16 -- P-3 AIRBORNE EARLY WARNING (AEW) AIRCRAFT APS-145 RETROFIT

Notice Date

February 27, 2001

Contracting Office

Department of the Treasury, United States Customs Service (USCS), Procurement Division, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Room 4.2-E, Washington, DC, 20229

ZIP Code

20229

Solicitation Number

CS-01-026

Response Due

March 30, 2001

Point of Contact

Sharon Lim, Contracting Officer, Phone (202) 927-4914, Fax (202) 927-1190, Email sharon.lim@customs.treas.gov -- Diane Sahakian, Contract Specialist, Phone (202) 927-0642, Fax (202) 927-1190, Email

E-Mail Address

Sharon Lim (sharon.lim@customs.treas.gov)

Description

Commerce Business Daily Announcement United States Customs Service P-3 Airborne Early Warning (AEW) Aircraft APS-145 Retrofit Program Introduction The United States Customs Service (USCS) currently operates six P-3 AEW aircraft from the Surveillance Support Branches, located at NAS Corpus Christi, TX and NAS Jacksonville, FL, in the performance of its drug interdiction mission. The P-3 AEW #1-4 aircraft use the APS-138 search radar while AEW #5 and 6 use the updated APS-145 radar with an updated mission processing and display system. An additional two AEW aircraft (#7/8) are now being modified from US Navy heavyweight P-3B airframes into an updated configuration, which again uses the APS-145 radar but also includes new digital cockpit avionics and a dual channel digital replacement autopilot. USCS has received funding from a Congressional appropriation for Plan Colombia to retrofit AEW #1-4 aircraft to an AEW #7 configuration. Objective USCS intends to competitively award a modification contract for the retrofit of P-3 AEW #1-4 to the AEW #7 configuration. Industry is strongly encouraged to review the draft Statement of Work (SOW) -- available on request, to gain a thorough understanding of the scope of this effort. USCS anticipates issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the retrofit modification contract in March 2001, with receipt of price proposal submissions 30 days after release of the RFP. Work Scope -- General The AEW retrofit work scope requires offerors with full in-house engineering, manufacturing and testing capability. Offerors must have extensive experience in the modification, rework and overhaul of P-3B airframes and/or demonstrated expertise in modifying other large multi-engine aircraft. Such modification experience will include the installation and testing of sophisticated radar, IFF, digital avionics, autopilot, communications, computer processing and display equipment. Commonality with the AEW #7 configuration is a key objective of this effort. Major tasks for this effort include: a) Program management, quality assurance, planning and control; b) generation of engineering removal and installation drawings specific to this effort, which are not otherwise provided in the government-furnished technical data package; c) procurement or fabrication of all installation materials, wiring harnesses and equipment not provided as Government Furnished Equipment (GFE); d) installation of all retrofit materials and equipment, both CFE and GFE, new and modified/original, in AEW #1-4; e) performance of ground and flight testing for the finished product. 3.1 Airframe and Aircraft Sub-systems 3.1.1 Scheduled and Unscheduled Maintenance Firms responding to the RFP should indicate their capabilities to perform routine P-3B airframe organizational level maintenance procedures to support the aircraft during modification and flight test. Phased depot maintenance (PDM) will not be part of this retrofit modification contract. However, limited corrosion and other airframe/sub-system problems discovered during the normal course of the retrofit process will be addressed on a case by case basis. Firms should describe their relevant experience to perform such work in their offers. Only this portion of the work will be priced on a time and materials basis. 3.1.2 Airframe Configuration The internal/external configuration of the aircraft following retrofit will match AEW #7 in all respects, with the exception of differences required for the AEW #3 LWB airframe. The required tasks include, but are not limited to, the following areas: a) ballast amount and positioning to achieve proper weight and balance; b) internal arrangement of work benches, seating and crew rest areas; c) equipment bay layout and positioning of avionics hardware and wiring runs; d) external aircraft arrangement of antennas including SATCOM antenna mounted on (existing) rotodome; e) internal cosmetic appearance to include necessary replacement or repair of floorboards, painted surfaces, upholstery and internal fuselage insulation and vinyl coverings; f) electrical load distribution, location and arrangement of avionics/equipment control heads and circuit breaker panels, 60 Hz converter and associated power receptacles; g) environmental control system (ECS) enhancements, balancing, and required additions to accommodate new avionics and mission system components as well as supplemental heating for the aft cabin crew rest area; h) mechanical / hydraulic systems changes to accommodate the variable speed hydraulic motor, servo valve and flow regulator for variable speed rotodome rotation and incorporation of a dual channel replacement autopilot; and, i) structural modifications to cockpit, equipment bays and operator stations to accommodate equipment installations for the AEW #7 configuration. 3.2 Mission System The APS-138 radar system will be updated using a government furnished APS-145 radar upgrade kit. The existing mission system data processing and display system will be removed and replaced with AEW #7 mission system hardware in a three mission operator configuration plus new cockpit tactical display capability. This GFE hardware includes: a) VME-based mission computer, track processor and four Q-70 display processors (with internal radar scan converter) chassis; b) three 20.1 inch flat panel displays and associated keyboards, keypads and track ball operator interfaces; c) a 13 inch cockpit tactical display with associated hand grip controller. The GFE mission computer, tracker and display software, plus the electrical and data bus interfaces will be identical in configuration to that used in AEW #7. The existing TPX-54 IFF interrogator will be updated by the Government from a Navy Tactical Data System (NTDS) interface to an RS-422 serial interface and with improved detection algorithms per the current design. 