Competition in the procurement of military hard goods

An examination of present methods to obtain competition and of possible methods to increase competition in defense procurement of specialized hard goods. Procurements of complete systems are distinguished from the reprocurement process that deals with replacement or resupply of weapon system components and support equipment. It is concluded that generating more competition will generally require an increase in the scope of contracts (as in multi-year procurements or the total package procurement concept) or it will require diffusion of technology (as in reprocurement data packages, second-sourcing, and separation and licensing).