Lockheed Martin filed another protest June 8 in the award of the U.S. Air Force combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter fleet to Boeing, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) acknowledged June 11.

A GAO e-mail regarding the protest says Lockheed "filed a protest with GAO challenging the terms of the amendment issued by the Air Force in response to GAO's decision ... in which GAO sustained the protests of Sikorsky and Lockheed against the award of a contract to The Boeing Company ... and [the later decision] in which GAO addressed issues not previously addressed in its prior decision."

Lockheed spokesman Greg Caires said, "Lockheed Martin has submitted a pre-award protest because we believe the Air Force's amended CSAR-X RFP does not comply with the corrective action recommended by the GAO earlier this year.

"We understand the urgent need for new CSAR aircraft and believe that a broader re-evaluation of bids, consistent with the GAO's recommendation, will result in an outcome that would better serve our nation's warfighters," Caires said.

The company remains committed to meeting the Air Force's deployment date of September 2012 "at a price significantly less than our competitors," he said.

Sikorsky has not filed another protest, but in a statement the company said it is keeping all options open.

In another statement, Boeing said, "We are aware that Lockheed Martin has filed another protest with the Government Accountability Office regarding the amended CSAR-X RFP. We have not yet had an opportunity to review the [basis] of these new protests, but are prepared to take action in support of the Air Force if we think it advisable. However, we do know that the GAO has previously ruled on more than two dozen protest items already and the only item they sustained has already been addressed by the Air Force in the amended RFP."

Boeing said it is focused on finalizing its renewed proposal to meet the Air Force's June 19 submission deadline. "What has not changed is that the HH-47 remains the most capable aircraft at the lowest risk to the Air Force and that will still be the case once all amended CSAR-X proposals are evaluated," Boeing said. "The entire process has been fair and unbiased."

Because Lockheed's new protest challenges only the terms of the amendment - rather than a new evaluation of proposals and source selection decision, the GAO says, and "given the Air Force's prior statements concerning its need to rapidly replace its aging fleet of search and rescue helicopters," the office will be willing to expedite its consideration of the protest. "GAO will consider undertaking alternative dispute resolution, including outcome prediction, if appropriate, to further expedite this matter."