terminated the contract in the first place.

“We’re asking, ‘Why did you terminate the contract?’ They have never debriefed us on why they terminated the contract,” Gilbert told Reuters on Wednesday.

Hawker declined to comment on Sierra Nevada’s lawsuit. “The company continues working hard to meet the Air Force’s needs,” said company spokeswoman Nicole Alexander.

Dorrian said the Air Force was concerned about the lawsuit and whether it would delay the delivery of the new planes to Afghanistan, which needs the aircraft to defend itself.

“We have to continue this process because we recognize that getting these aircraft to the Afghans and getting them ready to fly them to protect themselves is part of the (U.S.) exit strategy,” he said.

Most foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, with the transition of security responsibility to Afghan forces already well under way.