ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. - Aberdeen Proving Ground's industry partners were told to expect changes in the way the Army works contracts during the 2019 Advanced Planning Briefing to Industry.
The three-day event, held here on the C5ISR campus April 30-May 2, gave industry partners a glimpse at upcoming contract requirements throughout the APG installation for fiscal 2020 and 2021.
Commanding General of the Army Communications-Electronics Command and APG Senior Commander Maj. Gen. Randy S. Taylor said the Army will add emphasis on sustainment in future contracts.
"We're giving more and more thought to sustainment language in the contracts," he said. "Not just the initial acquisition, but what's going to happen several years down the road, especially when a program transitions to sustainment."
He added more contracts will be performance based and have incentives within them, rather than using Lowest Price Technically Acceptable contracts.
"There's a very good application for LPTA, but we are trying to incentivize performance for the outcome we desire," he said. "You'll see a shift in our contracting approach."
In fiscal year 2018, the Army Contracting Command-APG awarded more than 30,000 contracts, valued at about $13.2 billion.
In fiscal 2020, Taylor said to expect the Army to obligate $2.1 billion toward the five Army Futures Command focus areas in which APG provides expertise: soldier lethality; position, navigation and timing; networks; next generation combat vehicles and synthetic testing.
Within Army Materiel Command, Taylor said supply availability remains its top priority.
"Making sure the right parts are at the right place at the right time is the number one thing we can do to help the Army be ready to fight the nation's wars," he said.
Scott Delcore, president of Interclypse, an Annapolis Junction-based software engineering firm focused mostly on the intelligence community, said he came to APBI for the first time this year. He said it was important for him to gain an understanding of the Army's needs through the Army's words, rather than a website.
"We're trying to get an understanding of what the Army's looking for at APG and try to go in and determine if it's aligned well with our business," he said.
James Carroll, chief science officer for the Alaka'Ina Foundation Family of Companies, a Hawaii-based government service firm, said he hopes to find opportunities for his company to provide additional support at APG. His company already supports several APG tenants.
"You get to hear the broad base of customers express what their needs are and can network with other organizations," he said.
APBI was part of Discovery Week at APG, which also included a Tech Expo, the induction of the Communications-Electronics Command Hall of Fame class of 2019 and Discovery Fest, which took place on APG's C5ISR Campus, Saturday, May 4.
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