Notice of Sole Source Award: JBTDS

Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG), Edgewood Division, along with Capability Program Executive for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Sensors (CPE-CBRND) has awarded a sole-source, Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract to Chemring Sensors and Electronic Systems, Inc. (CSES) for the Full Rate Production (FRP) of the Joint Biological Tactical Detection System (JBTDS). The contract has a 36-month ordering period.

The JBTDS provides the Joint Forces with a mission-critical capability for sustained operations in a CBRN environment as well as force protection in peacetime and contingency operations. JBTDS is the only militarized, tactical, lightweight biological surveillance system designed specifically for rapid detection, collection, identification and warning of Biological Warfare agents. The system fills a validated Joint Requirement for tactical level biological detection interoperable across Services, highly mobile and sustainable under the constraints of modern force structure. The JBTDS system is a lightweight, man-portable, battery- operable system designed to provide detection, collection and identification of airborne biological warfare agents. The system’s modular architecture Detector/ Collector (D/C), Identifier and Data Station (DS) enable flexible, task-organized deployment across multiple mission sets. The FRP scope encompasses production, quality assurance, testing, configuration management, logistics support and delivery of the production-representative Technical Data Package (TDP).

This action represents the logical follow-on to contract W911QY-15-C-0035, under which CSES executed the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) and Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) phases. The FRP contract is required to ensure transition from LRIP to sustained production and fielding.

Sole Source Justification (Non-Competitive Award): In accordance with FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii)(A) (Only One Responsible Source: follow-on production of a major system/highly specialized equipment), this action was not awarded competitively. CSES is the only source capable of executing all components of the contract.

The redacted Justification and Approval (J&A) will be posted to SAM.gov in accordance with RFO requirements.