The Defense Department expects a three-month slowdown in equipment procurement because of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the Pentagon's acquisitions chief said Monday.

Ellen Lord, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said the majority of the Defense Department's Major Defense Acquisition Program will be slowed, particularly in the areas of the aviation supply chain, shipbuilding and small space launches.

"We believe there will be a three-month impact that we can see right now, so we're looking at schedule delays and inefficiencies and so forth," Lord said. "That isn't a particular program, that's MDAPs in general, and we are just now looking at key milestones that might be impacted. Particularly, we see a slowdown in the shipyards, to an extent. Aviation is actually the most highly impacted sector we have right now."

Supply chains have been affected by closures of defense contractors. Of 10,509 prime companies, 106 are closed, Lord said. Another 68 companies had closed but have since reopened. Of 11,413 vendor-based companies, 427 are closed, and 147 shut down but have since reopened.

Over 1,500 contracts have been "modified to help companies file invoices at the 'higher progress payment rate,'" she said, commending Boeing and Lockheed Martin for advancing invoices so suppliers can be more quickly paid.

Lord added that she has asked Mexico, where numerous U.S. aerospace companies have manufacturing facilities, to help reopen local factories.

She noted that the Defense Department has used $500 million of the $1 billion authorized under the CARES Act to contract for protective equipment for service members and federal agencies. Some of the 60 decontamination systems ordered, used to sterilize up to 80,000 M95 masks per day, have already been delivered, she said. Three million face masks have been ordered for Defense Department personnel, with 135,000 expected to be delivered by the end of April.

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Brussels (AFP) April 15, 2020
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