DAHLGREN, Va. – On July 11, Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) reached $1 billion in total Other Transactional Authority (OTA) awards for fiscal 2019-2023, a milestone that demonstrates the importance of this contracting vehicle.
An OTA allows for NSWCDD to “quickly prototype technology and innovative solutions for transition to the warfighter,” said Chris Clifford, the division’s business director.
OTAs are binding agreements between the DoD and industry partners that offer greater flexibility than traditional Federal Acquisition Regulation-based contracts and allow for rapid acquisition and development of prototype technologies to meet DoD requirements, according to Cindy Montrief, NSWCDD OTA Program lead.
“Faced with the compounding problem of needing to accelerate weapon systems development, increase flight testing complexity and cadence and modernize range test and evaluation assets, the DoD has begun to increasingly rely on the utility, timeliness and flexibility of Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contracts,” Montrief said.