Retour aux nouvelles

2 octobre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Facing industry pressure, Pentagon backs off contract payment changes

By: and

WASHINGTON – Following a wave of criticism from the defense industry and members of Congress, the Pentagon on Monday backed off proposed changes to how companies receive cash flow on their contracts.

In a statement released at the unusual time of 7:19 PM, Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said the decision to withdraw the proposed acquisition changes stemmed from a lack of “coordination” inside the department.

“Recently, proposed amendments to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) were prematurely released, absent full coordination,” Shanahan's statement read. “As a result, the Department will rescind the proposed amendments. In coordination with industry, the Department will create a revised rule to implement section 831 of the FY2017 NDAA.”

"The department will continue to partner closely with Congress and industry to examine all reform opportunities, ensuring we provide the best value to taxpayers and critical capabilities to military personnel who defend this great Nation,” Shanahan said.

Unsaid in the statement: that since word of the proposed changes got out, the defense industry has been loud and unanimous in its opposition, and has enlisted its supporters on the Hill to help fight against the plan, put forth by Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord.

As part of a broader set of changes to the acquisition rules, Lord hoped to change how companies receive their cash flow based on performance measurements, to act as an incentive for good behavior.

In a Sept. 5 interview with Defense News, she laid out the rationale, saying “I believe the lifeblood of most industry is cash flow, so what we will do is regulate the percentage of payments or the amount of profit that can be achieved through what type of performance they demonstrate by the numbers.”

However, three major trade groups — The National Defense Industrial Association, Professional Services Council and the Aerospace Industries Association — objected to the proposal, which would slash the payments on work to be performed from 80 percent to 50 percent, with incremental increases for maintaining quality or on-time delivery — and decreases for companies that have committed fraud.

Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, and Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., the chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, sent a Sept. 21 letter to Shanahan calling the proposal “fundamentally flawed" and asking that it be rescinded and revisited.

“We should not make it harder to do business with the Department of Defense than it is to do business with other parts of government — and that's exactly what this regulation does,” Thornberry told reporters last Tuesday. “We try to streamline acquisition, we try to make it easier to do business with these small companies; and then something like this comes out.”

The Pentagon had hoped to implement the rule changes by the end of the year and had planned to hold a public meeting on Oct. 10, before the public comment period ended on Oct. 23. Whether that event will still happen is unclear.

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2018/10/02/facing-industry-pressure-pentagon-backs-off-contract-payment-changes

Sur le même sujet

  • Triumph Awarded Engine Component MRO Contract For International Chinook Fleet

    29 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial

    Triumph Awarded Engine Component MRO Contract For International Chinook Fleet

    Berwyn, Pa., May 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Triumph Group, Inc. [NYSE: TGI] announced that Triumph Systems & Support was recently awarded a six-year contract extension for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services on an international CH-47 Chinook fleet. Triumph's Systems, Electronics and Controls operating company will provide product repair and overhaul services for the fleet's EMC-32T hydromechanical fuel control, technical support and product investigations as part of the long-term agreement. The company will deliver the MRO services out of its West Hartford, Connecticut repair station. The site also designs and manufactures the EMC-32T hydromechanical fuel control unit in addition to offering MRO services for the engine component. "We are honored to be awarded another contract that demonstrates our repair and technical expertise on the Chinook engine fuel control," said Tony Ziotas, President of Triumph Systems & Support – Systems, Electronics and Controls. "Our fuel control products and services are designed to lower cost of ownership and increase time on wing for Chinook operators." Triumph has provided MRO services for engine components for the 60 Chinook aircraft in the customer's international fleet since 2014. This long-standing support of the platform reinforces the company's commitment to supporting the warfighter's mission both at home and abroad with best-in-class service. Triumph Systems & Support's Systems, Electronics and Controls (SEC) operating company designs, develops, manufactures and services fuel pumps, fuel metering units and electronic control systems. They maintain a unique capability for systems integration as well as hydromechanical and electronics in-house development. SEC designs, develops and tests a variety of actuators and thermal systems for use in both military and commercial aerospace applications. Triumph Group, Inc., headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, designs, engineers, manufactures, repairs and overhauls a broad portfolio of aerospace and defense systems, components and structures. The company serves the global aviation industry, including original equipment manufacturers and the full spectrum of military and commercial aircraft operators. More information about Triumph can be found on the company's website at www.triumphgroup.com CisionView original content: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/triumph-awarded-engine-component-mro-contract-for-international-chinook-fleet-301065649.html View source version on Triumph Group, Inc.: https://ir.triumphgroup.com/news-events/news-details/2020/Triumph-Awarded-Engine-Component-MRO-Contract-For-International-Chinook-Fleet/default.aspx

  • Army leaders say this is the service’s ‘secret sauce’

    23 août 2018 | International, C4ISR

    Army leaders say this is the service’s ‘secret sauce’

    By: Mark Pomerleau Both Army leadership and adversaries are recognizing the importance of the network as the foundational weapon system that enables most other functions. “Bottom line, if I could have just one thing, I need a network,” Lt. Gen. Theodore Martin, deputy commanding general of Training and Doctrine Command, said Aug. 21 at TechNet Augusta. “A network that is defended 24/7, around the clock under conditions of adversity, in contact, in the rain with the battlefield.” The head of Army Cyber Command, Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, noted during the same conference that the Russians have figured out the Army's “secret sauce” is the network, along with the data that rides on it and the other weapon systems that leverage it. The Russians understand the capability the network provides after observing the U.S. operate since 1991 and they've developed a strategy to attack it, Fogarty said. As such, Martin noted that the network must be constantly defended from being jammed, interdicted or spoofed. Martin also explained that it can't just be a one-off solution as in years past. The pace of change in technology today is iterating so rapidly that “we can't get into the cumbersome business of getting a server stack and then fielding it to units of action only to find out they're obsolete by the time the third set is issued,” Martin said. Full article: https://www.c4isrnet.com/show-reporter/technet-augusta/2018/08/22/army-leaders-say-this-is-the-services-secret-sauce

  • German lawmakers greenlight $344 million support package for future P-8 fleet

    15 juillet 2022 | International, Aérospatial

    German lawmakers greenlight $344 million support package for future P-8 fleet

    Questions are still swirling here about how many additional Poseidon aircraft, if any, the government will move to buy.

Toutes les nouvelles