DETROIT ARSENAL, Michigan –
The U.S. Army’s M88A2 Hercules Recovery Vehicle Platform can rescue more tanks in the field thanks to a collaborative effort between the Army and the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime Warren.
The supply chain availability of the engine powering the M88A2 Hercules experienced part shortages that negatively impacted one of the Army’s engine rebuild programs. The shortages were primarily caused by unusable engine components that couldn’t be used in the Army’s rebuild process.
The Hercules is a recovery vehicle designed primarily to recover/extricate combat tactical vehicles that have been damaged, stuck, overturned or deemed inoperable, and supports aide to the vehicle’s crew. It is commonly used to remove and install engines or transmissions in the M88, Abrams tanks, Bradley Forward Observer Vehicles and armored personnel carriers. Its secondary role supports maintenance assistance with repair or replacement of parts damaged during operations. Its engine assembly is specific to the M88A2 family of vehicles and is managed by U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command’s Life Cycle Management Command. The engine serves as the power source for the entire platform and supports mobility while also enabling recovery operations.
DLA Land Warren Contracting, Army Program Management, Ground Vehicle Systems Center Engineering and Army Integrated Logistics Support Center customer personnel engaged in a collaborative effort to establish competition for an item that was historically procured sole source.
“What made this engine procurement successful was the collaborative effort from our fellow DLA Land Warren associates in engineering, legal, contracting and pricing to challenge the approved sole source supplier and work with them to open competition by adding the original engine manufacturer to the engine drawing requirement,” said Chuck Newell, DLA Warren cost/price analyst.
Their combined efforts introduced updates to the engine’s technical data package which included the drawings with DFARS compliant markings and removal of proprietary restrictions; immediately increasing vendor competition. The revisions included in the new contract produced an estimated savings or cost avoidance of more than $84 million.
“DLA Warren is always evaluating opportunities to improve our service and that’s why we keep asking ourselves how we can do something better,” said DLA Warren Director Vito Zuccaro.
Editor’s note: Eric Tucker, DLA Warren Contracting Officer, Elaine Ionescu and Amy Robosan (both since retired) DLA Warren Contract Specialists, Darin Morency, DLA Warren Senior Counsel and Charles Newell, DLA Warren Cost/Price Analyst all made significant contributions to securing the contract and sustaining the engine’s supply chain dependability.