USTRANSCOM Blended Additive Fuel Study

The United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) issued a Request for Information for a Blended Additive Fuel Study to optimize fuel types for military mission requirements, specifically examining whether commercial grade Joint Aviation Authorized (JAA) fuel could be more effective than JP-8 as the primary battlefield fuel. The study would test and validate military specification fuels, compare additive processes between JAA and MILSPEC fuels, and assess operational implications of potential fuel switching within the DoD bulk fuel supply network. Key objectives include determining commercial and DoD restrictions on fuel switching, analyzing current fuel policy rationales, and evaluating operational risks versus engineering implications. The agency planned to award the contract under NAICS code 541614 for Process, Physical Distribution, and Logistics Consulting Services with a small business size standard of $20 million. The original timeline required responses by 8:00 CT on July 25, 2025, with questions due by July 18, 2025, and contract award planned for Q4 FY25.

This opportunity has no set-aside designation and is open to businesses of all sizes and socioeconomic categories, with no incumbent vendor identified as this represents a new requirement. The contract was structured with a one-year period of performance from August 1, 2025, through July 31, 2026, requiring monthly status reports, quarterly briefings, and a final report within 30 days of study completion. However, USTRANSCOM announced that the agency is no longer pursuing an acquisition for this requirement, as the requirement owner has decided to pursue an alternative avenue for the research. The Questions and Answers document clarified that the study would focus on comparing JAA fuel with JP-8 and F-76 fuels, with particular emphasis on analyzing whether current JP-8 policy is based on the most demanding aircraft requirements like the F-35 or the most needed requirements such as the C-17. While no specific contract value was disclosed, the research scope encompassed comprehensive examination of procurement, storage, transportation, and consumption aspects of the DoD fuel supply network.