Rumour mill is that nothing has shown up on the MERX yet, so the timeframe for TF 1-10 getting anything before they head overseas is getting pretty tight.
For anybody unfamiliar with government contracting, here's a primer and a possible timeline for how the trial kit may be distributed to TF 1-10:
Anything over $22K that DND wants to purchase has to be tendered through Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) on the www.merx.com website. Once an article is put up for tender, it stays on MERX for 45 days. Along with the tender specifications is a requested delivery date for the item (s). From there after the contract closes, PWGSC usually takes about 30 days to sort through the bids and determines who the winner is. From there the winner is notified and a purchase order is initiated.
So, in the case of the Load Carriage 'Operational Evaluation' for whatever pieces of kit that the CFs are specifying be purchased the timeline will likely look something like this based on my observations of how DND's clothing & textile contracts and delivery have run in the past:
Nov. 2nd, 2009 Tender released on MERX
Dec. 16th, 2009 Tender closes. This is assuming that there are no delays in the closing date, which could likely happen. Common causes for delays are questions by bidders which PWGSC is unable to answer based on the statement of requirement written by DND. PWGSC has to go back to DND and get clarification on how to answer the questions. Enough questions about the contract might cause PWGSC to cancel the tender and send it back to DND to re-write it so that the statement of requirement is more clearly spelled out.
Normally it takes 30 days after the tender has closed for PWGSC to award a contract. Given the time of year that this tender will close, there's a good chance it will also likely be delayed due to staff holiday schedules over the Christmas and New Years period, so you could probably add another 10-15 days to the 30 days it normally takes PWGSC to reach an award decision.
Sometime between Jan 15th - Feb 1st, 2010 the contract is awarded. From there it would likely take 3 months for the winner to put together the required amount of equipment for the contract and deliver it to DND. Most manufacturing companies or distributors don't have 3 battlegroups worth of equipment lined up ready to go out the door at a moments notice. Even the big guys (Eagle, London Bridge, Paraclete, TAG, Specialty Defense/BAE Systems, etc.) take some time to ramp up upon receiving a sizable contract. It's foolish business sense to sit on a pile of inventory for a contract that is yet to be released for tender, and before you're actually awarded the contract. Kind of like counting your chickens before they hatch; contracts can get cancelled and delayed, thus potentially screwing the contractor out of significant amounts of money as they sit on inventory that they now have to figure out a way to get rid of, which has cost them a good deal of time and money to produce/acquire. If government wants a specific product, they have to wait for it to be produced and delivered in the most low-risk means possible to the contractor.
May 1st, 2010 equipment is received at CF Supply Depot Montreal. It'd likely take 2 weeks for everything to be inventoried, repackaged and sent out to be delivered to the units undertaking the trial.
May 15th, 2010 equipment is received at CFB Trenton for distribution to TF 1-10, and sent to CFB Valcartier and Edmonton for the follow-on TFs 3-10 and 1-11 respectively. With respect to the delivery to TF 1-10 now in Afghanistan, the trial kit is placed in que along with other priority items, such as mail, critical supply items, ammunition, etc.
June 15th, 2010 equipment has now made its way from Trenton to Mirage/Cyprus/Wherever to KAF and arrangements must be made to get it out to the field forces for issuing, who are scattered across various FOBs, and again must take priority with the 'true priority' items, i.e. POL, ammo, water, rations, medical supplies, batteries, vehicle and weapon spare parts, personal mail, etc. It could be likely that a fielding plan for the trial stuff might be that when units rotate in and out of KAF or Nathan Smith that they are issued the trial kit then.
As such, I have little doubt that TF 3-10 and 1-11 will have their hands on the trial stuff for their work-up training and deployment, however the timeline for TF 1-10 is looking pretty tight for them to get the stuff before they're well underway with the tour.
Just my 2 cents though... I could be proven absolutely wrong as the stars and planets may align with DND and PWGSC getting this thing through in record time, and issued to the troops, but then again, this is Canada after all, land of the 10 year rucksack development and contracting cycle.
