Contract Management: Service Contract Approach to Aircraft Simulator Training Has Room for Improvement

Abstract

The Air Force and Army turned to service contracts for simulator training primarily because efforts to modernize existing simulator hardware and software had lost out in the competition for procurement funds. As a result, the simulators were becoming increasingly obsolete. Buying training as a service meant that operation and maintenance (O and M) funds could be used instead of procurement funds. Shifting the responsibility for simulator ownership, operation, and maintenance from the government to the contractor was thought to more quickly enable simulator upgrades to match the changing configurations of aircraft. However, the decision to take a service contract approach was not supported by a thorough analysis of the costs and benefits as compared to other alternatives, despite a Department of Defense directive that provided for such an analysis.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2006
Accession Number
AD1173182

Entities

People

  • Lisa Shames

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Airborne Warning And Control System
  • Commerce
  • Computer Programs
  • Congress
  • Contractors
  • Contracts
  • Control Systems
  • Department Of Defense
  • Flight Crews
  • Flight Simulators
  • Flight Training
  • Governments
  • Pilots
  • Procurement
  • Reconnaissance Aircraft
  • Reliability
  • Simulators
  • Students
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Training
  • Training Devices
  • United States
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Aviation Science / Aeronautics.
  • Defense Acquisition Program Management