The Defense Department on Tuesday released its expanded Superior Supplier Incentive Program (SSIP) rankings for the Army and the Air Force.

SSIP is an initiative led by DoD acquisition executive Frank Kendall to incentivize contractors to improve. SSIP uses data gathered through the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) to rate the 25 largest companies doing business with each of the three services, based on contract obligations over the past three fiscal years. SSIP then slated companies, in no specific order, into three performance tiers with “Tier 1” being the best.

The Air Force's F-35A conventional variant. Photo: Air Force.
The Air Force’s F-35A conventional variant. Photo: Air Force.

The Army said in a statement that F-35 contracts are managed by the Navy, so CPAR scores associated with F-35 are included in the Navy’s SSIP rankings.

Tier 1 business segments for the Army: BAE Systems Electronic, BAE Systems Global Combat Systems, Boeing [BA] Global Services and Support, Finmeccanica-DRS Technologies, General Electric [GE] Aviation, Harris Corp. [HRS], Lockheed Martin [LMT] Information Systems and Global Solutions (IS&GS), Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, SAIC [SAI] Research and Development, SRC Tech Inc.

Tier 1 business segments for the Air Force include BAE Systems Electronic Systems, Boeing Commercial Aircraft, General Dynamics [GD] Aerospace, L-3 Communications [LLL] Systems, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Lockheed Martin IS&GS, Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Northrop Grumman [NOC] Information Systems, Rockwell Collins [COL] Commercial Systems, Rolls-Royce, Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) and United Technologies Corp.– [UTX] unit Pratt & Whitney.

Tier 2 business segments for the Army include Aerovironment [AVAV], Boeing Military Aircraft, Booz Allen Hamilton [BAH], Chemring Group PLC, Cubic Inc., General Dynamics Information Systems and Technology, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, Northrop Grumman Information Systems, Raytheon [RTN] Integrated Defense Systems, Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, SAIC Government Services and Thales-Raytheon Systems.

Tier 2 business segments for the Air Force include Boeing Military Aircraft, Boeing Global Services and Support, Boeing Network and Space Systems, GE Aviation, Honeywell [HON] International Aerospace, L-3 Aerospace Systems, L-3 National Security Solutions, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, Textron [TXT] Aviation and United Technologies Aerospace Systems.

Tier 3 business segments for the Army include ATK Defense Group (now part of Orbital ATK [OA]); BAE Systems Land and Armaments; Boeing Network and Space Systems; CSC [CSC] North American Public Sector; General Atomics Technology–Aeronautical Systems; General Dynamics Combat Systems; Honeywell International Aerospace; Oshkosh [OSK]; Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services; Raytheon Missile Systems; Textron-unit Bell Helicopter; Textron Systems; Sikorsky of United Technologies and United Technologies Aerospace Systems.

Tier 3 business segments for the Air Force include BAE Systems Intelligence and Security; Exelis [XLS] C4ISR Electronics and Systems; Exelis Information and Technical Services; General Atomics Technology Corp. Aeronautical Systems; General Dynamics Information Systems and Technology; Jacobs Engineering- [JEC] unit Tybrin; L-3 Electronic Systems; Leidos [LEI]; Northrop Grumman Technical Services; Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services; Raytheon Missile Systems; Rockwell Collins Government Systems; Textron Systems; United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing; and Sikorsky, a division of UTC.

Kendall in August he was “very receptive” to criticism that the CPARS data set is “somewhat limited” and that DoD would try to improve it. He also said DoD would use the CPARS data set more so contractors would get the feedback they need to understand how they are performing compared to competitors (Defense Daily, Aug. 5).