Conducting a Competitive Prototype Acquisition Program: An Account of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) Technology Development Phase.

摘要

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) was among the first defense programs to require a competitive prototyping acquisition strategy under the 19 September 07 USD (AT&L) policy Memorandum, 'Prototyping and Competition.' At Milestone A, the program was directed to inform the requirements process, validate technology maturity, assess commonality of components across a family of vehicles, and assess manufacturing risks. As a result, the joint program office simultaneously executed three weapon system prototyping contracts in a continuously competitive environment while meeting cost, schedule, and performance objectives. The goal of the JAP was to describe the program management strategy used in the JLTV Technology Development (TD) phase. The resulting document is a firsthand perspective from working within the Product Manager (PM). It discusses how TD acquisition phase program objectives were addressed and several unique management solutions. The focus is an account of planning and managing three contracts from September 2008 until May 2010. Information from the JLTV TD phase has significantly changed the requirements for the EMD phase. In addition to informing requirements, the program leveraged the competitive environment by maintaining constant emphasis on the contractors to meet cost and schedule. The results demonstrated that competitive prototyping can work.