Boeing to formally challenge Denmark fighter procurement decision

Boeing took the first step toward bringing a formal legal challenge of the Danish Ministry of Defence’s evaluation regarding the country’s next fighter jet.

Boeing submitted to the Ministry of Defence a Request for Insight, which requires the Ministry to provide all materials related to the fighter procurement evaluation and decision announced in June. The Ministry of Defence and its New Fighter Program Office did not recommend the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, a decision that the company believes was the product of a flawed evaluation process.

“As we said when the decision was announced, we believe the Ministry’s evaluation of the competitors was fundamentally flawed and inaccurately assessed the cost and capability of the F/A-18 Super Hornet,” said Debbie Rub, vice president and general manager, Boeing Global Strike. “We’re taking this step because there’s too much at stake for Denmark and, potentially, other countries considering the Super Hornet.”

Boeing presented its concerns with the evaluation process to the Danish Parliament Defence Committee prior to the award decision earlier this year, taking issue, in particular, with the Ministry’s estimate that the Super Hornet would cost up to twice as much as detailed in U.S. Department of Defense budget documents.

“Denmark deserves to know beyond a shadow of doubt that a fair and transparent process was used to select the country’s future fighter fleet,” Rub said. “Our action today underscores our belief that the Ministry’s evaluation of each of the four selection criteria fell short of these objectives and must be reviewed to the fullest extent allowed under Danish law.”