As the White House, Pentagon and Capitol Hill continue to mull ways to revamp the Defense Department's acquisition process, one option -- increasing the use of fixed-price contracts -- has defense industry groups concerned.
Late last month, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the panel's ranking Republican, introduced legislation that aims in part to push DOD to use more fixed-price deals.
By significantly strengthening certification mandates for programs that violate cost-growth limits under the Nunn-McCurdy statute, and placing a greater emphasis on cost estimates in the early stages of an acquisition program, the bill looks to "eliminate the risks" within the current DOD acquisition system that prevent the consistent use of fixed-price contracts for all weapons development systems, Levin said during a Feb. 24 briefing on Capitol Hill (ITP, March 5, p8).
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