6.6.4 Case Study in Effective Government‐Contractor Partnering

Any Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition program manager would argue for more funding and more schedule as a rationale for successful program execution, claiming his or her program is on a “fast track”. At the same time, the days of having relief provided due to cost overruns and schedule delays are becoming history, and such perils unquestionably increase the risk of unwanted scrutiny of programs. These realities have challenged program managers to seek new and innovative ways to manage their programs. The government and contractor program managers for the Space and Naval Warfare System Command's Advanced Deployable System (ADS) Program have responded to this challenge by developing an effective government-laboratory-contractor partnership, and utilizing this efficient relationship in virtually every facet of program planning and execution. The case study presented in this paper discusses how the ADS Underwater Segment (UWS) has used this partnership in planning and executing its 42 month program, which was completed on time and under budget. It provides lessons learned from this management experience for consideration by other program managers interested on embarking on such a path.