FORT MONMOUTH, N.J., 22 Nov. 2005. Army leaders are looking for bids to fulfill a $5 billion communications contract called World-Wide Satellite Systems (WWSS).
The winner will provide services to both military and civilian federal agencies that need commercial satellite terminals.
Army officials expect the WWSS solicitation to be released to industry in the first quarter of fiscal year 2006, and awarded by the third quarter.
This comprehensive indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract will have a ceiling value of $5 billion over a term of five years.
The WWSS contract will serve a partnership of the Project Manager, Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems (PM DCATS) and the Project Manager, Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (PM WIN-T).
The contract calls for six commercial satellite terminal types:
* Combat Support Service Very Small Aperture Terminals (CSS VSATs),
* fixed-station satellite terminals,
* flyaway VSATs,
* military-certified satellite terminals,
* prime mover/trailer-mounted satellite terminals, and
* deployable satellite earth terminals.
Depending on user requirements, these satellite terminals may be required to operate on any military or commercial satellite in the C, Ku, X and Ka bands.
"We plan to award the WWSS contract to up to six prime contractors," said Kevin Carroll, the U.S. Army's Program Executive Officer, Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS). "Each prime contractor will be required to provide complete turn-key solutions, including hardware, software, support services and data."
The government intends to award at least two to small businesses that meet the full requirements of the contract, assuming a small business is within the competitive range, according to Scott Mathews, project leader for the WWSS Project Office of PM DCATS.
For more information about the World-Wide Satellite Systems contract, check the Industry Interactive Business Opportunities Page (IBOP) for Fort Monmouth at https://abop.monmouth.army.mil/ or contact Scott Mathews at [email protected] or by phone at (732) 532-2339.
