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Air Force eyes contractors for refueling

The Air Force will conduct a pilot program, beginning in fiscal 2012, to explore the option of using commercial “fee-for-service” aerial refueling services, according to testimony submitted to Congress by acting Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Gen. Norton Schwartz, who has been nominated to become chief of staff.

The Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, will release a formal request for proposals from vendors as early as October, according to the testimony, and it will take an additional two years or more to choose participating vendors, allow them to design and execute their solutions and then begin the pilot program.

The pilot will run from fiscal 2012 through 2016.

The purpose of the program, according to a request for information released in February, is “to assess the feasibility and utility of incorporating commercial service provider(s) in Air Force operations long-term.”

The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act directed the Air Force to launch the pilot program.

After releasing the RFI in February, the Aeronautical Systems Center was set to hold meetings with interested vendors the week of April 14.

In their testimony submitted to Congress, both Donley and Schwartz said they support the program, but Schwartz said he also has concerns about it.

Congress did not provide funding for the pilot, and the necessity to use booms for refueling — rather than a probe and drogue system like the Navy — will take longer for vendors to develop, Schwartz said.

Donley’s testimony also left open the possibility that the Air Force might not conduct the pilot program if vendors do not come up with feasible proposals.

The pilot program is moving along against the backdrop of the long-delayed effort of the Air Force to buy a new refueling tanker. The Pentagon announced earlier this month that it would take over the award of the tanker contract after the Government Accountability Office found flaws in the Air Force’s selection process.

The tanker program, which the Air Force says is its top procurement priority, has been delayed at least five years since the beginning of the decade.

The commercial “fee-for-service” program is intended to augment the Air Force’s tanker capacity, not replace it.