The RFP Group Build!

[Supertom]

Hey fellas,

How about this?  We'll pretend we're a country needing a new aircraft, tank and ship (we'll give them some cool program name that ends in the letter X or something – too bad the UKMoD already has a monopoly on the cool-sounding Future Offensive something-something).  Anyway as a country we'll come up with some requirements and the companies (ie you) will submit proposals for the next-generation warfighting machine, and er, mockups and technology demonstrators.  The winner of the program will uh, win the contract (probably a pork pie).

What do you think?

[rallymodeller]

Sounds interesting. Just as long as the politics are kept out of the decision-making process.

[pyro-manic]

Sounds fun to me! The Ship category could prove difficult, though - there's not really that much out there in terms of kits - other than a rather limited range (ie Pacific war and Bismarck vs. Hood for WWII, and USN  - along with a few Soviet/Russian and Falklands War-era RN - for modern ships) that may be difficult to adapt to certain requirements (say a small island nation looking for a new class of OPVs - what are you going to use as a base kit??).

[puddingwrestler]

As long as the program doesn't get canceled 

[Weaver]

Won't you need to have three years of operational-cost-effectiveness evaluations and risk-reduction studies first though? 

[rallymodeller]

Won't you need to have three years of operational-cost-effectiveness evaluations and risk-reduction studies first though? 

I'm in Canada. It's more like ten years and then turns into no competition contracts anyway (viz. CC130J, CC177, new CH147s, LAV-series etc.)

[Daryl J.]

Sounds like an opportunity to make a new game.

,
Daryl J., lightly Black Labelled

[ysi_maniac]

Can Design a fighter GB be integrated in this GB?
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,15165.0/highlight,design+fighter.html

Wonderful idea BTW.

[Weaver]

Sounds like an opportunity to make a new game.

,
Daryl J., lightly Black Labelled

Could be based on snakes and laddders.

The senator who's campaign fund you contributed to gets appointed to the armed forces committee: go up a ladder.

Competitor files a lawsuit complaining that the competition you won wasn't fair: go down a snake......

[ysi_maniac]

What does RFP mean?

[Weaver]

RFP = Request For Proposals - one of the 97 steps in the ten-year process of buying anything for the military these days........

[upnorth]

Won't you need to have three years of operational-cost-effectiveness evaluations and risk-reduction studies first though? 

I'm in Canada. It's more like ten years and then turns into no competition contracts anyway (viz. CC130J, CC177, new CH147s, LAV-series etc.)

Yeah, ten years for aircraft to replace aircraft that should have been replaced 20 years before.

Replacement aircraft contract signed and approved. New government comes in and promply cancels the contract to showcase their "commitment to fiscal responsibility" said action cost Canadians millions in contract cancelation penalties.

Some years later, after several accidents with the 40+ year old aircraft that had their replacement cancelled, that same Canadian government concedes a replacement aircraft is needed. The only aircraft that meets the requirements is the one they cancelled a few years before. They buy some stripped down models of it to replace the aging SAR aircraft but, due to the cost of the original cancelation penalties, can't buy a viable number of the fully equiped maritime patrol version.

Yes, the Canadian EH-101 deal still burns me to think about!

[rallymodeller]

Yes, the Canadian EH-101 deal still burns me to think about!

And then we bought them anyway for a different role, and then bought something else completely for ASW!

Grrr...

[Daryl J.]

Since we're moving and have our business records together, would a photo of that 500 pound stack of paper qualify as the 'R' part of the RFP build?   It would, of course be a 1/48 scale representation................


In all seriousness, this also sounds like an interesting idea.




Daryl J.

[puddingwrestler]

You know, this could become an annual event. Very year we choose another 'sponsor nation' (ie: whiffer) to come up with some requirments, which we then all battle to meet. The winner then wins the 'contract' (the prize, possibly an inflatable fish), and next year it happens all over again. depending on the sponsor nation we could end up trying to win contracts for a whole slew of things (possibly inflatable fish?) and let's face it, this idea is to good to only run once.