PEO Ammunition helps the Army meet Air Force bomb demand head-on
by Mr. Sean D. Brandt and Mr. Robert M. Moreira
After more than a decade of combat operations, the U.S. Air Force’s expenditures for 2,000- pound general purpose bombs have increased at a rate substantially higher than anticipated. These high-tempo operations are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. As bomb expenditures began to outpace funded orders, the Air Force increased its requirements to meet warfighter demand. In FY16, the Air Force more than quadrupled its budget for general purpose bombs, compared with a historical average.
A U.S. Airman prepares a 2,000 general purpose bomb for use. Air Force expenditures for bombs like these have increased at a rate substantially higher than anticipated, and high-tempo operations are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. (Photo courtesy of PEO Ammunition)
As the executor for the Single Manager for Conventional Ammunition (SMCA), the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Ammunition is responsible for procuring transitioned ammunition items for the other military services. Its Project Director for Joint Products is responsible for acquiring general purpose bombs for the Air Force and the Navy. Each year, the services review their conventional ammunition portfolio and transition those items in stable, recurring production to the SMCA for procurement. The idea is that instead of the individual military services buying the same items and competing for industrial capacity, the SMCA does it on their behalf, gaining economies of scale.
To address the fourfold increase in annual procurement, the Project Director for Joint Products led the formation of a tri-service team (Army, Air Force and Navy) that began its planning with an assessment of the existing industrial base and its ability to address the demand. To maximize bomb deliveries to its Air Force customer, the Project Director for Joint Products proposed an approach that first maximized the capabilities of the domestic industrial base and then leveraged international capability while turning to a legacy explosive variant for the balance of the requirements.
Historically, general purpose bombs were procured using a component breakout strategy—multiple commercial contracts for the acquisition of bomb bodies, suspension lugs and energetics coupled with load, assemble and pack operations conducted at an Army ammunition plant. However, to address the increase in demand and accelerate bomb deliveries, the Project Director for Joint Products proposed a consolidated acquisition strategy instead. (Image courtesy of PEO Ammunition)
Historically, the Project Director for Joint Products has procured bombs using a component breakout strategy. This strategy entails multiple commercial contracts for the acquisition of bomb bodies, suspension lugs, which are safety-critical items that attach a bomb to an aircraft, and energetics; load, assemble and pack operations are conducted at an Army ammunition plant. To address the increase in demand and accelerate bomb deliveries, the Project Director for Joint Products proposed a consolidated acquisition strategy: it is faster for the government to award a single contract than multiple contracts, and consolidation shifts some of the risk to the prime contractor.
LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS
The Project Director for Joint Products coordinated with the Joint Ordnance Commander’s Group and Land Warfare and Munitions within the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics to increase explosives capacity for long-term demand. DOD funded a facility modernization effort that will support its future demand for insensitive munitions—munitions that are chemically stable enough to withstand mechanical shocks, fire, and impact but can still explode as intended—including those used in general purpose bombs, which consume a substantial portion of energetics manufacturing capacity.
SHORT-TERM SOLUTIONS
To meet the immediate demand, the Project Director for Joint Products established a twofold strategy: First, maximize procurement of the current insensitive-munitions-filled general purpose bomb variant using existing contract vehicles for bomb bodies, suspension lugs and energetics. Second, given current capacity for insensitive munitions explosives, the Project Director for Joint Products developed and executed a new acquisition strategy to deliver up to 40,000 2,000-pound general purpose bombs with legacy (non-insensitive munitions) explosive fill. Procuring these legacy munitions presented several challenges:
- Domestic legacy explosive production ceased more than 10 years ago as DOD shifted toward insensitive munitions explosives.
- Procuring bombs filled with legacy explosives required the Air Force to obtain an Insensitive Munitions Waiver from the Joint Requirements Oversight Council.
- Configuration management takes place across multiple services. The Air Force is the requiring service; however, the Navy is the design agent for general purpose bombs and suspension lugs, and the Army maintains the legacy explosive specifications.
Based on current industrial base capacity, contracting timelines and customer delivery schedule requirements, the Project Director for Joint Products proposed the consolidated acquisition strategy: a single contract for 2,000-pound general purpose legacy bomb kits, including bomb bodies, suspension lugs and energetics. While this was the first consolidated kit approach the Army has used in procuring general purpose bombs in its role as SMCA, the Air Force and Navy have used similar systems approaches for other bombs.
PEO Ammunition supported the strategy and deferred staffing of formal acquisition documents, which significantly accelerated the procurement timelines, allowing the Project Director for Joint Products to meet warfighter demands. The Project Director for Joint Products managed the award of an undefinitized contract action—a contract action for which the terms, specifications or price are not agreed upon before performance begins—to the prime contractor, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS), in July 2016, which was within six months of developing the strategy. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Rock Island wrapped up negotiations on prices and delivery schedule on May 1. GD-OTS is using its own small business sources for suspension lugs and leveraged existing corporate partnerships to make its first legacy explosive delivery in February 2017.
From left, Firat H. Gezen, GD-OTS president; Air Force Brig. Gen. Shaun Q. Morris, Air Force program executive officer (PEO) for weapons and director of the Armament Directorate; Col. Sean M. Herron, commander of the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, Oklahoma; James Shields, Army PEO for Ammunition; and Melanie A. Johnson, deputy to the commander for the Joint Munitions Command, cut the ribbon on a new production facility at McAlester Army Ammunition Plant on May 13. Developed to meet a spike in Air Force bomb requirements and increase the organic industrial base’s ability to support third-party contracts for public-private partners, the line gives McAlester the capability to produce general purpose bombs for the Air Force while also increasing its capacity to load, assemble and pack tritonal-filled munitions for General Dynamics and other defense contractors. (Photo by Kevin Jackson, U.S. Army Materiel Command)
The Project Director for Joint Products guided the start of load, assemble and pack operations in June 2017, resulting in the first delivery of bombs to its Air Force customer only 18 months after the requirement was identified—a significant reduction from the the 36 months it usually takes for a new insensitive munitions bomb order. Through the outstanding efforts of this team, the Army will supply 40,000 legacy bombs to the Air Force at nearly half the cost of the insensitive munitions variant, saving hundreds of millions of dollars.
For more information, please contact Picatinny Public Affairs at (973) 724-7243.
SEAN D. BRANDT is the project officer for tritonal bombs for the Product Director for Joint Products. He holds an M.E. in mechanical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, an MBA from Florida Institute of Technology and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He has been an Army civilian for 10 years and is an Army Acquisition Corps (AAC) member with Level III certifications in engineering and in program management.
ROBERT M. MOREIRA is the bombs program team lead for the Product Director for Joint Products. He holds an M.S. in systems management from Florida Institute of Technology and a B.S. in chemical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He has been an Army civilian for more than 38 years and is a member of the AAC. He is Level III certified in engineering and in program management.
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