A case study of the Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAVP) program from a contracting perspective

Abstract

This research effort focused on the contracting history of the U.S. Marine Corps Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV) Program. The research answered the primary question of what were the critical contracting decisions that have been made during the program and how would an analysis of these contracting decisions affect the future of the AAAV program. Interviews were conducted with personnel from the AAAV program office and other Government agencies as well as with contractor employees. Additionally, program documents and other relevant literature was reviewed. The key findings of the research effort conclude that the unique collocation arrangement of the AAAV program office and the contractor should be emulated by other Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAPs); Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) and the Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD) concept is effective in improving communications between the Government and the contractor; and Unique contract clauses used in the Concept Demonstration and Validation contract were effective in incentivizing the contractor. The unique contract clauses examined were: mandatory geographic location of the contractor's facility, collocation of the AAAV program office with the contractor, a Special Design Decision Provision, and contractor cost sharing. The research effort presents recommendations on how these aspects of the AAAV program can be applied to other MDAPs.