The Magic of Other Transaction Authorities.

AuthorMagnuson, Stew
PositionEditor's Notes

* Space and Missile Systems Center's Maj. Steven Pugh arrived at an industry conference held at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency recently to talk about the big pot of money he has to spend--$ 100 million over the next five years to be precise--on anything that could help the Air Force improve its spacecraft, launch or ground systems.

And the best thing about it is that contractors, academics, or whoever comes forth to compete for this money can ignore the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the dreaded FAR, and do an end run around its notorious red tape.

Those with good ideas can take the Air Force money--as long as there is a one-third cost share--and build prototypes without having to use Defense Department-approved accounting standards, adhere to the new cybersecurity rules, or comply with innumerable edicts that add to overhead.

This is all made possible by a once out-of-fashion contracting vehicle known as the "other transaction authority," or OTA. The OTA has been around for decades. It was intended to allow nontraditional contractors or small businesses to build prototypes for the Defense Department, NASA and other agencies.

As Richard L. Dunn, an authority on OTAs, wrote in the June 2017 issue of National Defense, they were popular back in the 1990s, but fell out of favor.

"After several years of decline, the Pentagon only recently has seen a partial resurgence in their use as renewed emphasis is put on speed and innovation in fielding new capabilities," he wrote in the article, "Other Transactions Contracts: Poorly Understood, Little Used."

But in less than a year, that partial resurgence has turned into a full resurgence.

"What has changed is that the transition mechanism provided in 10 USC 2371b (h), added by the 2016 NDAA, provides a greatly simplified way of transitioning the contracting. The follow-on production effort after a successful prototype OT can be executed as a production OT or awarded as a noncompetitive procurement contract," Dunn said more recently.

In other words, the addendum to the law allowed a bridge over the so-called Valley of Death, where prototypes or other new technologies don't make the transition from the workbench to real products used by the military.

"It's exciting that we can make things that last--that become programs of record," Pugh said.

The Space and Missile Systems Center is doing all this through a consortium. It communicates its requirements through the consortium's administrator...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT