How not to do business with the U.S. Government

[reevie]

AEY, Inc, a small business in Miami Beach, owned by a 22-year with no defense experience, won an US Army contract worth $300M to deliver ammunition to troops in Afghanistan. The Army is blacklisting them from doing future business with the government because they bought 40-year old Chinese made ammunition from Albania, using a middleman on a federal list of suspected illegal arms traffickers and a shell company.

Not only is this guy mud for sending degrading crap to American and Afghan soldiers, but also faces charges because buying Chinese weapons is illegal.

Really good read from the NY Times if you have the time to read through it: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/world/asia/27ammo.html?pagewanted=all

[Whet]

This debacle falls on the contract management group at DOD. Without a doubt, they failed to adequately check the contractor prior to awarding the contract. There should have been a techincal contact, whom the contracts group could have relied, but it doesn't aapear that happened!

[reevie]

I see three big problems the Army did:

Selecting a small business with no weapons experience
Awarding an FFP contract
Not putting NATO or Russian standards in the contract

[reevie]

But the company is still at fault for buying illegal 40-year old Chinese bullets from Albania

[StoopTroup]

Garage sales are cool.

[Mixer!]

<DOD wonk>

Hey, whatever's cheapest, go with them!

</DOD wonk>