3.3 Communications The communication suite will be updated to include: a) five ARC-210 radios to replace the ARC-182/171; b) removal of the two ARC-207 HF systems; c) dual Flexcomm II systems with RT-5000 transceivers and OTAR to replace the Flexcomm I FM radio systems; d) dual LST-5D UHF MILSATCOM to update/replace the single LST-5C SATCOM; e) enhanced radio relay and UHF/DF capability; f) five CDU-800X communication control display units (CDU) to replace the four CDU-800F's; g) AEW #7 configuration for the Intercommunication System (ICS) Crew Station Units (CSU) operator interface and Communications Control Unit (CCU) software; h) data transfer capability via MILSATCOM. The new communications equipment will be GFE. 3.4 Cockpit Avionics The cockpit avionics will be updated using a government-furnished flat panel Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS), Flight Management System (FMS) with GPS and associated control panels/CDU. The PB-20N single channel analog autopilot will be replaced with a dual channel digital autopilot. The electromechanical engine/gearbox instruments will be replaced with a digital Engine Instrument Display System (EIDS). Additional replacement GFE systems to be installed include: a) dual VIR-432; b) dual DME-442; c) dual ADS-3000 air data systems; d) ALT-4000 radar altimeter; and e) GH-3000/ADC-3000 standby instrument system. The existing dual Litton 92 (LTN-92) Inertial Navigation System (INS) will be retained, however the LTN-92 2001 GPS and CDU's will be removed. The existing weather radar (TWR-850) and ADF-462 will be retained with some minor changes, to be completed by the successful offeror, including control and display through the FMS/EFIS. Program Schedule USCS is in the process of determining an induction and delivery schedule for the retrofit program. The preliminary schedule would have modifications commence with the first aircraft induction in the fall of 2001 and would be followed at approximately 4 month intervals for the remaining 3 aircraft. Each aircraft will be in modification and test for 6-8 months, and USCS estimates the duration of the entire program will be 18 months. Aircraft modification schedule is subject to change due to a variety of factors including GFE delivery dates and operational mission requirements. Government Furnished Equipment USCS anticipates providing the majority of the equipment required for the retrofit as GFE. This will facilitate meeting the program schedule for aircraft induction outlined above while allowing sufficient lead time for GFE delivery. A number of aircraft systems will be retained as is, while some will be removed, modified and reinstalled. The new GFE purchases now being acquired by USCS include: a) APS-145 kits; b) cockpit avionics including EFIS, FMS, autopilot, air data, EIDS, radio navigation; c) mission system hardware including tactical/Q-70 displays workstations, mission computer, track processor chassis; d) communications radios and CDUs. USCS intends to deliver GFE to the modification contractor in late 2001 or early 2002 for the first two aircraft and by mid-2002 for the second two aircraft. Technical Data Package and AEW Aircraft Inspection Upon request, USCS intends to distribute an electronic technical data package to firms interested in responding to the RFP. This package will include AEW #1-4 drawings and a digital photo library of the existing aircraft configuration. The AEW #7 configuration will be documented by a 90% engineering design release drawing package, draft specifications and a digital photo library. USCS anticipates having final AEW #7 drawings and specifications available in the summer of 2001, prior to the induction of the first (AEW #1-4) retrofit aircraft. USCS also anticipates that AEW #7 will be available for inspection in the later portion of the summer of 2001, before the first retrofit aircraft induction. USCS will not warrant the technical data package as "build-to" data, nor will it warrant the data for overall accuracy or completeness. Each aircraft will vary to some degree as to its current configuration, upon delivery to the modification contractor. Minor system / airframe deviations between aircraft and technical data / drawings can be expected and shall not be considered a basis to file an additional over and above claim against the Government. Contracting of any outside technical support services required to carry out this retrofit effort will be the responsibility of the successful offeror. USCS will make several AEW airframes available for offeror walk-through inspections in conjunction with the release of the RFP. At this time USCS anticipates that P-3 AEW #1 and #2 will be made available for inspection between March 14 and 16 at the Surveillance Support Branch in Corpus Christi, Texas. Individual walk through inspections will be scheduled by the Contracting Officer and will allow each vendor several hours to privately inspect the airframes, take pictures, etc. Appointment requests should be forwarded via email to the Contracting Officer listed below in Section 7.0. 7.0 Contractual Arrangements USCS does not desire and will not consider technical proposals. USCS will use an oral interview process to determine each firm's understanding of the statement of work. The technical evaluation will emphasize past performance and experience. The contract type will be firm fixed price and will also include an optional time and material / reimbursable CLIN for repair efforts as described in Section 3.1.1 above. Interested firms are encouraged to respond via email to the Contracting Officer, Sharon Lim, at: "sharon.lim@customs.treas.gov" or alternately via phone at (202) 927-4914.

Web Link

Visit this URL for the latest information about this (/cgi-bin/WebObjects/EPS.woa/wa/SPF?A=P&P=CS-01-026&L=1782)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010301/16SOL001.HTM (D-058 SN50E7L1)