An evaluation of competitive procurement methodologies applicable to the Advanced Assault Amphibian Vehicle

Abstract

This thesis investigates the types of competition that exist during the different acquisition phase of a weapon system procurement, and discusses the possible effects that competition has on the acquisition cost of these systems. Also, economic, technical and management variables are presented and discussed that may have a significant impact when considering whether to introduce production competition into a program. Five second sourcing methodologies are presented and discussed along with their relative advantages and disadvantages, and a model is presented which allows for a comparison to be performed between the five second sourcing methods. The proposed acquisition strategy for the Advanced Assault Amphibian Vehicle (AAAV) is presented and analyzed as it concerns design and production competition. An analysis of the AAAV program variables is performed, with accompanying economic analysis, which indicates that a Contractor Teaming strategy would be appropriate for introducing production competition should the decision be made to second source.