By Calvin Biesecker
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) last week issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for up to 40 Multirole Enforcement Aircraft (MEA) that would replace several existing planes used by the agency’s Air and Marine Office.
CBP wants to buy commercially available muti-engine turbine-powered airplanes that are currently in production with an emphasis on maritime and ground surveillance missions and airborne tracker (Defense Daily, Aug. 29 and Sept. 3, 2008). In addition, the aircraft must have design flexibility to support other missions such as logistical support and signal intelligence collection, CBP says in a FedBizOpps announcement last week.
The agency plans to award a contract to a prime contractor for the aircraft and integrated mission equipment. CBP wants an open system architecture for the aircraft that incorporates non-developmental items and commercial-off-the-shelf equipment to reduce program costs.
To reduce program cost and risk, the contractor shall incorporate an open system architecture utilizing non-developmental item (NDI), commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment to the maximum extent possible.
The aircraft should have a minimum service life of 20 years and the mission equipment systems 10 years. Responses to the RFP are due by June 22. [Sol. No. HSBP1009R2336. Contact: Ronald Rosenberg, contracting officer, 202-344-2985, [email protected]]