Not So Fast, Senator Schumer: Army Responds On Radio Competition

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http://breakingdefense.com/2013/11/not-so-fast-senator-schumer-army-responds-on-radio-competition/



Not So Fast, Senator Schumer: Army Responds On Radio Competition
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
on November 15, 2013 at 4:20 PM

The battle to build the Army’s portable radios has seen more than its share of skullduggery over the last two years. A 2-star general rebuked a contractor in public. Established vendors General Dynamics and Rockwell Collins lobbied Congress to keep potential competitors out. Rochester, NY-based Harris, the up and coming upstart, throws sharp elbows in every direction. If I were an Army acquisition official, I’d have a headache by now — and it would have gotten a lot worse after New York Sen. Chuck Schumer’s announcement late Wednesday night:

“Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that, after his push, the Department of Defense has reversed course and will now allow companies across the country, including Rochester’s Harris RF, to compete for 5-year multi-million dollar military radio contracts,” the Senator’s press office blared. “Prior to this decision, the army was pursuing a single-vendor process that shut out competition.”

Not so far, Senator Schumer. The Army formally began setting up competition for these contracts last fall: That’s 12 months before Schumer made the call to Sec. Chuck Hagel his press release is boasting about. (Admittedly, Schumer was already pushing pro-competition legislation last summer, but it didn’t become law). This fall, while a new strategy is in the works to make the process more competitive, it’s not happening particularly because of Schumer, who’s not on either of the defense committees and isn’t a major player on Pentagon policy.

~snip~

In fact, much of lobbying skullduggery consisted of attempts to redefine those requirements in a way that only the incumbents could effectively compete — but those attempts all failed.