The Supplier Contract Pattern
Use this before a Warwright team buys for a system the Integrator Sort put in lane III or IV. Check that the buy delivers components and rights. A closed integrated system fails the check. Worked in “Buy Components, Interfaces, and Rights From Industry.”
The Supplier Contract Pattern: seven separately priced line items, checked against the draft statement of work.
| Line item | What it has to cover | In the draft? | Price | Gap, and who resolves it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Components |
Screened for origin: FY2020 NDAA sec. 848, the American Security Drone Act, 10 U.S.C. § 4872 for magnets, and the Blue List for drone components |
|||
2. Interface documentation |
Major interfaces designated, defined, and delivered with the documentation a third party needs to integrate components (10 U.S.C. §§ 4401–4403, as amended by FY2026 NDAA sec. 1832), with machine-readable interface syntax |
|||
3. Data rights |
Government purpose rights in interface data; the operation, maintenance, installation, and training data the statute already provides; source code and toolchain for software; negotiated terms for commercial items, whose default license gives far less |
|||
4. Repair rights |
Repair data, diagnostic software, tools, and warranty terms that allow organic repair, on fair and reasonable terms |
|||
5. Test data |
The supplier’s results with their conditions and Distance to the Fight, and the right to run and share the team’s own tests |
|||
6. Provenance |
A bill of materials with origin for covered components, and firmware versions and signing |
|||
7. Support agreement |
Reach-back engineering, response times, a sustainment price after the builders rotate, and escrow if the supplier exits |
Put a price on every right. Never try to take a right without paying for it. Apply every line to new entrants exactly as to established primes. The team fills in the gaps. The contracting officer and counsel decide every clause.