Inside Defense notes that Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is distilling a shortlist of new, high-priority weapon system requirements along with the service Vice Chiefs. In a departure from usual approaches, the new batch of Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) have been culled from shortfalls in capabilities articulated by combatant commanders, rather than being identified by service representatives in the Pentagon. This new process could result in combatant commanders having significantly more influence over the shape of the US Defense Department’s new six-year spending plan.
“DOD Making List of New, Key Weapons” discusses how this system evolved from Giambastiani’s frustrating experiences with the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System as a combatant commander, and explains some of the changes and their impacts. As Admiral Giambastiani put it:
“I spent three years trying to blast my way through the system as a combatant commander… I felt the process was much too bureaucratic; it was too labor intensive. And it didn’t discriminate in a way that made sense between something that, say, was worth $100,000 and something that was worth $100 million. It took the same amount of effort to get something through either one of those.”
The Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH has issued a pair of contracts to Boeing subsidiary McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach, CA. The contracts are related to the C-17 Globemaster III sustainment partnership support framework.
One contract is a $54.8 million firm-fixed-price contract modification to the C-17 Globemaster III sustainment partnership (GSP) contract. It incorporates an undefinitized contract action for large aircraft infrared countermeasures (LAIRCM) small laser turret assembly installs and difference engineering. Work will be complete by March 2008 (FA8614-04-C-2004/P00095).
LAIRCM Concept
Another is a $49.7 million time and material contract modification to the C-17 GSP to increase funding for FY04 material improvement projects (MIPs) for non-recurring engineering and retrofit. This estimated annual program does not identify specific MIPs to be performed, just general requirements; but the FY04 time & materials ceiling amount for contract line item 0014AA is increased by $49.7 million for a total ceiling amount of $152 million. This work will be complete in December 2007 (FA8614-04-C-2004/P00105).
Raytheon Co., Space and Airborne Systems in El Segundo, CA received a $10.1 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-03-C-0364) for nonrecurring engineering efforts associated step one of an engineering change proposal for the Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared pod’s data link. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA, and is expected to be complete in December 2006. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD issued the contract.
Marvin Engineering Co., Inc. in Inglewood, CA received a $5.6 million firm-fixed-price contract to provide for LAU-117 (V3) launchers used with AGM-65 Maverick precision attack missiles. This effort support foreign military sales to Chile, Poland, Taiwan, and Oman, all of whom fly F-16s. Work will be complete by June 2007. The Headquarters Ogden Air Logistics Center at Hill Air Force Base, UT issued the contract (FA8213-06-C-0025).
The Walsh Group in Chicago, IL is receiving $18.1 million for construction of a consolidated reserve center at the at the Schenectady County Airport. The new joint Armed Forces Reserve center will accommodate the necessary training and support functions from three old deteriorated reserve centers for the Navy, Marines and New York Air National Guard that will be closed. This project is firm-fixed price task order 0004 under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contract (N62470-01-D-1138).
Work will be performed in Schenectady, NY, and is expected to be complete by January 2008. The basic contract under which this is happening was competitively procured, with 116 proposals solicited, 10 offers received and awards made to 6 contractors on April 26, 2002. They compete for task orders, and the total contract amount is not to exceed $150 million annually (base year with four option years) with a maximum of $750 million worth of projects to be placed on all multiple contracts over the 5-year term. Two proposals were received for this task order by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Public Works Department Pennsylvania in Willow Grove, PA.
