Amendment 14

Ground Vehicle Systems Center Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) Amendment 14

PURPOSE OF REVISION: The purpose of Amendment 14 is to:

In Section 6.1, Open AoIs:

Remove the “Strategic Investment and Capabilities” Area of Interest Remove “Supply Chain Visibility” Area of Interest under Section 6.1, Force Projection Technology (FPT) Update “Castings” Area of Interest under Section 6.1, Ground Vehicles Material Engineering (GVME), to “Castings and Forging” Add “Software Engineering Center (SEC)” Area of Interest under Section 6.1 and sub Areas of Interest “Government-Off-the-Shelf (GOTS) Common Operating System and “Embedded Software Maintenance”

General Information

Authority

The 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) established innovation as a central line of effort in the national defense strategy of the United States. The decisive military advantage of the United States over its adversaries and peer competitors is steadily eroding. Consequently, under 10 U.S.C. 3458, Contracting Officers may acquire innovative commercial items, technologies, or services using a competitive procedure called a Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO). Under a CSO, the Department of Defense may competitively select proposals received in response to a general solicitation, similar to a broad agency announcement, based on a review of proposals by scientific, technological, or other subject-matter expert peers. Use of a CSO in accordance with DFARS Subpart 212.70 is considered to be a competitive procedure for the purposes of 10 U.S.C. 221 and FAR 6.102. Finally, Contracting Officers shall treat items, technologies, and services acquired using a CSO as commercial products and commercial services. Contracts or agreements under this authority shall be fixed-price, including fixed-price incentive fee contracts.

Background:
The United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC), located in Warren, Michigan, is the U.S Armed Forces’ research and development facility for advanced technology in ground systems. The U.S Army DEVCOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S Army Futures Command (AFC) and shares its facilities with the U.S Army Tank- Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM). GVSC’s current technology focus areas include Power and Mobility, Autonomous Systems, Force Projection, Survivability & Protection, Electronics and Architecture, Cyber Engineering and Software Integration, Human Machine Integration, Advance Manufacturing and Modeling, and Simulation and Prototyping.