Washington: Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Missile Defence Agency’s Next-Generation Interceptor (NGI) has been delayed but “is imminent” and will be released soon, the agency’s director said.
The RFP was to have been released on April 24 to build America’s next missile interceptor with a view to downselect two companies who will then compete for the right to build the interceptor, which will form the core of America’s homeland missile defence going forward.
Proposals are due July 31, but the MDA notes that there may be some give in that schedule due to the ongoing COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.
The agency requested US$664.1 million in fiscal year 2021 for the NGI programme, as part of a US$4.9 billion five-year budget plan.
Mark Wright, a spokesman for MDA, called the RFP “a vital step forward in designing, developing, and fielding the finest capabilities of both the Department of Defense (DoD) and US industry for the extraordinarily important purpose of defending the American homeland.”
“Notably, the intention of awarding two contracts for simultaneous development of the NGI effort promotes a healthy competition between the two contractor teams to produce the best NGI possible in the shortest time feasible,” Wright added.
In August, the Pentagon made the surprise decision to cancel the Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) programme, with DoD research and engineering head Mike Griffin saying he didn’t want to keep throwing money at a programme with fundamental technical issues.
