USN CAS AAR - Way Forward Now Clear - 2020 On.
Backstory.
Omega had been the sole legacy contractor for Contracted Air Support (CAS) Air-to-Air Refueling (AAR) to the USN for 18 years since 2001 - but with only a small, 3 aircraft fleet with limited off-load capacity.
In April 2019, $TMPS was awarded the sole contract for 2020 on - for up to 5 years - with its larger, more efficient, higher fuel off-load capacity fleet - which has twice the total fuel off-load capacity of the Omega fleet, higher available utilization rate, and lower maintenance life cycle costs.
Omega protested the award to $TMPS twice - on both occasions the GAO denied the protest after the USN stated it would take corrective action.
In September 2019, the USN stated it intended to consider future CAS AAR contract procurement using the MAC (multi-company) ID/IQ method.
An Industry Day was planned and all potential bidders were invited to submit their ideas of the feasible both before and during.
In October 2019, the USN announced that the $TMPS contract would be cancelled "as a consequence of litigation related to the Government’s procurement of this contract".
USN Notice of Intent - Issued October 11, 2019 .
Notice in full at bottom of page - my interpretation first.
"A competitive follow-on effort procurement is ongoing with a planned award in FY20 2nd quarter."
Competitive - this will most likely be the previously discussed MAC (multi-company) ID/IQ - traditional methods could not get a contract awarded by then.
FY2020 2Q starts January 1, 2020.
In the meantime, the USN has an urgent ongoing requirement so they intend to award [$TMPS could protest] a limited duration follow-on contract to Omega - initially for up to a year but with up to 2 x 6-months extensions.
This is clearly designed to act as an insurance policy to ensure continued - albeit limited - AAR capability - to cover any delays in other companies participating in the MAC getting their aircraft ready for service [$TMPS Tristars, Airbus new-build A330 MRTT or modification of surplus ex-civil A330 to A330 MRTT etc].
They intend to award this on a sole contract basis as only Omega currently has both the AAR clearances for all relevant aircraft types and FAA Airworthiness squared away.
The $TMPS Tristars already have the AAR clearances for most - if not all - USN types - they certainly have it for the most likely receivers (F/A-18 ) - as the RAF used to refuel them often (including on operations over Afghanistan as seen in many photos).
It is not yet clear whether $TMPS intends to operate the Tristars on the US experimental register (as Omega does due to the nature of how its aircraft were converted) or on the standard UK civil register - possibly quicker to do - which may be why Tristar Air UK Ltd was formed in August 2019.
Another possibility, is that Tristar UK Air Ltd might try to become a UK CAA and MoD approved and regulated company - due to its ability to provide "turnkey" outsourced solutions to defense requirements - and then the aircraft would have UK military registrations.
Bear in mind that that the RAF uses entirely "probe-and-drogue" AAR as does the USMC which will be deploying F-35Bs on the RN carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth for a deployment cruise in 2021.
A precedent has been set by this UK company - Hawker Hunter Aviation (HHA) Ltd - which does not have ongoing contracts for all its aircraft all the time..
https://www.hunterteam.com/aboutus/
https://www.hunterteam.com/aboutus/regulatory_approvals/
Notice in full - bold emphasis + additional carriage returns separating items is mine - link at bottom may not work in future
Air-to-Air refueling, Notice of Intent - Oct 11, 2019
Solicitation Number: N0042120R0096
Agency: Department of the Navy
Office: Naval Air Systems Command
Location: Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Pax River
THIS NOTICE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY
The proposed contract action is for services for which the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWC-AD) intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the statutory authority of 10 U.S.C 2304(c)(1), as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.
This acquisition provides Contracted Air Services (CAS) of contractor owned and operated aircraft to United States Navy (USN) Fleet, Department of Defense (DoD), Non-DoD, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers for Air-to-Air refueling (AAR) of approved USN and other receiver aircraft capable of AAR.
NAWC-AD intends to award a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) and Cost contract to Omega Aerial Refueling Services, Inc. (OARS) for an additional 24 month ordering period from 7/26/2020 to 7/25/2022, made up of a base 12-month period and two 6-month option periods.
Please be advised that a competitive follow-on effort procurement is ongoing with a planned award in FY 20 2nd quarter.
At this time [ie right now - not necessarily still the case by 2020 Q2], OARS is the only AAR source which owns approved aircraft with Navy Interim Flight Clearances (IFC) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airworthiness Certificates that can continue performance during this ordering period of AAR missions without an unacceptable delay or interruption to the Fleet. This support is critical to provide AAR Services to USN Fleet and Test & Evaluation community.
This notice is for informational purposes only. The information provided herein is subject to change and in no way binds the Government.
All opinions are mine - based on 35 years served as a military aerospace officer.
Backstory.
