In addition to the new munition, the APMI system required the development and urgent material release (UMR) of fire control software for both the M32 Lightweight Handheld Mortar Ballistic Computer and the M150/M151 Mortar Fire Control System. It also required the development and UMR of a new setter system to program fuze setting, target location, and guidance information into the cartridge before it is fired. The XM701 Precision Lightweight Universal Mortar Setter System (see Figure 2) includes the M1155A1 Enhanced Portable Inductive Artillery Fuze Setter (EPIAFS), already developed and fielded for the Excalibur 155mm artillery projectile.
This work, to include follow-on produc- tion to support fielding, was all performed in-house by the Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal.
ACQUISITION OBJECTIVES The three essential aspects of this acqui- sition were speed, precision, and safety. These three aspects shaped everything from Integrated Product Team makeup to the contract vehicle and acquisition strat- egy. Given the initial theater requirements and nonnegotiable safety requirements, the PM office immediately engaged the combat developer at the U.S. Army Maneuver Cen- ter of Excellence, Fort Benning, GA, and the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Com- mand, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, to scope the detailed performance, test, and evaluation requirements for the system.
Speed in delivery required a nontraditional approach to acquisition. The fastest path to fielding was to select a robust design that required little to no design effort and to award the production contract as early as possible. Using an existing DOD Ord- nance Technology Consortium contract was key to expediting the contract award.
(SOURCE: PEO Ammo.)
The inherent risk in an early production award was that the Army might buy hard- ware that could not be used for fielding. To mitigate this risk, PEO Ammo made three key decisions:
• Conduct a full and open competition with the technical, schedule, and early production goals of the program fully described and assessed upfront.
• Conduct extreme environmental quali- fication testing on all proposed designs involved in the competitive shoot-off before selection of the design that would go forward. Thus, performance issues would be identified and assessed in advance using gun-fired test data.
• Limit the initial production award to approximately 25 percent of the total quantity, with the remainder to be awarded after successful completion of qualification.
COMPRESSED TIMEFRAME In February 2010, extreme environmental conditioning and a competitive shoot-off were held at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ, to evaluate and compare cartridges devel- oped by several companies. This led to an April 2010 selection of the design submit- ted by Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) for qualification and fielding to OEF.
In June 2010, a contract was awarded to ATK for limited production to meet the urgent need in theater.
Qualification of the cartridge was com- pleted in January, along with the First Article and Acceptance Test of the first production lot. UMR of the XM395 cartridge occurred on March 3, and the UMR of the setter and fire control soft- ware updates occurred the next day.
AS
C.ARMY.MI L 31
Supporting Systems for APMI Figure 2
ACQUISITION
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