I would add, if I might, that it's an expensive undertaking to respond to a request for proposal. Spending millions of dollars, months of time, depending on the program, and then to run a false competition is not appropriate. It costs both government and industry time and money that could be better spent elsewhere.
It could be argued, and certainly members within our association have expressed this view, that the government's pursuit of a sole-sourced approach, an ACAN approach, if you like, is perhaps in some way a recognition of a more fundamental problem with the procurement process itself, in that they're looking for a way of bypassing, in the interest of getting the kit needed by the men and women in uniform as quickly as possible to serve the mission--no argument with that. But perhaps it points to a systemic problem within the procurement process that doesn't allow for that type of procurement other than through a sole-sourced approach.