Contracted Advisory and Assistance Services for the U.S. Army Future Combat Systems

摘要

To address the allegations, we reviewed whether the same contractors that participated in the development of the FCS were also involved in the operational testing of the systems (section 2399, title 10, United States Code, 'Operational Test and Evaluation of Defense Acquisition Programs). We also reviewed whether contractors had organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs) as defined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) by providing systems engineering and technical direction related to the FCS in light of their involvement in the development of the systems (FAR Subpart 9.5, 'Organizational and Consultant Conflicts of Interest'). The Defense Hotline allegations were substantiated. DOT&E has used SAIC as its primary commercial contractor for advisory and assistance services since 1999 even though SAIC and The Boeing Company serve as Lead System Integrators (LSIs) for system development and demonstration (SDD) of the FCS. Further, the solicitation and contract provisions for DOT&E's requirements explicitly stated 'offerors and providers are excluded from this contract who have significant involvement in development of DoD systems that are under, or will be under DOT&E oversight.' SAIC contended that the SDD contract was a 'systems integration contract, not a development (supply-the-system or maintain-the-system) contract;' however, total contract expenditures through December 31, 2007, of $11.4 billion are from the Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation appropriation. DOT&E, the FCS Program Office, and the Army test agencies frequently SAIC and four other services contractors received about $91.0 million in funding for advisory and assistance services even though these contractors were involved in the SDD efforts for the FCS. DOT&E and the Army did not exercise the good judgment and sound discretion needed to prevent the existence of conflicting roles that might bias a contractor's judgment or provide it an unfair competitive advantage.