Rear Adm. James Downey, deputy commander for surface warfare at the U.S. Navy‘s Regional Maintenance Center, has said that the military branch restructured its contracting approach for ship maintenance services under a continuing resolution, Federal News Radio reported Friday.Downey told the audience at the Surface Naval Association Conference held Thursday in Arlington, Virginia, that the Navy takes advantage of the flexibility of ship modernization funds to award new contracts for maintenance work.
CR measures often prevent the issuance of new contracts, but money appropriated for ship modernization can be used to start contracts since those funds have a three-year availability period, the report noted.
“The base of the contract in some cases is now the modernization work for a maintenance availability and the maintenance work is an option, which we execute if we get [maintenance appropriations] just in time,” Downey added.
He noted that the approach helps the Navy meet fleet demand in time, but processes could be more efficient if maintenance activities are funded under an approved budget.
