AF Acquisition Secretary: LRSB Most Likely Will Be Cost-Plus

摘要

The procurement timeline for the Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRSB) has been pushed back from the spring tornsummer, and the Air Force will most likely opt to award a cost-plus contract to develop the aircraft, Dr. WilliamrnLaPlante, Air Force Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, told House lawmakers this week. Northrop Grumman andrna Boeing-Lockheed Martin team are competing for the contract. LaPlante this week submitted written testimony tornCongress indicating the timeline extension, and LaPlante said during a March 4 House Armed Services Seapowerrnand Projection Forces Subcommittee hearing that the LRSB will most likely be a cost-plus contract. “My belief onrnthe LRSB is … that we are doing a little bit more cutting-edge,” LaPlante said during the hearing. “It’s not basedrnon a commercial item, and so I think more likely, it’s going to be in the cost-plus regime.” He noted that thernDefense Department usually employs cost-plus contracts when procurement involves newer technologies, whilernfixed-price contracts are usually based on more proven existing commercial items.