Question_21.pdf

Q21: Reference: L.4.1.2 says the schedule should be built "with the assumption GFM is immediately available at contract award". Section H says "as a minimum, the GFM will be provided 60 days prior to delivery of the end item". I‐120 says "Within 60 days after the Government receives the first article, the Contracting Officer shall notify the Contractor, in writing, of the conditional approval, approval, or disapproval of the first article". Amendment 0002 changed the time for notification of BLAT acceptance to 30 days but did not modify the time for BFAT acceptance.

Questions:

a) Does "available" in L.4.1.2 mean available to the Contractor or available to the Government?

b) If the GFM is delivered 60 days prior to the required FAT delivery date and BFAT approval takes

60 days, it does not appear that any time is allocated for USG witnessed prove‐outs using the GFM, FAT unit build and inspection and shipment of the FAT units to the test facility. Are we misunderstanding the requirements?

c) If our DCMA takes up to 15 days to deliver BLAT samples to the test facility, it appears that we only have 15 days to produce the entire lot, which would mean that we would have to build the lot at a very high rate within the remaining 15 days and then shut down until the next GFM delivery. Are we misunderstanding the requirements?

A21: The reference above includes language that applies to various separate solicitation requirements

(GFM, FAT, BLAT, etc.) and should not be taken out of context of the solicitation. Amendment 0002 did not change the time for notification of BLAT acceptance, but modified Section H to include additional

LAT information. It also modified Section B FAT delivery dates in order to allow sufficient time for production and LAT.

a) IAW the solicitation, “available” at L.4.1.2. means available to the Contractor.

b) The assumptions in the question are incorrect. As noted in the above reference and IAW the solicitation, the Offeror is to plan “with the assumption GFM is immediately available at contract award.” IAW Section B, the first delivery date (M933A1 FAT) is not until 31‐AUG‐2021, therefore there is more than sufficient time available. Also noted above, the referenced Section H language states “at a minimum” because this statement applies to GFM throughout the life of the contract (inclusive of award of any options).

c) The USG is unsure how the contractor arrived at the timeline in the question; the assumptions in the question are incorrect. IAW Section B, there are four months between each FAT delivery date and the first delivery date of its respective base production quantity. This provides sufficient time to meet all requirements, terms, and conditions (inclusive of production and

LAT).

Please be aware, the note provided in Q/A17 is historical data only and shall not be misconstrued as a guarantee.