Omega had been the sole legacy contractor for Contracted Air Support (CAS) Air-to-Air Refueling (AAR) to the USN for 18 years since 2001 - but with only a small, 3 aircraft fleet with limited off-load capacity.
In April 2019, $TMPS was awarded the sole contract for 2020 on - for up to 5 years - with its larger, more efficient, higher fuel off-load capacity fleet - which has twice the total fuel off-load capacity of the Omega fleet, higher available utilization rate, and lower maintenance life cycle costs.
Omega protested the award to $TMPS twice - on both occasions the GAO denied the protest after the USN stated it would take corrective action.
In September 2019, the USN stated it intended to consider future CAS AAR contract procurement using the MAC (multi-company) ID/IQ method.
An Industry Day was planned and all potential bidders were invited to submit their ideas of the feasible both before and during.
In October 2019, the USN announced that the $TMPS contract would be cancelled "as a consequence of litigation related to the Government’s procurement of this contract".
USN Notice of Intent - Issued October 11, 2019 .
Notice in full at bottom of page - my interpretation first.
"A competitive follow-on effort procurement is ongoing with a planned award in FY20 2nd quarter."
Competitive - this will most likely be the previously discussed MAC (multi-company) ID/IQ - traditional methods could not get a contract awarded by then.
FY2020 2Q starts January 1, 2020.
In the meantime, the USN has an urgent ongoing requirement so they intend to award [$TMPS could protest] a limited duration follow-on contract to Omega - initially for up to a year but with up to 2 x 6-months extensions.
This is clearly designed to act as an insurance policy to ensure continued - albeit limited - AAR capability - to cover any delays in other companies participating in the MAC getting their aircraft ready for service [$TMPS Tristars, Airbus new-build A330 MRTT or modification of surplus ex-civil A330 to A330 MRTT etc].
They intend to award this on a sole contract basis as only Omega currently has both the AAR clearances for all relevant aircraft types and FAA Airworthiness squared away.
The $TMPS Tristars already have the AAR clearances for most - if not all - USN types - they certainly have it for the most likely receivers (F/A-18 ) - as the RAF used to refuel them often (including on operations over Afghanistan as seen in many photos).
It is not yet clear whether $TMPS intends to operate the Tristars on the US experimental register (as Omega does due to the nature of how its aircraft were converted) or on the standard UK civil register - possibly quicker to do - which may be why Tristar Air UK Ltd was formed in August 2019.
Another possibility, is that Tristar UK Air Ltd might try to become a UK CAA and MoD approved and regulated company - due to its ability to provide "turnkey" outsourced solutions to defense requirements - and then the aircraft would have UK military registrations.
Bear in mind that that the RAF uses entirely "probe-and-drogue" AAR as does the USMC which will be deploying F-35Bs on the RN carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth for a deployment cruise in 2021.
A precedent has been set by this UK company - Hawker Hunter Aviation (HHA) Ltd - which does not have ongoing contracts for all its aircraft all the time..
https://www.hunterteam.com/aboutus/
https://www.hunterteam.com/aboutus/regulatory_approvals/
Notice in full - bold emphasis + additional carriage returns separating items is mine - link at bottom may not work in future
Air-to-Air refueling, Notice of Intent - Oct 11, 2019
Solicitation Number: N0042120R0096
Agency: Department of the Navy
Office: Naval Air Systems Command
Location: Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Pax River
THIS NOTICE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY
The proposed contract action is for services for which the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWC-AD) intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the statutory authority of 10 U.S.C 2304(c)(1), as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.
This acquisition provides Contracted Air Services (CAS) of contractor owned and operated aircraft to United States Navy (USN) Fleet, Department of Defense (DoD), Non-DoD, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers for Air-to-Air refueling (AAR) of approved USN and other receiver aircraft capable of AAR.
NAWC-AD intends to award a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) and Cost contract to Omega Aerial Refueling Services, Inc. (OARS) for an additional 24 month ordering period from 7/26/2020 to 7/25/2022, made up of a base 12-month period and two 6-month option periods.
Please be advised that a competitive follow-on effort procurement is ongoing with a planned award in FY 20 2nd quarter.
At this time [ie right now - not necessarily still the case by 2020 Q2], OARS is the only AAR source which owns approved aircraft with Navy Interim Flight Clearances (IFC) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airworthiness Certificates that can continue performance during this ordering period of AAR missions without an unacceptable delay or interruption to the Fleet. This support is critical to provide AAR Services to USN Fleet and Test & Evaluation community.
This notice is for informational purposes only. The information provided herein is subject to change and in no way binds the Government.
All opinions are mine - based on 35 years served as a military aerospace officer.
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"Per Ardua Ad Astra" - "Through Adversity To The Stars"
A very apposite motto for those who trade successfully in the OTC market..
All posts are my opinion - trade at your own risk.
A very apposite motto for those who trade successfully in the OTC market..
All posts are my opinion - trade at your own risk.
