Rapid Fire Nov. 14, 2012: BBP 2.0 Beta

Nov 14, 2012 09:20 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff
  • As he announced in September, US Defense Undersecretary for Acquisition Frank Kendall updated the Better Buying Power (BBP) guidance set in place by his predecessor Ashton Carter. The policy [PDF] is open for comments for the next 2 months. It continues to promote the use of Fixed Price Incentive (FPI) contracts during the Low Rate Initial Production phase, but is open to using other vehicles elsewhere (especially during early development) to the extent they help align the goals and interests of DoD and the industry.
  • Kendall recognizes the audit backlog that built up at the DCAA: DCMA and DPAP will help tackle it. He also wants the Technology Demonstration (TD) phase to really contribute to risk reduction. Other parts of the memo cover familiar, ongoing productivity challenges and cost/benefit trade-offs. The overall theme is to put in place constraints that matter in order to prevent spending billions of dollars into programs that later get cancelled with little to show for it.
  • The Pentagon announced that former AFRICOM Commander Gen. William Ward will be demoted and retire as a Lieutenant General (O-9) and the Army will “seek to recoup” $82K in undue expenses.

  • Last week the captain in charge of the US Navy’s Southwest Regional Maintenance Center in San Diego, CA, was removed following “substantiated allegations of waste.” Yesterday a former Army major was sentenced to 18 months in prison for a bribery scheme in Kuwait in 2005/2006.

  • The US Navy plans to issue an RFP early next year for up to 1,000 Acoustic Device Countermeasure (ADC) MK2 Mod 4 and Mod 5 devices per year. These 3 inch expendable devices provide submarines and surface ships a counter to torpedoes. Mod 3 was awarded in April 2009.

  • Northrop Grumman’s Firebird optionally-manned UAV is now being tested in a 2-seat variant, at the request of an undisclosed customer. AviationWeek.

  • Lockheed Martin acquired for an undisclosed sum Chandler/May, Inc., a company specialized in UAVs and ground control stations. Press release.

  • Side distractions or busywork may help UAV pilots fight boredom and remain alert, according to Mary Cummings at MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

  • Researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland get their quadrocopters to fly increasingly effective slaloms around arbitrarily placed obstacles thanks to iterative learning. The flying widgets don’t seem to get bored. Video below:

    • Categories: Daily Rapid Fire, Lockheed Martin, Mergers & Acquisitions, Northrop-Grumman, Procurement Innovations, Scandals & Investigations, Science - Basic Research, UAVs, USA

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