Unreliability in ammunition is inherently dangerous.
The writer of the unnecessary duplication is trying to get this contract through.
Very likely there is only one manufacturer that can produce the ammunition that has been proven, that the troops want and need, and that can be procured in a reasonable time.
But the requirements for a sole source contract have to be met, and this is the way the writer is doing it.
We have bound ourselves into bureaucratic knots, that make it nearly impossible to get things done quickly, even when it makes sense.
“Very likely there is only one manufacturer that can produce the ammunition that has been proven,”
That is true and it is in the justification for sole-source procurement.