Forty-eight companies will vie for almost $6 billion in task orders as the Air Force unveils two indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity firm-fixed-price contracts for a variety of support services.

Twenty-nine companies have been named to two contractor pools worth a total of $4.7 billion: a full and open competition pool for large businesses and a small business pool. Both call for management and professional support services, studies, analyses and evaluations, and engineering and technical services, according to a Nov. 29 Defense Department announcement.

The task orders call for assistance for facilities at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, including Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Aeronautical Systems Center, Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Institute of Technology, and National Air and Space Intelligence Command.

The Acquisition Management Integration Center in Newport News, Va., is the contracting activity.

The large business awards go to:

Booz Allen Hamilton
CACI International Inc.
Computer Sciences Corp.
Cubic Applications Inc.
Jacobs Technology Inc./Tybrin Corp.
L-3 Services Inc.
MacAulay-Brown Inc.
Science Applications International Corp.
Spectrum Comm Inc.
The Analysis Group, L.L.C.
USFalcon Inc.

Small business awards go to:

Apogee Solutions Inc.
Avanco International Inc.
Blue Force L.L.C.
Catapult Consultants L.L.C.
ComCon Technologies Inc.
D3 Air and Space Operations
Decypher-PSI
ITility L.L.C.
Object CTalk Inc.
Phantom Eagle L.L.C.
Pioneer Technologies Corp.
Sawdey Solution Services Inc.
ZCSolutions L.L.C.
B3H Corp.
Insignia Technology Services L.L.C.
Prevailance Inc.
Quantell Inc.
R&K Enterprise Solutions

Under the second multiple-award contract, 19 companies will compete for a total maximum of $950 million in task orders.

These task orders also will provide support in the areas of management and professional support services, studies, analyses and evaluations; and engineering and technical services at the named facilities at Wright-Patterson AFB.

The Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is the contracting activity on this contract.

Contractors are:

Array Information Technology Inc.
BTAS Inc.
Centech Group Inc.
DCS Corp.
Enterprise Information Services, Inc.
ERC Inc.
Intelligent Decisions
Innovative Technologies Corp.
Leader Communications Inc.
Linquest Corp.
MCR Federal L.L.C.
National Technologies Associates Inc.
Oasis Systems
Paragon Technology Group Inc.
Peerless-MacB J.V.
PESystems Inc.
Quantech Services Inc.
Spectrum Comm Inc.
Sumaria

Reference Article

Boeing Co.'s satellite production facility in El Segundo won a $1 billion Air Force contract to build a military communications satellite, the Department of Defense said Thursday.

The contract is for the seventh Wideband Global Satcom, or WGS, satellite, part of a series of spacecraft that are dramatically improving U.S. military communications, from troops in the field to fighter jets overhead.

The DoD announced the contract award in a statement that included contracts to other companies. The statement was sparse on details.

The Boeing contract also includes advance procurement for the eighth WGS satellite, as well as an option for production and launch of WGS No. 9.

The Air Force contract pegged the value at $1,099,800,000.

A Boeing official declined to comment on the contract and referred media questions to the Air Force.

In August 2010, Boeing won a $182 million Air Force contract to begin so-called long-lead procurement and work on WGS No. 7.

The Australian military is also participating in the WGS system.

Boeing's first three WGS satellites are also orbiting the Earth.

The others will be launched in coming years.

This latest contract is large by satellite industry standards, but was not a surprise.

Boeing had been in discussions with the Air Force over the contract for the past several weeks.

Still, the contract award comes as good news for Boeing's El Segundo facility, which this month celebrated the 50th anniversary of its satellite facility.

The El Segundo operation has been buffeted with layoffs over the past decade. Today, the business employs about 6,400 people, about half the number that worked there in the late 1990s.

While not specifically commenting on Thursday's award, Craig Cooning, the Boeing executive in charge of the El Segundo operations, earlier this month said that employment at the satellite business was stable, with no planned layoffs, despite expected Pentagon belt tightening.

By contrast, Northrop Grumman Corp. announced last week that it would cut 500 jobs at its Redondo Beach-based Aerospace Systems sector.

Source: Contra Costa Times

http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_18807912

The Air Force is looking to improve its acquisition activities, starting immediately with the impending contract awards for the KC-X tanker, the F-35 joint strike fighter and the Network-Centric Solutions-2 Enterprise Integration and Service Management program (NETCENTS-2), according to a top Defense Department official.

“Recapturing acquisition excellence in the Air Force is a top priority,” David Van Buren, Air Force assistant secretary for acquisition, said today at an AFCEA Nova luncheon. In particular, “our acquisition cycle times are horrible," he said. FULL ARTICLE

Three contractors will compete for $600 million in software support and information analysis tasks to support the National Air and Space Intelligence Center over five years, the Air Force has announced.

Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems Inc., and Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems Corp. were selected by the Air Force to compete against each other for tasks to support the center’s Advanced Technical Exploitation Program under the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, Air Force officials said July 8.

The contractors will compete for tasks such as intelligence analysis, software systems development and support, and research and development of space-based and airborne sensor data, according to a General Dynamics statement on June 9. The tasks will support contingency operations in the war on terror, missile defense and similar initiatives.

The National Air and Space Intelligence Center processes, analyzes and disseminates measurement and signature intelligence data collected from radar, electro-optical sensors and infrared sensors. The information collected is provided to the Defense Department and intelligence agencies.

Tasks include intelligence analysis, software systems development, and sensor data analysis.  Original Article posted at tr.im/sDkl