Follow-Through

By Sebastian Sprenger / July 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

One and a half years after the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act became law, defense officials today published an interim rule to implement a provision in the legislation limiting the use of lead system integrators in major weapon programs.

The concept of lead system integrators, or LSIs, has been under fire for some years because some lawmakers believe companies in these roles unduly benefit from being both the overseers and the executors of Defense Department programs.

As mandated in the legislation, today's rule covers two phases. Beginning with the enactment date of the legislation, Jan. 28, 2008, DOD is no longer allowed to use LSIs for systems that have progressed into the low-rate initial production stage. The defense secretary also must find that the use of an LSI is in department's best interest.

Beginning on Oct. 1, 2010, DOD officials may only award LSI-type contracts to companies performing lead system integrator "functions" for major programs before Jan. 28, 2008.

The issue of LSIs is also addressed in a provision of the FY-07 defense authorization legislation. It states that "no entity performing lead system integrator functions in the acquisition of a major system by the Department of Defense may have any direct financial interest in the development or construction of any individual system or element of any system of systems."

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