163 atkw chase plane service

Request for information
Chase Plane Solicitation
1. Your March 22 Mod does not stipulate that this effort is or is not currently funded, or whether funds are appropriated.
ANSWER: THIS REQUIREMENT IS FUNDED
2. Is there an Incumbent Contractor? If so, can we get the contract number or a redacted version of the contract?
ANSWER: YES. CHALK 2 IS THE INCUMBENT A REDACTED VERSION WILL BE POSTED.
3. Is there any historical utilization information you can provide?
ANSWER: SOLICITATION WAS BUILD OFF HISTORICAL UTILIZATION.
4. The CLIN 0001 is not defined. Will we be inputting any dollar value there?
ANSWER: NO
5. These aircraft will be relatively high performance aircraft, and not easily utilized elsewhere in the local area. Therefore, in order to reduce the Risk to the contractors, which, of course, risk, increases the price to the Government, would it be possible to have a monthly (times 12) Firm Fixed Monthly CLIN that is not tied to Available Days or flight hours?
ANSWER: NO. DUE TO DOMESTIC OPERATIONS AND TRAINING SCHEDULES AN IDIQ IS THE BEST CONTRACT VEHICLE FOR THIS REQUIREMENT.
6. Or, please eliminate the Minimum of 300 available days per year and just go with the 612 days per year, with a definition that this requires all 3 aircraft to be available for a total of 204 days.
ANSWER: NO
7. Will all 3 aircraft be utilized for all missions?
ANSWER: THE IDEA BEHIND THE AVAILABILITY OF AIRCRAFT IS TO ENSURE THERE IS A SPARE TO AVOID CHASE/CONTRACTOR CANCELLATION. WE COULD FEASIBLY BE FLYING 4-5 MQ-9'S AT DIFFERENT TIMES FROM MARCH ARB THUS THE NEED FOR MULTIPLE CHASE ASSETS.
8. Are there any periods within the year when services will not be required? This is based on the assumption that, with 5 weekdays per week times 52 weeks per year, there are a total of 260 potential daytime work days per aircraft (times 3 aircraft plus 6 crew members).
ANSWER: WE DO NOT PLAN TO HAVE ANY SCHEDULED PERIODS OF TIME WHERE WE WILL NOT USE CHASE. WE DO HOWEVER, WORK A 9/80 STYLE WORKWEEK SO THERE WILL BE SOME WEEKDAYS OFF. ALSO, WE COULD BE ACTIVATED TO FLY DOMESTIC OPERATIONS AND THAT COULD END UP BEING A 24/7 OPERATION, CHASE WILL BE REQUIRED.
9. Because we are talking about a minimum of 3 aircraft and 6 pilots, there are significant assets that must have their costs covered. Therefore, more parameters of availability would be appreciated, and will reduce your prices, if the assets are not required to be available full time.
ANSWER: PLEASE RESUBMIT QUESTION WITH ADDITIONAL INFO. UNABLE TO ANSWER.
10. What are the minimum crew requirements for Pilot and Observer?
ANSWER: WILL POST ANSWER TO THIS BY 4/17
11. What will cause a crewmember to be rejected by the Government?
ANSWER: WILL POST ANSWER TO THIS BY 4/17
12. If a crew member is rejected during the proposal process, will the contractor have an opportunity to replace that member? If so, what will be the parameters; i.e., timeline, etc.?
ANSWER: NO.
13. Will the due date for proposals remain 20 April; 21 days from today - March 30?
ANSWER: YES.
14. Is there any possibility that the contractor operating the three aircraft operate from March?
ANSWER: THE ONLY WAY THAT WOULD BE POSSIBLE IS TO WORK OUT A CONTRACT ON THE CIVILIAN SIDE WITH MILLIONAIR. WE DO NOT HAVE THE RAMP AVAILABILITY TO HOUSE A CIVILIAN CONTRACTOR.

DRAFT SOLICITATION ATTACHED. ESTIMATE DATE FOR FINAL SOLICITATION TO BE POSTED 26 MAR 2018. ESTIMATED DUE DATE FOR PROPOSALS 20 APRIL 2018.

Type of Notice: Request for Information (RFI)/Sources Sought

There is no solicitation at this time. This request for capability information does not constitute a Request for Proposals (RFP). Submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary; the Government assumes no financial responsibility for any information or costs incurred. All costs associated with responding to this notice will be solely at the interested party's expense. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued.

1.0   PURPOSE OF THE RFI

The 163d Attack Wing (AW) is issuing this sources sought synopsis as a means of conducting market research to identify parties having an interest in and the resources to meet the Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) Chase Plane Services. The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement.

2.0 Background:

Mission:  The requirement is for: Chase plane services in support of UAV flight operations at March ARB, Ca. and the Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA) to ensure the safety of non-participating manned aircraft flying in the operations area. Frequency of requirement is 5 days per week plus one weekend per month.

Aircraft requirements:

1) Ability to cruise up to 150 kts and fly as high as 13,000 ft.

2) Endurance capability of up to 5 hrs.

3) Supplied aircraft quantity must be sufficient to provide up to 2 chase plane for up to 5 hours per day. In addition the contractor must be able to provide night Chase support.

4) Supplied aircraft must be capable of landing on paved runways at least   3000 ft long.

The contract is for 1 year with the possibility of 3 additional option years.

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code for this requirement is 481219 and the size standard for Small Businesses is 14 million dollars (14M).

Most of the services support would be provided at the location at March ARB, CA and Southern California Logistic Airport (SCLA) in Ontario, CA.

In order to know your companies capabilities to perform this requirement, please provide answers to the attached Capability Questionnaire.

-How to Respond:

At this time, the Government does not guarantee any future contracts; and, responses to this Sources Sought notice do not bind the Government to any agreement with the responder, be it explicit or implied.

RESPONSES ARE REQUESTED NO LATER THAN 1500 LOCAL PACIFIC STANDARD TIME, FRIDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2017. PLEASE SEND RESPONSES VIA E-MAIL WITH ATTN: AMINAH GARY_163D ATKW CHASE PLANE SERVICE IN THE SUBJECT LINE TO  USAF.CA.163-AW.MBX.CONTRACTING@MAIL.MIL

                                                            
Proprietary information and trade secrets, if any, must be clearly marked on all materials.

All responses should be submitted electronically using PDF, HTML, MS Word or PowerPoint formats.

* ONLY written responses will be accepted.

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*Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions.