Army to improve buying of combat training products

General Dynamics C4 Systems will help the Army consolidate and improve the method by which it purchases products essential for combat training systems under a contract potentially worth $200 million over five years.

General Dynamics C4 Systems will help the Army consolidate and improve the method by which it purchases products essential for combat training systems under a contract potentially worth $200 million over five years.

General Dynamics C4 Systems team will manage the various elements of live combat training product lines through the Consolidated Product-line Management contract, company officials said Dec. 2. The contracting team also will streamline the process to ensure that products and systems are adapted as quickly as possible to changing missions and battlefield threats.

The Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation Program Manager for Training Devices will oversee the project.

In addition, the C4 Systems-led team will put in place a framework through which products will be delivered to combat training centers in the continental United States and overseas. The company has received two initial task orders totaling $23 million through the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, the officials said.

Training products that might be delivered through the contract include software used to rehearse missions; control, monitor and record exercises; and generate after-action reports, the officials said. Other products might be operating architectures, training protocols and supporting documentation.

The project team includes Raytheon Co., Science Applications International Corp., Scientific Research Corp. and six other contractors.

The project objectives are to reduce fielding time, lower costs, and promote the reuse of software and hardware components for training systems.

In related news, the Defense Department is taking steps to improve the interactive nature of training programs.