USMC Expeditionary Fuel Distribution System (components)

The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) intends to award of a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Requirements Indefinite Delivery – Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, on a sole source basis, to Ohler Pumps, A Division of WS Darley, 501 Maple Street, Janesville, IA 50647 (CAGE Code 00299), for the acquisition of pumps and filters RA2103 Pump and RA2101 Filter., up to 888 each per system. These pumps and filters have been identified by the Fuel & Water (F&W) team at MARCORSYSCOM (MCSC) and are deemed critical to obtain, as they are specially designed and modified to operate fielded Expeditionary Fuel Distribution Systems (EFDS). The estimated duration of the contract is estimated at five years, including a base ordering period with four additional option ordering periods. The Government’s minimum needs have been verified by the certifying technical and requirements personnel. The procurement will be funded with fiscal years 2026 – 2031 Other Procurement, Navy (OPN) funds. This J&A does not authorize acquisition for other requirements. Delivery requirements will be specified in the individual delivery orders. 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1) FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii) – Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.  The EFDS is a program of record within MCSC F&W Team enabling expeditionary bulk fueling utilizing fuel pumps and separators produced by Ohler Pumps. The original designed for the fuel pump (NSN 2930-01-714-8655) and the fuel filter separator (NSN 2910-01-714-8656) were awarded to Ohler Pumps under contract M67854-22-D-5000 for the Tactical Aviation Ground Refueling System (TAGRS). The pumps and separators were slightly modified from the original TAGRS configuration to meet the EFDS requirements, this redesign has since been vetted through Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) and has approved for EFDS usage. NWSC PCD Code E33 is now the assigned in-service engineering agent for the MCSC F&W team suite of system components.

Ohler Pumps is the original equipment manufacturer, and the only source for the required pumps and filters, as they developed the EFDS pumps and filters. The required Ohler Pump EFDS RA2103 pump and RA2101 filter have been specifically designed to support the EFDS fuel system and have completed extensive testing to verify compatibility with the EFDS system. Use of alternate pumps and filters would change pump sizing, design or type and would require significant system re-design and incur considerable systems engineering costs. Use of alternate equipment would also extend the fielding of the EFDS fuel system to conduct qualification testing because the EFDS project faces considerable schedule risk if these pumps/filters are not utilized as they have undergone extensive design and testing for the TAGRS, which is a separate program of record at MCSC.  Utilizing these pumps and filters allows EFDS to leverage the development of these systems already completed. The schedule risk of selecting an alternate source/pump is expected to result in at least two years of additional development and design verification time before an alternate system can be integrated into the project baseline.

Additionally, if an alternate pump or filter is acquired, the Government will incur significant additional costs due to the additional non-recurring engineering (NRE) and design development costs. The estimated cost of this NRE is estimated to be greater than $3,000,000 for design development and verification. The cost risk is further complicated by the unknown future unit cost and total ownership cost associated with an alternate vendor that is difficult to quantify. Expectations are that an alternate source of supply would be more expensive given the fact that the current OEM has an active production line already tooled to support the EFDS project given the similarity to the TAGRS project. The EFDS project is actively utilizing TAGRS logistics/Technical documentation to shorten timelines and mitigate costs related to the development of the Technical Manual (TM), Training Package and related documentation. The approximate cost for logistics development time, manuals, repair training and maintenance instructions is $375,000. Most of these logistics’ elements are already in place with the TAGRS program and can be leveraged to mitigate cost/schedule impacts in the EFDS.