Saturday, May 18, 2024
Key Issues GAO on F-35 SLCM-N program office PrSM funding
Tony Bertuca is chief editor of Inside the Pentagon, the flagship publication of InsideDefense, where he focuses on defense budget and acquisition policy. He previously worked for the Sun-Times News Group in his hometown of Chicago, IL, and at the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, NH. Tony has also served as managing editor of Inside the Army. He has a master's degree in journalism from Boston University.
A request for proposals on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program's engineering and manufacturing development phase is expected to be released on or about Jan. 20, with up to three contract awards planned for June, according to a Jan. 5 Army announcement.
A recent deal to "bundle" the purchase of 100 Stryker Nuclear Biological Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicles with 292 double-V hull variants already under contract will save the Army nearly $50 million, according to an acquisition decision memorandum obtained by InsideDefense.com.
General Dynamics announced today it has completed its tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock in Force Protection Inc., practically consummating the marriage between the two companies.
Congressional appropriators have brought the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle back from the brink, approving $134 million for the Army and Marine Corps to allow the program to proceed, according a statement from the appropriations conference committee.
The Army's Ground Combat Vehicle is funded at nearly $450 million in the fiscal year 2012 defense authorization bill, well below the Army's request of $884 million, according to a House and Senate conference committee report.
Ford Motor Co., the second-largest U.S. automaker, has discussed with the Defense Department the possibility of competing to build the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, a prospect that government sources say influenced DOD's recent move to drastically lower cost targets.
The Government Accountability Office has ruled against Science Applications International Corp., which had filed a bid protest against the Army's Ground Combat Vehicle program, according to a GAO official.
The Army's Training and Doctrine Command is building a new tactical wheeled vehicle strategy that outlines how many trucks will remain in the service in the wake of planned end-strength reductions, according to officials and sources.
The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program office today issued an update to its draft request for proposals stating that the Army and Marines are now willing to pay $65 million to each potential contractor for the vehicle's engineering and manufacturing design phase, up from the previously planned $52 million.
Two senior Army leaders said today they believe the effort to save the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle is bearing fruit on Capitol Hill, where budget-minded lawmakers are poised to terminate the program.
Lt. Gen. William Phillips, the military deputy to the Army acquisition executive, and Lt. Gen. Robert Lennox, the service's chief programmer (G-8), are fond of calling each other "battle buddies" because of how often they find themselves representing (and defending) Army acquisition efforts before Congress and the media.
The Army wants Congress to restore nearly $1 billion in canceled funding for a host of major acquisition programs, including the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, which was terminated by Senate appropriators last month, according to government documents.
The Joint Tactical Radio System's Ground Mobile Radio has been officially terminated, according to a letter sent to Congress yesterday by Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's acting acquisition chief.
The Army no longer wants to procure the Joint Tactical Radio Systems' key ground radio and is preparing to release a solicitation for a different solution, according to service officials.
The Army today released a draft request for proposals for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program that establishes ambitious cost targets and an accelerated development schedule -- changes that were recently made by Army and Marine Corps officials in an attempt to keep their program alive.
The Army could award contracts to as many as three bidders in the first of two phases of its planned humvee recapitalization program, according to new sections of a draft request for proposals released today.
The Army will hold an industry day on Oct. 7 at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, MI, for contractors interested in the humvee recapitalization program, according to a service announcement.
The Army has released a draft request for proposals for its long-awaited humvee recapitalization program.
The Army's military deputy for acquisition today laid out the service's new approach to modernization, highlighting several ongoing efforts to achieve better buying power in the upcoming era of fiscal constraint.
The Army, as expected, has officially stopped work on its Ground Combat Vehicle program until a pending protest with the Government Accountability Office can be resolved, according to a service statement.