SPECIAL NOTICE -- ADVANCED PLANNING BRIEFING FOR INDUSTRY (APBI) The purpose of this letter is to invite you to attend an Advanced Planning Briefing for Industry (APBI) scheduled for Monday, April 19, 1999 at the Tank automotive and Armaments Command, Building 200 Auditorium in Warren, Michigan. The Project Manager, Heavy Tactical Vehicles (PM HTV) is developing a contracting strategy taking us from existing contracts for heavy truck systems through FY05. The objective is to identify a strategy to maximize best value for the Army in several major acquisitions. Vehicle systems included in this strategy include the Heavy Equipment Transporter System (HETS -- consisting of the M1070 Tractor and the M1000 Semitrailer), the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT including both new production and an extended service/ remanufacturing program), and the Palletized Load System (including trucks, trailers and container handling units.). The attached chart provides a top-level look at our early planning efforts to build on the principle of competitive best value contracting. The HETS, now procured under separate contracts for both the tractor and semitrailer, would be competed under a single multiyear contract for both of these products beginning in FY00. We would procure a planned quantity of 464 systems under a four-year multi-year contract, with options available for additional quantities. We are also planning to combine the PLS and HEMTT in one competitive acquisition resulting in a single "off road family contract", to be awarded in FY01 with acquisition of test vehicles under the first year of a five-year multiyear contract. The approximate quantities to be acquired under this contract are as follows: Program Year 1 (FY01 Funding/Test Vehicles): 15 PLS Trucks, 15 PLS Trailers, 15 PLS CHUs, 20 HEMTT ESP vehicles, and 15 new HEMTT production vehicles. Program Year 2-5 (FY02-05 Production): 317 PLS Trucks, 804 PLS Trailers, 484 PLS CHUs beginning in FY00, 1,056 HEMTT ESP vehicles, and 1,494 new HEMTT production vehicles. We believe that increased stability of heavy truck funding, as well as increasing commonality between similar product lines within multiyear contract packages, provides a major opportunity to effectively acquire these critical systems for both Force XXI and the Army After Next. We desire to open a dialog with Industry in search of the best ideas and recommendations for an effective acquisition strategy. To receive a more in-depth briefing of this strategy and how it ties to current product lines, including planned technical improvements, you are invited to attend an Advance Procurement Briefing to be held at the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command on April 19, 1999, in the Building 200A Auditorium. Following this briefing, interested firms can schedule one-on-one discussions with the PM, HTV to provide your feedback. To confirm you attendance at the Advance Procurement Briefing, please contact Mrs. Shannon Tighe at tighes@tacom.army.mil or (810) 574-5521 by April 12, 1999. To view this announcement in its entirety including a chart attachment, visit TACOM's Acquistion Center Webpage: http://www.tacom.army.mil/acqcen/future_buys/future_buys.htm. WEB: Click here to view the entire announcement with chart, http://www.tacom.army.mil/acqcen/future_buys/future_buys.htm. E-MAIL: Click here to contact the POC, tighes@tacom.army.mil. Posted 04/05/99 (W-SN316381).

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