Purchase Order N0017326P5206

The Office of Naval Research awarded a $52,918.40 firm fixed-price purchase order to Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC on December 11, 2025, for the replacement of an existing 3D X-ray workstation system. The contract, with an ultimate completion date of January 22, 2026, was executed without a set-aside designation following a sole source procurement determination. The Naval Research Laboratory, under the Department of the Navy, identified Zeiss as the only responsible source capable of satisfying the agency's requirements for this specialized analytical laboratory instrument. The procurement utilized Simplified Acquisition Procedures under Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 13, appropriate for purchases below the $350,000 simplified acquisition threshold, and was issued as a special notice with a fifteen-day comment period ending November 3, 2025, allowing interested parties to challenge the sole source justification.

Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC, headquartered in White Plains, New York, is a foreign-owned manufacturer and distributor of advanced optical and optoelectronic microscopy equipment with extensive federal contracting experience since 2004. The company maintains significant relationships with the federal research enterprise, including a General Services Administration Multiple Award Schedule contract valued at $62.1 million through March 2030 and a $10 million Blanket Purchase Agreement with the Office of Logistics and Acquisition Operations through September 2026. These contract vehicles support the procurement of laser scanning confocal microscopes, scanning electron microscopes, X-ray computed tomography instruments, and comprehensive maintenance and technical support services across multiple federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and Department of Veterans Affairs. The work will be performed in Mexico.