DOD ANNOUNCES REGULATORY RELIEF FOR NON-DEVELOPMENTAL AIRLIFT AIRCRAFT PILOTPROGRAM
Undersecretary of Defense Paul Kaminski today announced approval of a
regulatory relief package for the Non-developmental Airlift Aircraft (NDAA)
pilot program. This regulatory relief was incorporated into the recently
released NDAA Request for Proposal (RFP), which solicits industry for a
commercial airlift aircraft as a potential supplement to the C-17. Proposals
must be submitted to the Air Force by May 30, 1995.
The NDAA program was initiated a year ago, after the C-17 program was
temporarily capped at a 40-aircraft buy pending further evaluation of C-17 cost
and performance and an assessment of commercial airlift alternatives. Since
that time, Government and industry involvement in over 90 hours of meetings
produced a streamlined NDAA RFP that represents a giant step forward in
commercializing Government requirements.
The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 designated NDAA (under the
umbrella of Commercial Derivative Aircraft) as one of five Defense Acquisition
Pilot Programs. The law encourages the extensive use of commercial practices,
relying on industry expertise and established procedures, rather than imposing
traditional government requirements and specifications. Unlike previous
tailoring approaches to RFP streamlining, the NDAA RFP began as a
commercial-style document and added in military requirements only when
absolutely necessary. The RFP incorporates all applicable statutory relief
contained within the streamlining law, plus 30 additional regulatory waivers
granted by DoD and the Air Force. The streamlined, 175-page RFP specifies the
requirements for both the aircraft system and contractor logistics support
(CLS) of that system. Some of the noteworthy, commercial-like aspects of the
NDAA RFP include:
. No military specifications or standards.
. No government furnished property (GFP); no government approved GFP
accountability system.
. No military priority and allocation requirements.
. Minimal unique data requirements with maximum use of existing contractor
data.
. No certified cost and pricing data, government approved accounting system, or
government approved purchasing system.
. Waiver of the standard mandatory unilateral changes clause; government and
contractor will negotiate rights to make unilateral changes.
. Contractor retains configuration control.
. Contractor determines support equipment requirements.
Following an evaluation of NDAA contractor proposals this summer, the Defense
Acquisition Executive will decide at a November 95 Defense Acquisition Board
(DAB) the eventual C-17 fleet size, and whether to procure a non-developmental
airlift aircraft. If the decision is made by DoD to purchase a NDAA, the Air
Force will announce the selected NDAA contractor and award a contract following
the DAB.
