14 avril 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Newest DoD industry guidance clarifies repayments, makes prototyping easier

By: Aaron Mehta

WASHINGTON — As part of its ongoing effort to bolster the defense industrial base, the Pentagon has issued two new pieces of guidance — one focused on workers, and one focused on prototype contracts.

Overall, the department has now issued 17 different actions, ranging from basic guidance for industry to memos changing how the department pays contractors, since March 5.

In an April 6 memo, acquisition head Ellen Lord changed the rules for issuing prototype contracts through other transaction authorities.

OTAs are small contracts awarded to companies of any size, in theory targeted at nontraditional defense contractors, with the purpose of conducting research or prototype efforts on a specific project; they are not subject to Federal Acquisition Regulation rules. By comparison, SBIR contracts are targeted at small businesses in order to act as seed money for them to conduct research and development efforts; they are subject to the FAR rules.

According to data gathered by Govini, the Pentagon issued $16.3 billion in OTA contracts between fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2019. Those numbers grew year over year during that time period, from $0.7 billion in FY15 to $7 billion in FY19.

Lord's memo, which like other Pentagon industrial base guidance will last “for the period covered by the COVID-19 emergency declaration,” includes three pieces of guidance:

  • Prototype project contracts in excess of $100 million can now be issued by the directors of the defense agencies/field activities, commanding officers of combatant command, and the director of the Defense Innovation Unit.
  • Prototype project agreements and any follow-on production contracts in excess of $500 million can be issued by the senior procurement executives of the military departments, the director of DARPA and the director of the Missile Defense Agency. OT prototype actions between $100 and $500 million can be delegated to lower officials as seen fit by the leaders of those organizations.
  • Perhaps most notably, the memo attempts to make it easier to get prototype contracts specifically related to COVID-19 up and running, by relaxing a requirement to give the congressional defense committees a 30-day advance notice before issuing a transaction in excess of $500 million for projects that are tied into the ongoing pandemic. Instead, the goal will be to make a notification “as soon as practicable after the commencement of such a transaction.”

Meanwhile, the department has also given new guidance related to a part of the recent Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act stimulus package, which allows agencies to reimburse contractors for payments to their workforce, should they be prevented from working due to COVID-19 facility closures or other restrictions.

Under the new guidance, contracting officers at the department may decide not to reimburse in situations where employees or subcontractor employees were able to work, including remote or telework options, but choose not to; when the costs seeking reimbursement were not associated with keeping employees in a ready state; when costs were incurred prior to January 31, 2020, or after September 30, 2020; or when the contractor has been or can be reimbursed by other means.

Additionally, the reimbursement is not an option for costs not related to COVID-19 and, notably, is “subject to the availability of funds,” per a department statement. Advance payments are also not an option.

https://www.defensenews.com/coronavirus/2020/04/09/newest-dod-industry-guidance-clarifies-repayments-makes-prototyping-easier/

Sur le même sujet

  • FLIR set to add Endeavor Robotics to its unmanned future

    19 février 2019 | International, C4ISR

    FLIR set to add Endeavor Robotics to its unmanned future

    By: Kelsey D. Atherton A camera is never just a camera anymore. For FLIR — the company whose bread and butter may be lenses and images but whose product is best thought of as an intelligence add-on more than any pedestrian photography — was never just about the camera. FLIR's cameras and sensors have been incorporated into vehicles for decades, a platform on platforms. But in the past two years, FLIR has moved to acquire robotics companies of its own. A new deal, announced Feb. 11, 2019, is set to have FLIR acquire Endeavor Robotics. In November 2016, FLIR acquired Prox Dynamics, maker of the sparrow-sized Black Hornet micro-drone. It was FLIR's first foray into its own unmanned vehicles. In January 2019, FLIR acquired drone-maker Aeryon Labs, which produces vehicles that weigh less than 20 pounds for a number of militaries across the globe. “Now with Endeavor, we've started down that path of executing our inorganic phase of our growth strategy for unmanned,” said David Ray, president of the Government and Defense Business Unit at FLIR. “What that does is it allows us to have a platform to move the customer's vision forward for this whole notion of manned-unmanned teaming. It's driving an open architecture, an environment where you can have both manned vehicles and unmanned really cooperating and delivering missions like never before.” Endeavor Robotics is the largest get by FLIR of the lot. FLIR is set to buy Endeavor for $385 million — almost twice as much as FLIR paid for Aeryon Labs, and nearly three times as much as it spent on Prox Dynamics. With Endeavor Robotics comes a whole host of tracked unmanned ground vehicles, including the infantry-deployable (and -tossable) FirstLook, and the larger and heavier PackBot and Kobra. These robots can incorporate a variety of sensors from FLIR, for everything from video and infrared to chemical detection. Being in-house means FLIR can experiment and explore more fusion of its various platforms. “With our Black Hornet we can have a reconnaissance system that is connected to a vehicle,” Ray said, “a tank or whatever it may be, where you could actually launch Black Hornet aircraft from another vehicle. As we enhance our sensors across both, we're able to bring that power to bear in terms of layered surveillance.” While FLIR is still relatively new to robotics, it's used to working across sectors. FLIR sensors have been used by the military, government, law enforcement and in the security space, and have had to stay competitive with commercial companies. Lessons learned from an application in nuclear reactor security might be applicable to a sensor on an explosive ordnance disposal robot. Those updates and lessons have stayed fixed to the specific sensor. With the new robotics companies acquired by FLIR, it can adapt its vehicles and sensors in a more holistic way. “Our latest Black Hornet III is able to operate in GPS-denied environments,” Ray said. “And so the beauty of Endeavor being part FLIR is we can go look at how we take an investment and enhancements we've made and see what it takes to go transfer that into a vehicle. The ultimate goal is being able to build world-class R&D and generate world-class capability, and then be able to expand that across multiple platforms.” FLIR's past, present and future remain very much about the core business of providing sensors for others to incorporate. Also in that future we can anticipate FLIR adapting and designing its own vehicles around its sensors. That means looking at the way the data collected by those sensors can be turned into everything from useful navigational information for an autonomous system on the vehicle, to vital information relayed by tablet to soldiers commanding the robot nearby. https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2019/02/15/flir-set-to-add-endeavor-robotics-to-its-unmanned-future

  • Mysterious Cyber Attack Took Down 600,000+ Routers in the U.S.

    2 juin 2024 | International, Sécurité

    Mysterious Cyber Attack Took Down 600,000+ Routers in the U.S.

    Over 600,000 routers bricked in a massive cyber attack targeting a single U.S. ISP.

  • Malaysia adds funds to troubled littoral combat ship program

    30 mai 2023 | International, Naval

    Malaysia adds funds to troubled littoral combat ship program

    Malaysia has reduced the number of ships it will receive under a revised contract, from six to five.

Toutes les nouvelles