By Calvin Biesecker
With the ink barely dry on Boeing‘s [BA] first one-year contract option for the Secure Border Initiative (SBI) program, if the company’s performance on the program continues to improve then it will likely get another 12-month extension next year, according the head of the border security program.
While some in Congress are frustrated that the technology portion of the SBI program is well behind schedule and blame Boeing for underperforming, Mark Borkowski, the executive director of SBI for Customs and Border Protection, said in an interview that the company’s performance continues to improve and if that remains the case they will likely receive another year-long contract option next September.
“If we’re in the same position next year…where I have ongoing work, that the performance of the contractor is actually improving, and they are improving, still not quite where I want them but they are improving, and I’m having success in popping these things out, and the investment of doing that through Boeing is worth the cost, then we’ll continue it,” Borkowski told Defense Daily last week. “If not, then we’ll go with a different strategy.”
CBP last week awarded Boeing its first of three potential contract options under the SBInet effort, which is the name given to the electronic fence portion of SBI. The extension is worth between $100 million and $300 million depending on task orders.
Referring to the first option award, Borkowski said it wouldn’t be “prudent” to undertake a new contract strategy now. “I’ve got Boeing in the middle of work. I mean I’ve got task orders on this contract that go into next year. If I didn’t extend the contract option, I would have cut those things off half way through, [and] that doesn’t seem to make much sense. That would be money down the drain.”
Boeing won the SBInet contract in September 2006, covering a three-year base period and the three option years. The company is also responsible for the some of the supply chain management and deployment of physical infrastructure projects under SBI, such as vehicle fencing. Between SBInet and the tactical infrastructure work, Boeing has been awarded more than $1.1 billion in task orders by CBP.
The first planned operational deployment of SBInet is along a 23-mile stretch of border in Arizona an Area of Responsibility (AOR) that CBP calls Tucson-1. CBP soon expects to enter System Acceptance Testing for Tucson-1 and if all goes well turn the system over to the Border Patrol in January for Operational, Test and Evaluation. While those tests are underway, CBP expects to begin deploying SBInet along another 30-mile stretch of border in Arizona called the Ajo-1 AOR. Once those two deployments are operational, the Department of Homeland Security’s acquisition managers will meet with CBP to consider approving plans for deploying SBInet along the rest of Arizona’s border with Mexico, which would complete Block I of the program.
At some point, and that point could come before all the SBI contract options are exercised, Borkowski said he will explore alternative avenues for acquiring and deploying SBInet technologies.
“For example, once I get this Block I to the point to where we say, ‘Okay we got it, now we’re going to stamp this thing out repeatedly,’ I’m going to have some options,” he said. “Those options include, should I still buy these components all through Boeing or should I go buy each of these cameras and radars myself and put them together myself?”
That is not an easy decision, Borkowski said.
“It’s actually a fairly complex trade,” he said. “It’s usually a pretty close call.”
Having CBP take on more of the work right now while development is ongoing is not the way to go, Borkowski said.
Boeing and CBP officials are expected to meet later this month to determine if the SBInet system is ready to begin the Systems Acceptance Testing in the Tucson-1 AOR.