AH-64 CONUS and OCONUS TRANSITION TRAINING SUPPORT

                                                         Notice of Intent to Award Sole Source Procurement

                                                                                            FOR

                                              AH-64 CONUS and OCONUS TRANSITION TRAINING SUPPORT

The Government hereby submits a notice of intent to award a sole source award to Digiflight Incorporated for the Apache AH-64E V6 Transition Training Support effort.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The Apache Program Management Office has a requirement to provide Apache Transition Training Support to USG and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers in support of domestic and foreign warfighters to evolve the pilot, maintainer, and support personnel to a proficient status on the AH-64E V6 variant.

The purpose of this requirement is for the contractor to qualify/train operators, maintainers, Maintenance Test Pilots (MTPs), support personnel, and other authorized personnel as necessary in the transition of operations to effectively employ the AH-64E V6 (and any successor AH-64 version) configuration. AR 95-1 directs that the execution of AH64E V6 training requires that contractors operate using a USAACE-Approved Program of Instruction (POI) or Training Support Plan (TSP). AR 95-20 establishes requirements for flight and ground operations involving contracted work on an aircraft, as well as procedures to be followed by Government Flight Representatives (GFRs).  AR 95-20 requires Contractors to have approved Flight Operating Procedures (FOPs). GFRs review and approve Contractors FOPs.  Contractors are not allowed to start any work or training before getting approved FOPs. Training is conducted with the formality as if at Ft. Novosel/Joint Base Langley Eustis (JBLE). Training is modified based on Mission Equipment Package (MEP), previous training and special requests from the Foreign Partner.

ACQUISITION APPROACH: The Government intends to award a sole source award to Digiflight Incorporated.  This contract will be issued on a sole source basis in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 6.302-1, “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.”

The Government’s position is that due to Digiflight being the U.S. Army’s sole Apache AH-64E V6 transition training (New Equipment Training) prime contractor any other contractor awarded this effort would be required to utilize Digiflight as a subcontractor.  This is largely due to the unique nature of this requirement and in order to comply with AR 95-1 and AR 95-20 guidance, the capability to employ USAACE-approved POIs, FOPs, and to provide qualified unit trainers, it must be ensured that AH64E V6 specific approved POIs, FOPs, and Unit Trainers are provided within the contract.  Utilizing a prime contractor other than Digiflight would result in avoidable cost increases and substantial duplication of cost to the Government not expected to be recovered through competition.

ANTICIPATED PRODUCT SERVICE CODE: R499 – Support – Professional: Other

ANTICIPATED NAICS CODE: 611512 – Flight Training

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:  5 years

ESTIMATED DOLLAR VALUE: $80M

NOTICE: This notice of intent to award sole source is being provided to verify that no other sources can meet this requirement given only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements given the proprietary technical requirements, expedited timeline and substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition. Contractors are advised that a determination by the Government not to compete this effort based on any responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government IAW FAR Part 6.302-1.

DISCLAIMER: This notice does not constitute an invitation for bids or a Request for Proposal (RFP) and is not a commitment by the U.S. Government to procure the subject products/services. No funds are available to pay for preparation of responses to this notification. The Government will use any information received by the closing date of this notice to determine whether other sources are available and capable to satisfy this requirement.