Contractors to resubmit bids for revamped militaryFewer companies, less experimental technology and more supervision will surround the Ground Combat Vehicle reboot that begins this week for Southeast Michigan defense contractors interested in the $40 billion program.
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More than 200 representatives of the defense contracting community will be on hand for the inaugural industry day Friday at the Hyatt Regency Dearborn, where the U.S. Army Tacom Life Cycle Management Command will brief contractors.
Sterling Heights-based General Dynamics Land Systems, the Michigan business unit of BAE Systems Inc. in Sterling Heights and Advanced Defense Vehicle Systems in Orion Township all have confirmed to Crain's last week they will attend and plan to resubmit bids for the relaunched program.
All three companies had submitted bids earlier this year to develop the vehicle, a replacement for the military's aging fleet of Bradley fighting vehicles.
“I think that our solution is flexible enough to accommodate what are the most likely Army changes,” said Mark Signorelli, vice president for Ground Combat Vehicle at BAE's offices in Sterling Heights. “That's tough to make a firm commitment with, because you never know everything the Army may request. But our concept did have enough great technology to be able to adapt.”
Three bids were in contention, from project teams headed by GDLS and BAE as well as Science Applications International Corp. in McLean, Va. ADVS, the fourth bidder, had been rejected as non-compliant but protested the decision.
Then in August the Army canceled its pending bid review process to re-examine the request for proposals and resolicit for new ones within 60 days. The formal request for bids will likely come out by the end of October, said Paul Mehney, communications coordinator for the Army program, and the process this time will have more oversight from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
The Army hopes to receive initial production deliveries on Ground Combat Vehicle seven years after the initial technology development awards, meaning the vehicles would enter service in 2018.