Aero Vodochody Will Challenge The French Tender Process for New Training Aircraft
Aero decided to participate in the French tender for a new military training aircraft with its advanced L-39NG. Unfortunately, on discovering what it considers to be major problems with the structure and conduct of the competition, Aero has decided to request an official inquiry into the legality of the tender process.
Discrimination in criteria
The competition criteria for the pre-selection of partners, which will be invited to submit detailed offers, are illogical as they are not related to the product to be delivered. Aero considers that it is most unusual and unnecessary for the tender process to restrict competition entry to those companies who meet the requirements for Continuing Airworthiness in accordance with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulations, commonly known as Part-M Approval. This regulation applies only the manufacturers of civil aircraft, whereas the competition is clearly for a military training aircraft. Not only is the Part-M requirement completely irrelevant to the subject of the tender, but its inclusion clearly discriminates against purely military aircraft manufacturers.
Nonstandard practices
It is a long established practice in military procurement tenders to include a mechanism for raising and answering additional queries from individual candidate companies. This mechanism allows for the clarification of any ambiguities in the tender process and criteria, as well as giving the candidate company an opportunity to prepare an adequate and complete offer. This prevents such detailed offers from being excluded through any misunderstandings or shortcomings. Considering the complexity and importance of such a competition, this is an essential prerequisite for a successful tender.
Aero have discovered a number of what we consider to be inconsistencies and ambiguities both in tender documentation and the process as laid out for the French military training aircraft contract. Aero has attempted to contact the French contracting authority to request clarification of these ambiguities and to request correction of the inconsistencies. However, there has been no response to Aero’s requests, nor has Aero received a reply to formal questions in accordance with to the deadlines stipulated in the tender invitation.
Unfair competition
Impartiality and fair competition are essential prerequisites for the successful conduct of a tender process for it to result in the selection of the best solution for the customer. In order for a competition to be fair, those involved in the process cannot be seen to be biased or openly prefer one bidder over another. Unfortunately, in the case of this competition, Aero are already aware of the preferences expressed in a number of public sources, including one newspaper report, by senior officials of the intended customer. These publicly stated preferences detail a particular supplier and its aircraft as well as outline the one official’s ideas regarding the desirable parameters of future training aircraft. That information is already in the public domain concerning the intended customer’s preference is a matter of considerable regret for Aero, as a fair competition is unlikely when it is subject to such biased public commentary. Such public statements of preference also undermine the competition process itself. They pre-empt the participation of wide range of professionally competent suppliers and furthermore disallow fair competition process anticipated by both French and European law.
For reasons stated above, Aero considers that the ongoing tender follows nonstandard practices, is at the least ambiguous in its requirements and does not correspond to both French and European regulations for public procurement. Therefore, Aero has decided to take the necessary legal steps to request a review of, and revisions to, the tender. Aero have also requested that the Czech authorities cooperate with the company in an investigation into the legality of the tender process and the actions of those involved.
About L-39NG
The L-39NG is a project of new jet trainer designed to replace a wide range of second- and third-generation training aircraft. L-39NG combines the proven aerodynamic concept with the most advanced manufacturing technologies and systems, which guarantee a long service life, highly efficient operating parameters, low investment and operating costs and wide utilization within air forces. The project was introduced during Farnborough International Airshow in 2014. Just a year later, AERO Vodochody AEROSPACE made an announcement of the first customers of the project including revealing of major technological innovations, which make L-39NG the most sophisticated training platform allowing all training phases on a single type of aircraft.
Source: AERO Vodochody
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