Contract Award | The Contracting Education Academy

October 1, 2013 By AMK

Army awards vehicle radio deal worth up to $140.7 million

The Army awarded Harris Corp. a $140.7 million contract for a vehicle radio designed to link infantry platoons and companies with higher headquarters.

The mid-tier networking vehicular radio, or MNVR, runs government-owned software waveforms developed under the now-defunct joint tactical radio system project and adopted by Harris and other vendors for use in their radios. BAE Systems, General Dynamics C4 Systems and a team of Northrop Grumman and ITT Exilis submitted bids on the contract for up to 5,000 vehicle radios in an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity procurement the Army launched in February 2012.

The Army immediatly placed a task order with Harris valued at $8.4 million for up to 232 vehicle radios for test and integration. The Harris radios run the broadband data Wideband Networking Waveform and voice and low data rate Soldier Radio Waveform, software that defines bandwidth, modulation and frequency range.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2013/09/army-awards-vehicle-radio-deal-worth-1407-million/70816

June 12, 2013 By AMK

Company drops its protest of Forest Service airtanker awards

Neptune Aviation Services Inc. dropped its bid protest of the award of four next generation firefighting airtanker contracts last Friday, but the aircraft may not be ready for use until the tail-end of the 2013 fire season.

Thomas Tidwell, chief of the U.S. Forest Service, said “this will help modernize our fleet in the quickest manner possible as we face the prospect of a challenging wildfire season.”

Jennifer Jones, a Forest Service spokeswoman at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, said it could take companies awarded the airtanker contracts between 60 to 90 days to get ready to fly wildfire suppression missions. This includes outfitting aircraft with tanks that carry water or chemical retardant, approval of a field trial by an Interagency Tanker Board and FAA certification.

“Since the contracts were awarded in early June, we would expect all of the aircraft to be flying by August-September, although it could be sooner if all of the requirements are met before then,” Jones said.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2013/06/company-drops-its-protest-forest-service-airtanker-awards/64691/?oref=nextgov_today_nl

June 12, 2013 By AMK

Four key firefighting airtankers grounded due to bid protests

The Forest Service can deploy only three out of seven new tankers to replace Korean War vintage aircraft as the summer fire season heats up, due to a contract protest.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore, told a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday that he wants to cut through the legal process to get the entire fleet in the air as soon as possible. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., joined him in pushing for a quick resolution.

Last month Udall urged the Forest Service to override the protest. “Lives and homes are at stake, and I refuse to stand idly by as red tape suffocates any chance of the U.S. Forest Service finally acquiring these much-needed air tankers,” he said. Udall added that residents of fire-prone areas should not be held hostage to “contractors’ squabbles.”

The Forest Service on May 6 awarded seven companies five-year contracts valued at a total of $159.4 million to supply it with Next Generation Airtankers. Neptune Aviation Services Inc. of Missoula, Mont., on May 16 filed a Government Accountability Office protest of the airtanker contract award, with a decision not due until Aug. 26, the tail-end of the fire season.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2013/06/four-key-firefighting-airtankers-grounded-due-bid-protests/64232/?oref=nextgov_today_nl

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