Consolidated Tower and Surveillance Equipment (CTSE)

The purpose of this synopsis is to fulfill the requirements of FAR 5.2, Synopsis of Proposed Contract Actions, relating to the acquisition of supplies and services.  This is not a solicitation.

Pursuant to FAR 5.207 Preparation and transmittal of synopses:

(a) Content. Each synopsis transmitted to the GPE must address the following data elements, as applicable:

(1) Action Code: P

(2) Date: 11/21/2022

(3) Year:  2022

(4) Contracting Office ZIP Code:  20229

(5) Product or Service Code: Y1BG

(6) Contracting Office Address:

              1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Ste. 1555N

Mailstop 1102

Washington, DC 20229-1102

(7) Subject:  Integrated Surveillance Towers (IST) Consolidated Tower & Surveillance Equipment (CTSE) solicitation

(8) Proposed Solicitation Number:  70B02C22R00000004 

(9) Closing Response Date: Not Applicable

(10) Contact Point or Contracting Officer:  Kimberly L. Cooper - CTSE@cbp.dhs.gov

(11) Contract Award and Solicitation Number:  Not Applicable.

(12) Contract Award Dollar Amount:  Not Applicable.

(13) Line Item Number:  Not Applicable.

(14) Contract Award Date:  Not Applicable.

(15) Contractor:  Not Applicable.

(16) Description. General format for "Description." Prepare a clear and concise description of the supplies or services that is not unnecessarily restrictive of competition and will allow a prospective offeror to make an informed business judgment as to whether a copy of the solicitation should be requested including the following, as appropriate:

(1) National Stock Number (NSN) if assigned:  Not Applicable.

(2) Specification and whether an offeror, its product, or service must meet a qualification requirement in order to be eligible for award, and identification of the office from which additional information about the qualification requirement may be obtained (see subpart 9.2): The IST Program will use the CTSE IDIQ contracts to acquire medium and long-range surveillance towers.  These surveillance towers will be comprised of multiple subsystems that allow U.S. Border Patrol agents to continuously detect, identify, classify, and track Items of Interest (IoI) 24 hours a day, seven days a week within each tower system’s area of coverage under typical operating conditions found along the southern and northern borders.  Each CTSE surveillance tower will be customized to the threat and operational/ environmental conditions of the Border Patrol Station Area of Responsibility (AoR) in which they will be deployed.  CTSE consists of the following subsystems: Tower subsystem, Power subsystem, Instrumentation subsystem, and Communications subsystem.   The IST Program will acquire approximately 277 new IST towers in 53 separate USBP AoRs and upgrade approximately 191 legacy surveillance towers in 31 separate AoRs.  

(3) Manufacturer, including part number, drawing number, etc: Not Applicable.

(4) Size, dimensions, or other form, fit or functional description: Not Applicable.

(5) Predominant material of manufacture: Not Applicable.

(6) Quantity, including any options for additional quantities: Not Applicable. 

(7) Unit of issue: Not Applicable.

(8) Destination information:  Not Applicable.

(9) Delivery schedule:  Not Applicable.

(10) Duration of the contract period:

Base Period – 18 months

Option Period 1 – 3.5 years

Option Period 2 – 5 years

Option Period 3 – 2 years

Option Period 4 – 2 years

Total Potential Period of Performance – 14 years

(11) Sustainable acquisition requirements (or a description of high-performance sustainable building practices required, if for design, construction, renovation, repair, or deconstruction) (see parts 23 or 36):  Systems will need to be self-powered (e.g., solar)

(12) For a proposed contract action in an amount estimated to be greater than $25,000 but not greater than the simplified acquisition threshold, enter- Not Applicable.

(13) For Architect-Engineer projects and other projects for which the product or service codes are insufficient, provide brief details with respect to: location, scope of services required, cost range and limitations, type of contract, estimated starting and completion dates, and any significant evaluation factors: Not Applicable.

(14) One or more of the items under this acquisition is subject to the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and Free Trade Agreements.

(15) In the case of noncompetitive contract actions (including those that do not exceed the simplified acquisition threshold), identify the intended source and insert a statement of the reason justifying the lack of competition: Not Applicable.

(16)

(i) All responsible sources may submit a bid, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency.

(ii) When using the sole source authority at 6.302-1, insert a statement that all responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency.  Not Applicable.

(17) If solicitations synopsized through the GPE will not be made available through the GPE, provide information on how to obtain the solicitation: Not Applicable.

(18) If the solicitation will be made available to interested parties through electronic data interchange, provide any information necessary to obtain and respond to the solicitation electronically. Not Applicable.

(19) If the technical data required to respond to the solicitation will not be furnished as part of such solicitation, identify the source in the Government, such as https://www.sam.gov, from which the technical data may be obtained. Not Applicable.

(17) Place of Contract Performance.  United States Southern and Northern Borders.

(18) Set-aside Status.  Not Applicable.

UPDATES:

1.  11/30/2022 - APPROVAL OF CONSOLIDATION DETERMINATIONS AND FINDINGS (D&F) – In accordance with FAR 7.107-2 Consolidation, the Department of Homeland Security has determined a consolidation of Integrated Fixed Towers (IFT) contract requirements and Remote Video Surveillance System Upgrade (RVSS-U) contract requirements into one set of requirements for the Consolidated Tower and Surveillance Equipment (CTSE) contract is necessary and justified.  The approved determination that consolidation is necessary and justified is attached to this notice.

2.  11/30/2022 - UPDATE ON RELEASE OF THE CTSE SOLICITATION – The Government intends to release the CTSE solicitation no later than Friday, December 9, 2022, assuming all approvals necessary for release are granted.  This would allow for the Phase 1, Volume I - Prior Experience submission to be made by Friday, December 23, 2022.  The Phase 1 evaluation would be completed, and Advisory Down-select Notifications tentatively made by the end of January 2023.  However, if the CTSE Solicitation is not approved for release by December 9th, the CTSE RFP will be released in early January 2023, following the Holidays.  Another notice will be released by December 9, 2022, notifying industry if the Solicitation is not approved for release by that date.