Follow-on Contract for the U. S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Aviation and Missile Center for for technology integration into the contractor's fleet of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), including the Grey Eagle.

This is a notice of intent to award a contract on a sole source basis. This notice serves as a synopsis as required by FAR 5.101 and FAR 5.201.

The U.S. Army Contracting Command-Redstone (ACC-R), Redstone Arsenal, AL, 35898, intends to award a five year sole source, follow-on, Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF), Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) type contract with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.(GA-ASI), 14200 Kirkham Way, Poway, CA 92064 for an estimated 1,209,335 engineering and technical service labor hours and associated material, travel, subcontract and other direct costs that are required to support the U.S. Army Development Command, Aviation and Missile Center (DEVCOM AvMC); Software, Simulation, Systems Engineering and Integration (S3I) Directorate, in the areas of research, development, integration, experimentation, test and evaluation and operation of the Air Force MQ-1 Predator B, Predator C Avenger, Predator XP, the MQ-9B Reaper, and the Army MQ-1C Gray Eagle and Gray Eagle-Extended Range (E-ER) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) fleet.

Sole Source Award will be made under the authority 10 U.S.C. 2304(d)(1)(B) as implemented by  Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii) "For DoD, the National Aeronautical and Space Administration, and the Coast Guard, services may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in, - (B) Unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements,” this contract shall be awarded on an other than full and open competitive basis to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., as the only source with the technical knowledge and expertise required for rapid technology integration efforts for its fleet of UAS systems.  Award to another source would result in substantial additional investment and additional rights in proprietary technical data costs to the government and unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirement.

The primary place of performance will be at GA-ASI’s main facilities at Poway, CA, and at other contractor and Government facilities. 

This notice of intent to negotiate a sole source contract is not a request for competitive proposals. Telephone or facsimile inquires and/or responses will not be accepted.

This is not a formal notice of solicitation. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.203(a); the solicitation will be issued no sooner than 15 days from the date of this publication and will be provided upon request (ref. FAR 5.102(e)). Solicitation requests are to be submitted by email to Garry White, Contract Specialist, at garry.t.white.civ@mail.mil. Solicitation requests will be processed within two business days of receipt of request or the release of the solicitation whichever is later.

All responsible sources may submit a capability statement or proposal, which shall be considered by the agency. Submissions shall be directed to Garry White, Contract Specialist, at garry.t.white.civ@mail.mil, and must be received within 45 days of this publication date (ref. FAR 5.203(e)). This date is subject to change and will be updated accordingly. All submissions shall be considered.

The work to be performed under this contract is considered experimental in nature for which there is no established test and evaluation plan at this time.  The purpose of this contract is to gain an understanding of the technical risks and challenges associated with initial technology integration involving General Atomics Aeronautical System’s Unmanned Aerial System’s products  such as, the Gray Eagle, Avenger and Reaper UAS weapon system, as well as to support the establishment of performance baseline for those technologies that are successfully integrated initially through this contract and for which future integration and possible production line implementation by the materiel developer is considered advantageous.

The contractor will perform engineering and technical services required to support the S3I Directorate and its customers in the development, integration and operational employment of Class 5 UAS capabilities to include modeling, simulation and training systems and modules in support of systems, processes, capabilities and integrated joint, component and allied tactics, techniques and procedures.  The contractor shall provide engineering and technical services required to install, operate, disseminate payload products, maintain, and integrate new technical capabilities.  The United States (U.S.) Group 5 UAS systems are the target UAS category for the purposes of accomplishing and demonstrating required technology integration objectives for this effort.  The required period of performance is 60 months, with an optional six month extension, with performance up to the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level.  This acquisition is intended to support the mission of the Army Futures Command and its subordinate Army DEVCOM AvMC in integrating the future operational environment, threat and technologies to develop and deliver future force requirements, designing future force organizations and delivering materiel capabilities.

The contractor shall also provide GA-ASI products such as the Gray Eagle, Avenger and Reaper UAS engineering and technical services necessary to conduct:

a.  Aerodynamic modeling and simulation.

b.  Information assurance assessments

c.  Flight airworthiness and safety of flight analysis and certifications.

d.  Test, analysis, and evaluation necessary to allow extensive flight testing, and demonstration of new technology and payload capability at Government test ranges.  However, due to the current operational requirements and limited availability of these systems, the contractor maybe required to provide a contractor owned/contractor operated GA-ASI product or ground support equipment to accomplish these efforts.

e.  Continuity of the current Gray Eagle (MQ-1C), Reaper (MQ-9) UAS Government Tactical Equipment to interface with and be interoperable with U.S. Intelligence Systems supporting Processing, Exploiting and Dissemination (PED) equipment following completion of the Signal Intelligence (SIGNTI) payload technology integration efforts. 

Responsible sources must present their experience in these areas as they directly relate to the Gray Eagle (MQ-1), the Reaper (MQ-9) and other General Atomics products and the respective support equipment.  Furthermore, responsible sources must have access to, and provide supporting documentation thereto, proprietary technical data rights associated with the Gray Eagle (MQ-1), the Reaper (MQ-9) and other GA-ASI products and support equipment.  Sources failing to provide this documentation will be considered unresponsive and will not be considered.