CACI International received a $31 million task order to support implementation of Oracle’s E-Business Suite for the US Department of Defense Business Transformation Agency’s Defense Agency Initiative (DAI) program.

The task order was awarded under the Defense Information System Agency’s $12.3 billion ENCORE II contract vehicle. It is also 1 of 3 DAI-related awards CACI has won with the Business Transformation Agency in the past 12 months, which total approximately $53 million.

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• “Taking Back the Infantry Half-Kilometer” – US infantry poorly equipped for rifle engagements in Afghanistan?

• EADS expects final deal on A400M military transport plane; Euro 3.5 billion funding deal in works.

• US Navy, House Armed Services Committee members, clash over FY 2011 shipbuilding budget.

• ThyssenKrupp’s Swedish subsidiary Kockums to build Sweden’s next-generation submarine.

• Israel’s Plasan secures $170 million subcontract from Oshkosh to supply 1,460 M-ATV protection kits; see Oshkosh’s recent win for 1,460 M-ATVs.

• US Army’s NETFIRES non line-of-sight launch system (NLOS-LS) fails recent tests at White Sands.

• US Marines go green.

• DARPA working on foliage-penetrating radar signal processing workstation to detect infantry moving in dense foliage.

• Littoral Combat Ship: program updates.

• A British green paper calls for enhanced military cooperation between the UK and France. Industry says: what about R&D?

• India orders BEL’s Akash medium range surface-to-air missile systems.

• India issues turboprop trainer RFP, after instructors reportedly refused to fly HPT-32s.

• Up to 8 UAVs reported operating in Waziristan, Pakistan strike.

• Indian P-8i sea control aircraft may add air-air surveillance.

• Frost & Sullivan: Traditional defense contractors will lose market share to “disruptive companies” that offer “good enough” products at cheaper prices.

• China is threatening to sanction US companies that are involved in the US $6.45 billion weapons sale to Taiwan. Real, or a bluff?

• US Defense Secretary Gates warns Congress that if it makes substantial cuts to the administration’s budget request, the US military will have to “sacrifice” force structure and capabilities.

• USA’s coming rotorcraft crunch?

• US DISA awards Unisys a $187 million contract to provide mainframe computer capacity for USAF logistics.

• Who’s right on the US carrier fighter gap? Defense Secretary Gates or the Navy?

• Raytheon receives a $170 million foreign military sales order to produce AGM-65D and AGM-65G2 infrared-guided Maverick air-to-surface missiles for the UAE.

• Maritime laser clears 2 US design reviews.

• Thales wins 5-year training support sub-contract for Australia’s E-737 Wedgetail AWACS {DII}, 5-year avionics support sub-contract for France’s Rafale fighters.

• The US Navy stands up its new Fleet Cyber Command to oversee the service’s cyberspace operations. Google attacks termed a “wake up call” by DNI.

• Draper Lab gets $131.1 million contract to upgrade the guidance systems on the Trident II D5 missile.

Unisys Clearpath Server
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While it might be more thrilling to imagine US Special Operations Forces getting critical intelligence about enemy movements through a laptop computer in the field, the bread and butter of US Department of Defense IT are mainframe computers. They have the computing power necessary to process the huge amount of information generated by the sprawling DoD bureaucracy.

One of the major suppliers of mainframe computers to the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is Unisys. Since 1983, Unisys has been providing mainframe computer capacity for US Air Force logistics through DISA, the DoD agency that provides command, control and computing capabilities to the US services, other DoD agencies, and coalition partners.

On Feb 3/10, Unisys announced that it received a renewal of its contract to provide mainframe computer processing capacity and support services to DISA in support of USAF logistics and Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) financial activities. The contract is worth an estimated $187 million over 5 years.

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Back in February 2006, “The Pentagon’s Broken Book-keeping” discussed the depth of the problems inherent in trying to audit that organization. It’s not that the US Department of Defense fails audits. The problem is more fundamental: it is not currently possible to audit it, and any comprehensive audit would be a first-ever event in modern times.

This topic can seem trivial, but the Pentagon’s accounting problems are not limited to issues of day to day functioning. They also go right to the heart of the American political system’s ability to properly evaluate and learn from procurement decisions over the long term.

