DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE CONSORTIUM

In support of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD(A&S) Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy (ASD(IBP)) and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience (DASD(IBR)) Manufacturing, Capability Expansion, and Investment Prioritization Directorate (MCEIP), the Washington Headquarters Services Acquisition Directorate (WHS/AD) awarded the Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) Other Transaction (OT) Agreement to Advanced Technology International (ATI) to act as the DIBC Consortium Management Organization (CMO) under the authority of 10 United States Code (U.S.C.) §4022. MCEIP is focused on addressing defense supply chain issues, developing the industrial workforce, sustaining critical production, commercializing research and development efforts, and rapidly scaling emerging technologies to build a robust, resilient DIB. As the CMO, ATI will establish and maintain the DIBC with a varied and evolving member base that provides for the execution of project agreements to strengthen the DIB. The DIBC’s mission is to coalesce and award project agreements that expand the DIB, while developing and maintaining expertise in the following critical DIB sectors and subsectors: (1) kinetic capabilities (i.e., hypersonics), (2) energy storage and batteries, (3) castings and forgings, (4) microelectronics, (5) critical chemicals and minerals, (6) Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS), (7) Rare Earth Elements (REEs), (8) critical materials, (9) submarine industrial base, (10) space industrial base, and (11) biomanufacturing. The DIBC is an expenditure-based OT Agreement with a five-year base period and one five-year option period, where project agreements may be placed under the consortium during the active performance periods. WHS/AD intends to issue project agreements to DIBC members, through ATI, using the authorities provided in 10 U.S.C. §4021 for research projects, 10 U.S.C. §4022 for prototype projects, and, where appropriate, 10 U.S.C. §4022(f) for follow-on production awards. The Government will document the specific authority used with the rationale for the respective authority for each award placed under the DIBC. WHS/AD awarded the DIBC as a decentralized consortium to allow non-mission funded Department of Defense (DoD) Agencies to utilize the DIBC by (1) requesting approval to award their own project agreement under the DIBC, or (2) requesting that WHS/AD award a project agreement on their behalf. Non-mission funded DoD Agencies have to receive approval from the DIBC Agreements Officer prior to working with a warranted Agreements Officer external to WHS/AD to execute a project agreement. All project agreements issued under the DIBC will include a separate CMO Compensation Rate contract line item number (CLIN) to compensate ATI for providing CMO services for the awarded project. This rate is determined by multiplying the total price of the project agreement by the rate identified in the DIBC OT Agreement in CLIN 0002 or CLIN 1002. The rate for December 31, 2023 – December 30, 2024, is 1.68%. Additionally, in the event the DIBC Agreements Officer agrees to award a project agreement on behalf of the non-mission funded DoD Agency that Agency will be charged, at a minimum, a 1% administration fee for contracting services performed on behalf the non-mission funded DoD Agency. Upon request, the DIBC Agreements Officer can provide the DIBC Ordering Guide, which articulates the necessary details for DoD Agencies to leverage the DIBC. OT Agreements are not awarded under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and therefore, FAR 5.705(b) is not applicable to this award.