Coastal Systems Station, Dahlgren Division, 6703 W. Highway 98, Panama City, FL 32407-7001

42 -- LIFE PRESERVERS SOL N61331-00-R-0033 DUE 070700 POC Contract Specialist, Wanda Cutchin, (850) 234-4173/Contracting Officer, Carol Dreger, (850) 234-4863 WEB: www.ncsc.navy.mil/contracts/synopsis/syntable.htm, www.ncsc.navy.mil. E-MAIL: Cutchin_Wanda@ncsc.navy.mil, Cutchin_Wanda@ncsc.navy.mil. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Coastal Systems Station, Panama City, FL (COASTSYSTA), intends to conduct a limited competition between Bernhardt Apparatebau (GmbH u. Co., ABC Strasse 16, D-22880 Wedel Federal Republic of Germany), U.S. Divers Co. Inc.(3323 W. Warner Ave, Santa Ana, CA), Beuchat USA Inc.,(677 WS First St., Miami), and MSI-Defence LTD (Salhouse Road, Norwich, NR& 9AY, England) for the acquisition of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) life preservers. The life preservers will require very minor modifications to provide for dual inflation and use with existing life preserver air bottles currently in the Special Operations Force / U.S. Marine Corp (SOF/USMC) inventories in order to ensure diver safety and decrease total ownership costs. Additionally, each life preserver will be delivered with a field maintenance kit. The solicitation will result in the award of a firm fixed price requirements type indefinite delivery type contract for a period of three (3) years. This acquisition is unsuitable for full and open competition for the following reasons. The COASTSYSTA and the Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU), Panama City, Florida, tested seven candidate life preservers (openly solicited in the Commerce Business Daily) in four phases: a. Pool testing for form fit and function b. Buoyancy tests c. Open-water swim tests d. Review of documentation and maintenance. Only Bernhardt Apparatebau, Aqualung U.S. Divers, Beuchat, and MSI-Defence Corp had products that met the form, fit, and function, and buoyancy requirements but also received adequate or better scores from the divers during the swim tests. Note 22 applies. Posted 06/08/00 (W-SN462877). (0160)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0224 20000612\42-0002.SOL)