A--GLOBAL HAWK ENGINEERING AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (NASA/DFRC) plans to issue an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to The Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC) of San Diego, CA to provide specialized engineering and technical support in support of modifications to the Global Hawk aircraft. The objective of the NASA DFRC Global Hawk Project is to provide a unique national civilian capability to fly government and civilian organization airborne science payloads on high-altitude, over-the-horizon, and long-duration missions. The contractor will be required to provide engineering, manufacturing, and technical support services in support of modifications to the Global Hawk air vehicle and the Northrop Grumman Corporation provided Ground Support Equipment (GCS) system. The contractor will be responsible for providing specialized analysis, simulations, software development, or modeling that requires NGC proprietary data. Additional efforts may include any remanufacturing efforts necessary of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Global Hawk components or equipment such as structural components, hatches, radomes, and electronic equipment. Any Global Hawk specific operations support services relating to preflight preparation, mission support, flight support, and post-flight support that require NGC-trained personnel, which may also include supporting deployment activities at various remote sites. The Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC) is the sole producer of the Global Hawk family of unpiloted aerial vehicles, has the unique tooling, facilities, data and engineering support organization required to meet the agency?s requirements, subsequently, NASA/DFRC intends to procure Global Hawk engineering and technical support directly from NGC. NGC is the only firm that can provide Global Hawk and Ground Support services and materials. NCG has developed, designed, built, tested, and flown over 300,000 flight hours of the Global Hawk and/or UAV family aircraft. Due to the proprietary nature of the intellectual property, NGC is the only firm that can provide these required services and materials, making them uniquely experienced to support and aid in the development of a NASA successful research modifications and flight operations, and provide training support. The Government does not intend to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12. See Note 26. Interested organizations may submit their capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort in writing to the identified point of contact no later than 4:00 p.m. local time on February 29, 2008. Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed effort on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the government. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. All responsible sources may submit an offer, which shall be considered by the agency. Submittals should be made in writing to NASA/DFRC, Mailstop 1422/A, P.O. Box 273, Edwards CA 93523. Offerors are cautioned that submittals received after the specified closing date may be considered late. An ombudsman has been appointed. See NASA Specific Note "B". Point of Contact: Steve G. Schmidt, Phone:661.276.3103, Email: [email protected]. If applicable, any referenced notes may be viewed at the following URLs linked below.