Notice of Intent to Sole Source with the Advanced Radar Research Center at the University of Oklahoma

The U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office, Eastern Acquisition Division located at 200 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23510, Suite 815, intends to award a contract to the Advanced Radar Research Center at the University of Oklahoma, on a sole source basis in accordance with 41 U.S.C.3304(a)(3) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-3(a)(2)(ii), Full and open competition need not be provided for when it is necessary to award the contract to a particular source or sources in order to establish or maintain an essential engineering, research, or development capability to be provided by an educational or other nonprofit institution or a federally funded research and development center.

The proposed source is to the Advanced Radar Research Center at the University of Oklahoma located at 3190 Monitor Ave, Norman, OK 73019. The requirement is to provide substantive and expert technical and scientific advice, and engineering and small scale prototyping/manufacturing services for the NWS OBS Radar Next Program, primarily in the Norman, OK local commuting area.  The contractor will support the Radar Next Program from the planning phase through deployment of the eventual chosen replacement system.  This will include supporting the development of the acquisition strategy and evaluation of vendor proposals, providing expertise into the development of the concept of operations and deployment strategies, leveraging their scientific and engineering capabilities and proprietary radar systems to test and provide insights into different operating models, design, build and testing prototypes (e.g. mobile, portable, and/or stationary) of new radar concepts and potential advancements in weather radar capabilities, and knowledge in weather radar data processing and product generation to inform the future data integration solution. This will allow the NWS OBS Radar Next Program to obtain Department of Commerce (DOC) approval for Milestone 2 within the DOC Acquisition Program Management Framework and make the initial award to replace the end of life nationally critical existing Next Generation Radar (NEXRAD) network before it no longer meets mission availability requirements.  The Advanced Radar Research Center at the University of Oklahoma is uniquely positioned to fulfill this requirement based on its integrated multidisciplinary expertise, state-of-the-art facilities, pioneering radar technology development, and long-standing leadership in atmospheric radar research and operational collaboration and for these reasons, is the only source for this program support.

The Government anticipates awarding a Firm Fixed-Price IDIQ contract. This notice is published for informational purposes only and is not a request for competitive quotations. However, any firm who believes they can meet this requirement may submit a response in writing. Responses must include a written narrative statement of capability, including detailed technical information demonstrating the company's ability to meet the above requirements. A determination by the Government not to open the requirement to competition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Written responses must be received no later than 15 calendar days after publication of this synopsis to the person listed as the Government point of contact in this announcement. All questions must be submitted in writing to the attention of the Government Contracting Officer. If no responses are received, the Government, intends to award a contract to the Advanced Radar Research Center at the University of Oklahoma, on a sole source basis in accordance with 41 U.S.C.3304(a)(3) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-3(a)(2)(ii), Full and open competition need not be provided for when it is necessary to award the contract to a particular source or sources in order to establish or maintain an essential engineering, research, or development capability to be provided by an educational or other nonprofit institution or a federally funded research and development center.

NOTHING HEREIN SHOULD BE MISCONSTRUED AS A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS, QUOTES OR BIDS. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTATION IS AVAILABLE OR WILL BE ISSUED.

Please direct any questions regarding this notice to Mrs. Jennifer A. Hildebrandt, Contracting Officer at jennifer.hildebrandt@noaa.gov.