Rapid Fire Nov. 14, 2012: BBP 2.0 Beta

• 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.