MSSR Dual Channel Parrot Single Source

Active

Contract Opportunity

Title of Procurement

The acquisition of DUAL CHANNEL PARROT, in support of the following Federal Aviation (FAA) system:

- Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR) Interrogator

IFS# 100037583, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Part Number 32164-G35-F02-ES0, Beel Technologies Inc.

Nature of Procurement Action

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) considers it necessary to acquire MSSR Dual Channel Parrot units. The acquisition source is Beel Technologies Inc. under single source authority.

Description of Supplies/Services

The FAA has a continuing requirement to support a quantity of 72 commissioned MSSR Interrogators. Each MSSR is collocated with Airport Surveillance Radar model 11 (ASR-11) radar. Both systems are integrated to provide primary and secondary radar information to terminal air traffic control sites.

The Dual Channel Parrot replicates aircraft transponders and it is used for confidence checking of the MSSR system. This Single Source Justification is for acquisition of MSSR Dual Channel Parrots.

Authority

The FAA proposes to procure Dual Channel Parrots on a single source basis by AMS policy section 3.2.2.4, Single-Source-Selection, in that the acquisition allows for standardization (previous FAA contracts allowed the installation of Beel Dual Channel Parrots in FAA and Alaska radar sites, while current FAA contract will allow the installation of Army radar sites), and Beel Technologies Inc. is the only source capable of meeting the FAA requirement within the time required, allowing the Government to start receiving new parrots just a few of months after contract award, which is necessary and important to support the FAA’s mission.

Rationale Supporting Use of a Single Source

The legacy MSSR Dual Channel Parrots were originally fielded in the mid-2000s. The equipment was designed by Raytheon and purchased under contract F19628-96-D-0038. As of 2018, Raytheon stated that it cannot manufacture new legacy MSSR Dual Channel Parrot due to obsolescence. In addition, even though the legacy units are included in Raytheon Repair contract 6973GH-24-D-00031, Raytheon can only provide limited repair services. Any units shipped to Raytheon for repairs are usually declared Beyond Economical Repair (BER) and returned to the FAALC in repairable status (an example is serial number G020034; GIAI number 060297099999999999999998891324; RMA number 300021084; Delivery Order 6973GH-20-F-00346P00003, which was declared BER by Raytheon). Finally, Raytheon stopped providing replacement price for the legacy MSSR Dual Channel Parrot in the 2019 Evaluation-Repair-Replace Schedule.

The FAA does not have the technical knowledge and facilities required to manufacture legacy MSSR Dual Channel Parrots. The FAA does not have access or rights to the design data (which is proprietary to Raytheon) to provide to other vendors to establish competition for this acquisition.

The legacy MSSR Dual Channel Parrots are repaired by the FAALC. During the June 2022 MSSR Program Management Review (PMR), the Logistics Center identified the legacy MSSR Dual Channel Parrots as Critical Item with Immediate Supportability issues.

The MSSR Dual Channel Parrot is part of the Program Office ASR-11 Sustainment 3 initiative. The approved Implementation Strategy and Planning Document (ISPD) version 1.2 (03/31/2022) states:

• “LRU Description – Acts as a transponder located externally to the ground station site, providing a target at a fixed location for continual verification of range and azimuth accuracy.


• Shortfall – The PARROT cannot be purchased from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Serviceable inventory is zero (0), with nine (9) backorders. EOS will be reached as early as September 2022.


• Scope – The investment initiative solution will entail a procurement of COTS HW and is not expected to include any SW modifications to integrate the COTS HW and is not expected to include any SW modifications to integrate the COTS HW into the ASR-11 system. FAA Logistics Center (FAALC) depot inventory levels will be replenished to sustain this LRU until Sustainment 4, in 2026.”

The ASR-11 Program Office has provided funding for the acquisition of a quantity of 10 MSSR Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Dual Channel Parrots via Service Order (SO) AJM-25-001-24360. In addition, the National Airspace System (NAS) Defense liaison (AJW-B720) has established SO funding AJW-25-001-25030 for the acquisition of 6 units to support the Alaska National Airspace System (NAS). This brings the total quantity of 16 units to be acquired during the base year of the contract.

The FAA will continue to use the ASR-11/MSSR collocated systems to support Air Traffic Controller Operations through the year 2029 and beyond. The FAA is planning the acquisition of 41 Dual Channel Parrots under the option year 1 of the contract. This will satisfy the FAA’s requirement for MSSR Dual Channel Parrot operations in a long-term basis.

Market Analysis

A Market Survey was released on sam.gov under the Notice ID 6973GH-25-S-Parrot and Name MSSR Dual Channel Parrot (original published date 3/19/2025 and original response date 4/2/2025). No responses were received from industry.

Contract 6973GH-23-D-00086 was awarded to Beel Technologies Inc. on 6/1/2023. This contract allowed for acquisition of a total of 20 (base year) and 32 (option year 1) Dual Channel Parrots.

Other Facts Supporting Use of Single Source

The FAA Logistics Center awarded DTFAAC-13-P-04283 to Beel Technologies Inc. for the purchase of 3 Dual Channel Parrots. The 3 units were funded via SO AJW-13-001-25637 and delivered to support the Alaska NAS.

The FAA Logistics Center awarded 6973GH-21-P-00599 to Beel Technologies Inc. for the purchase of 1 Dual Channel Parrot. This unit was released to Second Level Engineering (AJW-147). The purpose of the acquisition was for AJW-147 to test the Beel product in an MSSR radar environment. The testing occurred in the following location: Airport Radar Systems Building 217, Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, Oklahoma City, OK.

Beel Technologies Inc. has been building COTS parrots for many years and has provided ready and proven technologies to Governments around the world and industry (including companies that fabricate radar equipment). The acquisition of COTS equipment from Beel Technologies Inc. would allow the FAALC to comply with the approved ISPD and Program Office ASR-11 Sustainment 3 initiative.

Additionally, the acquisition of Dual Channel Parrots from Beel Technologies Inc. will allow the FAA to continue to mitigate Immediate/Critical Supportability Issues as reported in quarterly PMRs. The risk flag for the legacy item is “Insufficient spares in inventory to support the field and obsolescence”.

Legacy MSSR Dual Channel Parrot (IFS# 015344111):

• Annual demand = 13


• Serviceable stock = 5 Decommissioned equipment that became available with Beel unit installations


• Repairable stock = 13 Decommissioned equipment that became available with Beel unit installations

The acquisition of Dual Channel Parrots is a priority for the Agency. Delaying the acquisition would negatively impact the degraded FAALC support posture. Beel Technologies Inc. possesses the expertise, decades of market penetration, and the available product to support the current requirement. There is no other known supplier of parrots (per Market Survey Response and previous FAA acquisition contracts) that can satisfy the current requirement.

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