C17 FEC Part

The Department of the Air Force Materiel Command Lifecycle Management Center at Hill Air Force Base seeks 588 fire extinguisher cartridges (NSN 1377-01-391-5415ES and 1377-01-672-9909ES) for domestic U.S. use and foreign military sales to the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and Qatar, with proposals due August 14, 2026. The procurement is limited to qualified sources; new offerors must submit a qualification package per FAR clause 52.209-1 and achieve qualification approval prior to contract award. Only United States and Canadian suppliers are eligible. The July 16 update clarifies that this is a streamlined trade-off competition under FAR Part 13 utilizing Sections L and M format, with SF 1447 replacing SF 33.

Place of performance is 7981 Georgia Street, Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Deliverables include 500 cartridges for domestic USAF use, 12 for UAE, 18 and 27 units respectively for Australia, 4 for UAE, and 27 for Qatar, all firm fixed-price with delivery by September 30, 2028. The NAICS code is 325920, Explosives Manufacturing, and PSC is 1377, Cartridge and Propellant Actuated Devices.

Items are classified as DOT Class 1.4S hazardous explosives and Critical Safety Items. Qualification requirements, estimated at $5,000 to $50,000+, include Bell Helicopter Specification 114PS203-7 testing, process verification documentation, and specialized test procedures; currently approved sources are Kidde Technologies (Cage Code 61423) and Applied Energy Technology Corp (Cage Code 51597). All contractor personnel involved in manufacturing must comply with ITAR parts 120 and 121; energetic materials and components cannot exceed 24 months from original manufacturing date and must trace to DoD-qualified manufacturers. Items require unique item identification, serial number marking per CAD/PAD Item Marking Instruction Version 1.6, and ISO 9001:2015 compliance.

Evaluation under Factor 1 assesses Qualified Vendor status (Acceptable/Unacceptable) and Schedule using a five-point rating scale (Blue/Outstanding through Red/Unacceptable). Technical Risk is rated separately as Low, Moderate, High, or Unacceptable. Factor 2 evaluates price reasonableness and total evaluated price. Technical factors combined are significantly more important than price.

Contractors must submit proposals electronically to tyson.tharp@us.af.mil; proposals exceeding 10MB require advance DoD SAFE link request (24 hours prior) or multiple emails. Offerors are encouraged to request email receipt acknowledgment. All submissions must include SF 1447, signed solicitation, Sections A through K, and schedule in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, or Project format not exceeding 10 pages with Work Breakdown Structure, defined milestones, and realistic task durations.