HI:
What you described, and was described by each US service, was a "competitive" solicitation.
What they are is a Sole Source Award. In other words the solicitation was written so narrowly that amazingly only ONE bidder responded. Hence Sole source award which is precisely what they are. $16.6 B worth .........
Possibly, but under current DoD funding restrictions, just maybe it is the best of the options on the table for the US Army.
If the Army doesn't follow any of the required acquisition steps, the Army will never know what options it has. Precisely what an AoA is designed to do, which again, the Army reportedly has not done.
I would whole heartedly agree with you that if the CH-47 meets the requirements it was righteously selected. I wish the US DoD would practice what they preach and allow a competitive process to decide the outcome rather than game the system. The taxpayers deserve the same consideration the UK taxpayers got with the award to the Boeing and the Chinook.
Just as an FYI, AW (ANGLO-Italian company) builds CH-47s too but didn't get these included, even though they are currently building the ICH-47
