Well good on Cobham.
I lament their corporate success in being able to provide a much needed capability upgrade for AMSA services.
It is however a damming indictment of the process, there are several FACTS that seem to have been glossed over in the awarding of the contract. That for all its visibility seem to be massaging the ego of big business and once again canberra has elected to provide less for more cost.
The two other final contenders for the Jet component should rightly be spitting pills right about now.
Fact is the other tenderers submitted similar or bids that meet the $32.5M p/a operating cost...... Cobham has not (640/12=53), you work out where the extra money is going. Especially when one operator tendered exactly the same airframe.
Fact, it was a requirement of the tender that the bidder had the aircraft on the AOC, once again, two did, one did not........ and of course the one that did not got the nod.
So once again, although there is a capability increase and back slapping all round the reality is, canberra lobbyists have extracted their value, a foreign owned big business, has been remarkably successful in a competitive bid process that once again shows that the real loser is the Australian Tax Payer.
It is great that there is a capability increase, yet the process is rotten. A non conforming bid appears to have won the day....... again. Yet for all the cost involved in government process to be fair and transparent the machine has once again steam rolled democratic process and what is good for the end user..... the Australian public.
With a nearly a Quarter of a billion $ difference where one competitor bid with identical equipment.
The process and outcome stinks, the other bidders have very good reason to cry foul on this one.
FACTS
Competition......no, you now have a monopoly.
Price..... no, you now have more expense.
Capability.... no, identical equipment tendered.
Process ...... no, a non conforming bid has succeed.
Whats wrong with this picture.