U.S. Army Contracting Command – Watervliet Arsenal (ACC-WVA) Organic Industrial Base (OIB) Modernization Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO)

The Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) authority is per Section 1823 of the National De-fense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which amended Section 3458 of Title 10, as codified by Public Law 119-60. DFARS Subpart 212.70 implements 10 U.S.C. 3458 for the acquisition of innovative commercial products or commercial services through the use of a general solicitation known as a Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO).  

Contracting officers may use CSO’s to obtain innovative solutions or potential capabili-ties that fulfill requirements, to close commercial capability gaps, or provide potential inno-vative technological advancements; and when meaningful proposals with varying technical or scientific approaches can be reasonably anticipated. Under a CSO, the Department of War may competitively select proposals received in response to a general solicitation, simi-lar to a broad agency announcement, based on a review of proposals by scientific, techno-logical, or other subject-matter expert peers. Use of a CSO in accordance with DFARS Subpart 212.70 is considered to be a competitive procedure for the purposes of 10 U.S.C. 221 and FAR 6.102. Finally, Contracting Officers shall treat items, technologies, and services acquired using a CSO as commercial items. Contracts or purchase orders resulting under this authority shall be fixed-price, including fixed-price incentive fee contracts.