VSS Lear Jet Support

The following notice is published for Informational Purposes Only. This is not a request by the Government for submittal of proposals or quotes of any kind.

The Government intends to issue, on a Sole Source basis, a contract to Calspan Corporation, 4455 Genesee Street, Buffalo, NY 14225-1928, in an effort to procure Performance Based flight demonstration program support to include a classroom instruction series with classroom materials, pre-flight briefs, a contractor owned VSS aircraft for US Navy Test Pilot School (USNTPS) students under instruction in both the traditional long course and the short course. The resultant contract will be primarily Firm Fixed Price with a Five Year ordering period. This acquisition is being procured on a sole source basis under the statutory authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy requirements.

Due to the highly specialized nature of this effort, Calspan is the only source, which maintains and operates high performance VSS equipped aircraft and has the personnel with the required expertise to train test pilots with this system. Calspan is responsible for the design, fabrication and installation of the VSS on their aircraft.  Although the Government owns the VSS component equipment, this equipment could not be removed from the Calspan Learjet aircraft and installed on any other comparable aircraft without major reconfiguration of all flight control systems of that aircraft to accommodate VSS, that resulted in a significant break in support. Market research has revealed that no other known contractor could immediately satisfy the Government’s requirement without a significant disruption of services. Additionally, since the system was designed specifically for the Learjet, reuse of the system on a different platform is not efficient or cost effective. Based on FAR 6.302-1, Calspan is the only known source that has the technical data, knowledge, experience, and capability necessary to fulfill the Government’s need and meet its requirements within the defined schedule.

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR INTERESTED PARTIES: There are no commitments by the Government to issue any solicitations, make an award or awards, or to be responsible for any monies expended by any interested parties before award of a contract for the efforts mentioned above. Information provided herein is subject to change and in no way binds the Government to solicit for or award a contract. The Government points of contact for this synopsis are Ms. Mary Masamo, email: mary.masamo@navy.mil ; and Ms. May Dimitrov, email: may.dimitrov@navy.mil  Any responses to this synopsis should be sent to the emails noted in this synopsis. No telephone responses will be accepted. Subcontracting opportunities should be sought directly from Calspan Corporation.