By Ann Roosevelt
Proposals are in for the Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) technology demonstration phase, and bidders like BAE Systems with partner Northrop Grumman [NOC] and teammates are already working in anticipation of contract awards, a BAE official said.
“It’s sort of a schedule and risk base work allocation now–what do I have to do in order to get ready to execute the contract,” Mark Signorelli, vice president and general manager Ground Combat Vehicle at BAE said in an interview.
The Army acquisition is replacing the 2009 cancellation of the Future Combat Systems’ manned ground vehicle program. The service is adamant about receiving the first vehicles seven years after program inception.
“You knew that the seven years to first production vehicle was an untradeable requirement, a must have, so you have to start when do I have to be done and backward plan from there, what do I have to be ready to do at contract award in order to do that,” he said.
That seven-year timescale also has an impact on what contractors offer for the Ground Combat Vehicle Infantry Carrier, the first of what could be a family of vehicles.
“You can’t be doing basic technology development and meet a seven-year production timeline, Signorelli said. You have to look at innovation in a different way. For example, an iPod has no technology breakthroughs. It’s all in how the technologies were put together–in a new way.
“The innovation in GCV is taking mature technology today and putting it together in new ways so that you get a more capable product,” he said. “The second piece is with that capable product, putting it together in a way that it’s ready to accept new technology as it matures,”
With proposals from the BAE-Northrop Grumman team, and teams led by General Dynamics [GD] and SAIC [SAI], the Army evaluation has begun with as many as three contracts to be awarded this spring. The service is asking for $884 million for the program in fiscal year 2012. However, at press time the fate of the FY ’11 defense spending measure still had not been decided. while a continuing resolution continued in effect. Through previous budget allocations, the Army should have the funds for the technology development contracts.
“We’re in a discussion phase with the Army,” Signorelli said.
In this stage, the Army asks questions–written and verbal–seeking clarification, or other information and BAE responds. “In parallel with that, we’ve continued our internal investment efforts in order to prepare for contract award and so have many of our teammates,” he said. “We are doing work now in anticipation of a contract.”
That preparation includes putting together what’s needed for the system requirements review that comes 60 days after contract award. In some cases, it’s working with a subcontractor that might want to complete drawings for a subsystem, or place long-lead orders.
“What you’re trying to do is make sure that at the point when you get a contract award, and we’re pretty confident that we’re competitive for a contract that you can meet the program schedule and timelines,” Signorelli said.