On June 18/09, U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Dr. Tom Coburn (R-OK), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced bill S.1287, the Department of Defense Financial Accountability Act of 2009, which sets a progressive deadlines for the Department of Defense to undergo a complete audit of its financial statements. DID offers more information about the bill, and excerpts from a special supplement to the Pentagon’s FY 2010 budget documents…

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In 2006, DID covered the US Department of Defense’s serious accounting and finance-related issues. Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. is one of many consulting companies trying to help them change that, and in May 2006 they received a new blanket purchase agreement (BPA) under contract HQ-0423-06-A-0011 in support of the Defense Finance and Service (DFAS) agency transformation initiative. The contract covers program management, accounting, training, human resource services and Information Technology services in support of the Transformation Directorate at DFAS Indianapolis, IN. Booz consultants role will assist DFAS in planning and executing agency efforts and lead a team of vendors under the BPA through 21 contractor teaming arrangements. These services will be temporary support to closing DFAS locations, and are not anticipated to be required after agency transformation is complete.

The estimated total value of this contract was $25 million, with primary work performed at DFAS Indianapolis, IN, and temporary services provided to closing locations at the closing locations. Work will be performed between May 1, 2006 – April 30, 2011. Funding will be provided through defense working capital funds and BRAC funding, via the DFAS Contract Services Directorate in Columbus, OH (HQ-0423-06-A-0011).

A March 4/08 Booz Allen Hamilton podcast provides something we don’t often get: a retrospective look at the project, which was tied into BRAC 2005, consolidation of IT and accounting systems, and wider efforts within the DoD. The podcast doesn’t reach the high benchmarks set by Manager Tools; nevertheless, it is a useful way to begin to connect the award with the actual project, and understand the challenges involved.

HMMWV, IEDed
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Paradigm Technologies, Inc. (Paradigm) recently received a $15.7 million Task Order to provide Business and Financial Management Support Services to the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicle Joint Program Office in Quantico, Virginia. The Task Order, awarded through the Naval Sea Systems Command’s SeaPort-e, includes a base year and 4 one-year options.

The MRAP Vehicle Program fits with a strong international trend, and seeks to replace vulnerable, flat-bottomed Hummers with vehicles designed from the ground up to resist land mine blasts. It is a Joint, Acquisition Category (ACAT) 1D program that is currently the number 1 Department of Defense priority program, with a DX priority rating for materials that is usually reserved for items like nuclear submarines. The program is currently in the procurement phase, and is valued at about $25 billion over Fiscal Years 2007 – 2009. The Joint Program Office (JPO) is led by Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Virginia.

Under this contract (N00178-05-D-4486-EH02), Paradigm is teamed with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) to provide comprehensive Business and Financial Management support to the MRAP JPO, in order to support the successful execution of the MRAP Vehicle program. This kind of support usually comes from professionals with domain experience – in this case, business and financial management support personnel with extensive ACAT 1 program experience. For further background context, see also the recent US GAO report covering the Pentagon’s use of contractors for acquisition assistance, and likely trends in this area.

Lockheed Martin Government Services, Inc. in Seabrook, MD received a 7th year option of $27.1 million as part of contract MDA220-01-D-0002 for management of the Retired and Annuitant pay service. The service was formerly managed by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), but was the subject of an “A-76 action.” The core concept of the American “A-76” option is that it puts in-house services up for bid against private contractors, and may outsource the function if outside contractors can deliver better and cheaper. This sort of thing can be rather disconcerting to our readers in government departments, while many our readers working in large corporations probably wish they had this option with some of their internal departments. DID covered option #6 last year, along with a very provocative and interesting follow-on question from a reader re: A-76 competitions.

The estimated aggregate face value of this contract at time of award was $346.4 million. Primary work is performed at DFAS Cleveland, OH and secondary work which includes document scanning and primarily imaging is performed at London, KY. Under this option, work will be performed between Feb 1/08, through Jan 31/09. The DFAS Contract Services Directorate in Columbus, OH issued the contract (MDA220-01-D-0002).

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman recently said [release | full press conference transcript] that US Department of Defense officials are concerned with the number of contracting improprieties that have been uncovered within the CENTCOM area of responsibility. Problems with the contracts run the gamut of seriousness from bid-rigging, kickbacks and product substitution to double billing, and Whitman added that the DoD is concerned about “ensuring the integrity of our accounting systems, as well as the integrity of our contracting procedures.” The former could be a tall order; accounting systems have been a long-standing issue in the Pentagon.

The Army is the lead agency in the investigations, which cover up to $5 billion in contracts for goods and services issued in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan….

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Seaport-Enhanced (Seaport-e) is a $5.3 billion multiple-award umbrella contract that lets the US Navy use an integrated approach to contracting for support services. Most requests involve engineering, financial, and program management support. Receiving an award makes a firm eligible to big on jobs under a pre-set contract vehicle, and the SeaPort-e portal provides a standardized means of soliciting bids and awarding task orders.

In 2005, the US Navy issued 503 Seaport-e contracts. In 2006, another 251 were issued. In 2007, there were 391 winners, adding to the existing 892 contracts previously awarded under this program…

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