Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a pre-solicitation for the procurement of up to 12 Multirole Enforcement Aircraft (MEA), renewing the competition for the aircraft that is currently supplied by Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC).
SNC in 2009 won a potential five-year, $610 million contract to supply up to 30 MEA’s, which are missionized Beechcraft Super King Air 350ER twin turboprops. SNC integrates a sensor suite into the aircraft for ground, maritime and air interdiction missions.
The agency didn’t respond to multiple queries about plans for the forthcoming new competition for the MEA. SNC’s existing contract expires this year.
The pre-solicitation notice published by CBP says the agency seeks “a modern standardized MEA fleet in order to improve aircraft safety and reliability, improve mission effectiveness and be more cost effective to operate and maintain.
For this new procurement of MEA aircraft, the House Appropriations Committee in a draft report accompanying its version of the FY ’16 spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security, wants CBP to approach the program with an open systems model, which would mean the agency would have greater options for upgrades and modifications to the aircraft in the future.
The report says CBP’s Office of Air and Marine (OAM) “should consider open architecture, modular, and reconfigurable systems in the upcoming required competition. This will permit OAM to have a fleet of aircraft that can easily be optimized for a wide variety of maritime and land border missions.”
The House panel provides $44 million for two MEA aircraft in FY ’16. Senate Appropriators also provided funding for the two aircraft, as requested.
CBP’s Office of Air and Marine currently operates more than 250 aircraft.