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404 points voxleone | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.198s | source
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cheschire ◴[] No.45655449[source]
I love how government acquisitions works. A company can fail to deliver the final product, then use the recompete process to win a higher paying contract by using the progress they already made on the previous contract to demonstrate a performance level above their competitors.

Whereas all the competition has to use their own R&D budget to show capability to meet the requirements of the second contract, the winner of the first contract used the government's R&D money to be competitive.

replies(4): >>45655537 #>>45655633 #>>45655836 #>>45656017 #
1. JumpCrisscross ◴[] No.45655836[source]
> Whereas all the competition has to use their own R&D budget to show capability

Think of it as a vote of no confidence. The incumbent has the advantage. But if they've squandered their advantage so thoroughly that a new entrant can match their capabilities, this is an opportunity to switch horses.

NASA should have done this, for example, when Bechtel began shitting the bed with ML2 [1].

[1] https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ig-24-016.pd...