PTSS Delay

The "advisory and assistance services" contracts for the Precision Tracking Space System have been extended by three months, the Missile Defense Agency announced in a Federal Business Opportunities notice issued today.

The notice states:

This provides notification of the Missile Defense Agency's intent to extend contracts HQ0006-10-C-0004 and HQ0006-10-C-0005, Advisory and Assistance services for the Precision Tracking Space System (PTSS) for a period of three (3) months. These contracts were previously extended under J&As No. 12-0016 and 12-0017. Due to unanticipated delays in the re-procurement process, the new Task Order under the Missile Defense Agency Engineering and Support Services (MiDAESS) program will not be awarded in time. The three-month contract extensions will bridge the gap and allow completion of the procurement process under the MiDAESS contract. Additionally, the contract extensions will incorporate an option period of three (3) months. Dependent upon the timing of the award of the new MiDAESS Task Order, the Government may or may not exercise the three-month option.

The extensions will be performed by the incumbent contractors, Vanguard Research, Inc., 1235 S Clark St STE 501, Arlington, VA 22202 and Winter, Donald C., Sole Proprietor, McLean, VA 22102, respectively. The period of performance extensions on these contracts are needed to avoid a break in service until the follow-on procurement efforts for these services are completed.

PTSS was one of five MDA programs cited by the Government Accountability Office in a July report that run the risk of incurring delays and inefficiencies because their schedules do not meet best practices. As InsideDefense.com reported:

"These results are significant because a reliable schedule is one key factor that indicates a program is likely to achieve its planned outcomes," the GAO report, addressed to MDA Director Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, stated. "Our analysis suggests that estimated time frames and costs of these programs are either not reliable or the program is missing information that could make it more efficient. The MDA schedule results are similar to those of other agencies that GAO has analyzed. We are recommending actions that would better ensure compliance with schedule best practices for the five programs reviewed as well as for the long-term MDA program."

In addition to the PTSS effort, GAO looked at the Standard Missile Block IIA, Aegis Ashore, Ground-based Midcourse Defense and the Extended Medium-Range Ballistic Missile Target programs, according to the July 19 report.

"Overall, none of the five programs had an integrated master schedule for the entire length of acquisition as called for by the first best practice, meaning the programs are at risk for unreliable completion estimates and delays," the report states.