Acquisition: Procurement Procedures Used for Next Generation Small Loader Contracts
Abstract
The Next Generation Small Loader (NGSL) is an air transportable, 25,000 pound capacity, self-propelled mobile air cargo transporter/loader designed to support military transport and civil reserve fleet aircraft. In 2000, the then Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition and Management, Darleen Druyun, decided to use an aggressive strategy to procure NGSL loaders as commercial items. During the contract source selection process, the Air Force tested two competing loaders made by FMC Corporation (FMC) and Teledyne Brown Engineering (Teledyne). It selected FMC. Teledyne protested the award but Druyun denied the protest. The Air Force awarded the contract to FMC even though test results indicated that both loaders had serious reliability problems. The procurement files indicated that neither cargo loader should have been selected because the loaders could not meet operational requirements for reliability. Druyun's review was inadequate because she did not address red-flagged reliability problems that should have precluded the procurement of either vehicle. Druyun should have intervened and directed the development of a more suitable loader rather than awarding the contract to FMC under FAR Part 12.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA472018
Entities
Organizations
- Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense