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TITLE II— RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST, AND EVALUATION 109-360

House Conference Report

SEC. 212. CONTRACT FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF THE FUTURE COMBAT SYSTEMS (FCS).

The Secretary of the Army shall procure the Future Combat Systems (FCS) through a contract under part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), relating to acquisition of items by negotiated contract (48 CFR 15.000 et seq.), rather than through a transaction under section 2371 of title 10, United States Code.

The Senate amendment contained a provision (sec. 211) that would direct the Secretary of the Army to procure the Future Combat System through a contract under part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, rather than through a transaction under section 2371 of title 10, United States Code.

The House bill contained no similar provision.

The House recedes.

Senate Report 109-069

The committee recommends a provision that would require the Secretary of the Army to ensure that the Future Combat System (FCS), including all projects and equipment that are a part of the FCS program, be developed and procured through a contract under the authority of Part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), relating to acquisition of items by negotiated contract (48 C.F.R. 15.000 et seq.) rather than through a contract under the authority of section 845 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Public Law 108-136, 10 U.S.C. 2371 note).

The committee has expressed concern regarding the Army's use of an `other transaction authority' (OTA) contract vehicle to manage the FCS program. The committee does not believe that the $20.9 billion agreement entered between the Army and the Lead Systems Integrator for the FCS program is consistent with the language and intent of section 845 authority. Section 845 authority is intended to be used for limited prototype projects, particularly those in which the Department of Defense seeks to engage nontraditional defense contractors that may be averse to the requirements imposed by a standard Department contract.

The committee notes that the Army has announced its intent to renegotiate this contract to a FAR Part 15 contract. This provision is intended to support that decision.