The government may still be evaluating its options for the Standard Military Pattern (SMP) component of the Medium Support Vehicle System (MSVS) project, but one contender is giving the process high praise, even though he admits he’s in the dark about where he stands.
Major-General (Ret’d) John Urias, president of Oshkosh Defense, has had a lengthy career in defence procurement and says the MSVS process is one of the best he has seen. “It has been conducted very professionally. I think it is one of the most fair approaches to acquisition that I have ever seen. I have been very impressed with the quality of the workforce and the methodology.”
Oshkosh partnered with General Dynamics Land Systems–Canada and DEW Engineering and Development to offer two vehicles for the program. Urias said testing of the candidates was conducted at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center and evaluations remain ongoing. But beyond periodic requests for information, he has no idea where the company’s vehicles stand.
“We think we have the right product with the right team at the right price that meets the warfighter requirements at the best value for the Canadian government,” he said. “But this is part of the fairness – we don’t know. Until we are notified otherwise, it is in the hands of the government.”
Though the Defence Procurement Strategy was released well after the MSVS bid solicitation, and is unlikely to directly impact the process, Urias said Oshkosh is already assessing opportunities for technology development and transfer with Canadian industry and academia to meet offset requirements around ITBs. “We understand the vision in Canada as far as developing and sustaining an indigenous capability from an industry standpoint and we want to be part of that solution.”
