At least one of the U.S. Air Force combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) competitors - almost certainly Boeing - asked for the key performance parameter (KPP) requirement change that enabled the Boeing HH-47 Chinook variant to enter and stay in the race for the acquisition program worth up to $15 billion, according to Air Force and other sources with intimate knowledge of the program.

Only the Boeing aircraft faced a stiff challenge in meeting the three-hour reassembly time limit for the deployability requirement, say sources familiar with the acquisition program.

While competitors Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky both refused to comment now specifically about this issue, both companies previously have raised questions about the Chinook variant's deployability.

Boeing, though, denies steering the KPP change. "To be clear, Boeing had absolutely no input toward the KPP changes," company spokesperson Jenna McMullin said Nov. 15. "We agree that deployability is integral to saving lives, and the HH-47 will meet both mission and flight-ready requirements as a reliable, combat-proven platform."

Throughout the year, the Air Force has maintained that it made the KPP change because of programmatic, not competitor, concerns. But a report released Nov.15 by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) suggests the KPP change may have been ordered because the Pentagon wanted the Chinook so much that certain high-level parts of the Defense Department pressured the Air Force to consider the helicopter for sole-source procurement (DAILY, Nov. 15). A copy of the report was released to interested lawmakers on the afternoon of Nov. 14.

"Boeing received a copy of the POGO report this morning and we are reviewing it in detail," McMullin said. "We believe the Air Force has handled the requirements fairly and appropriately as they are the experts in determining mission needs - the HH-47 met the established requirements, and that has been validated by the GAO [Government Accountability Office]."

As first reported in Aerospace Daily, the KPP change occurred in the spring of 2005 during a crucial time of the CSAR-X competition (DAILY, Feb. 23). Air Force Special Operation Command (AFSOC) changed the three-hour reassembly deployability standard from "mission" ready to "flight" ready.

"This one-word change significantly altered the deployability requirement, weakening it to such a degree that Chinook became a viable contender," POGO reported.

The Air Force had made other KPP changes - some based on competitor input - but those changes went through a much more rigorous review than the deployability one.

As POGO points out, "'mission ready' (also known as 'mission capable') is defined by DOD indicating (an aircraft) can perform at least one and potentially all of its designated missions."

However, POGO notes, "'flight ready' is known as 'not mission capable airworthy' ... indicating that systems and equipment are not capable of performing any of their assigned missions because of maintenance requirements."

According to POGO, the Pentagon has wanted the Air Force to buy the Chinooks, no matter what the issue. "In April 2005, AFSOC requested a meeting with Boeing at the behest of the Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD) acquisition office," POGO says. "Boeing told AFSOC that [the company] did not believe the Chinook could meet the deployability requirement that the CSAR-X vehicle be able to be airlifted to the mission site, and within three hours be reassembled and mission ready."

Following that meeting, AFSOC officials requested that the Air Force Air Staff double the three-hour mission ready requirement to six hours, POGO says. "The Air Staff refused because not only were they opposed to weakening the requirement, but the CDD [capabilities development document] outlining the deployability KPP change would first have to pass through the requirements oversight process, to be vetted by JROC [Joint Requirements Oversight Council] and even the Air Force Requirements Oversight Council (AFROC) - a process that would push the program back several months."

The program is delayed nearly as much now because of two GAO-sustained protests of the award to Boeing by losing bidders Lockheed and Sikorsky. The latest revised request for proposals was expected on the evening of Nov. 15.