Posted on

M978A4 HEMTT Fuel Pumps, Old Fuel Pump Failures, Gorman Rupp Contracts

Gorman-Rupp,Hydraulic Pump,NSN 4320-01-618-6603, 03H14A-HYD/S1
Gorman Rupp Hydraulic Pump Unit NSN 4320-01-618-6603 Part Number 03H14A-HYD/S1

The Defense Logistics Agency awarded the Gorman-Rupp Company an IDIQ contract for the manufacture of Hydraulic Pump Units for the HEMTT vehicles with a maximum potential contract value of $7,245,900.00.  The M978A4 HEMTT Hydraulic Pump Replacement NSN The previous supplier of the old M978A4 HEMTT fuel pump assembly was Coordinated Defense Supply Systems.

Although the DOD contract announcement released yesterday did not mention any specifics to what they are purchasing, we performed some quick research in BidLink to see what we could find.

A quick look at Government contracts Gorman-Rupp was winning turned up some interesting results.  There was a contract awarded in 2016 (Gorman-Rupp CAGE code 25567) for a 5 Year IDIQ contract to manufacture Hydraulic Fuel Pump Units (NSN 4320-01-618-6603) for use on the HEMTT M978A4 Vehicle.

A recent solicitation posted in BidLink (also in FedBizOpps FBO.gov) showed on open government solicitation from DLA Land Warren for a 5 Year IDIQ contract on “Hydraulic Pump Units” from Gorman-Rupp NSN 4320-01-618-6603 used on HEMTT vehicles.

HEMTT Fuel Pump Problems

A few years back there were problems with the fuel pump failing.  The problem was the old pump did not meet build specifications, underwent internal component changes without going through proper ECP processes  ended up having a high catastrophic failure rate due to a defective bearing.  Since the fuel pump is used in  HEMTT tanker fueling operations, it could no longer deliver fuel to the aircraft or vehicles it was providing.

The old M978A4 HEMTT fuel pump assembly NSN was 4320-01-579-1044, part number 03H14A-HYD.  Coordinated Defense Supply Systems (CAGE code 4DEY3) distributor of parts supplied this NSN under contract SPRDL1-11-C-0056.

Today the M978A4 HEMTT Hydraulic Pump replacement NSN is 4320-01-618-6603.  Gorman-Rupp owns the intellectual property of the pump and Oshkosh Defense is the OEM of the HEMMT M978A4.

Contract Number: SPRDL1-20-D-0006
Contract Type: indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ)
Contract Award date: October 10, 2019
Contract Awarded to: Gorman-Rupp Company, stock symbol GRC
Contract CAGE code: 25567
Contracting Office: DLA Land Warren
Depot Level Reparable (DLR)
Procurement operations
Warren, MI 48397-5000

To see further details, contracts, solicitations or perform any of your own research set up a free trial at www.bidlink.net and simply put the NSN to start.

Posted on

Navy contract to Raytheon for APG-79 AESA Radar System Spares

APG-79, Active Electronically Scanned Array,AESA
APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar System

Today October 9, 2019 the Navy awarded Raytheon Company (RTN), $11,954,744.00 to procure spare parts in support of APG-79 radar system on the F/A-18 aircraft.

The APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar System is used on the F/A-18 Super Hornet.  Today’s award – delivery order number N00383-20-F-UX00 was placed against Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) N00383-19-G-UX01.

Work will be performed by Raytheon in its factory in Forest, Mississippi which was expanded in 2015.  Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support is the contracting Activity.

BidLink is an on-line tool to quickly find government contract opportunities, review past contract awards, procurement history and a market research tool.  Sign up now for a free trial at www.bidlink.net

 

Posted on

DOD Needs Rechargeable Batteries for AN/PRC-148 Radio; Sales Potential Over $120,000

PRC-148 battery, Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Batteries
AN/PRC-148 Radio Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery (MBITR battery) NSN 6140-01-487-1153 (Photo: Marine Corps)

The DLA Land and Maritime Batteries & Tires Division is currently looking for suppliers of 12 Volt rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries.  Several government solicitations have been posted in the past few months for the item with NSN 6140-01-642-6920.

This current open solicitation is for Two hundred forty two (242) 12-volt rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries used on the hand carried portable Thales A/N PRC-148 Radio.  This small rechargeable battery, which is about the size of your hand, is fairly expensive when compared to other Li-ion batteries used by the Department of Defense.

We reviewed the Thales PRC-148 Radio Rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery in a previous article.

You can find this solicitation and thousands of others in BidLink, simply put this NSN 6140-01-642-6920 in a Bid Search to see the details. Note that this solicitation closes Friday Oct. 11.

BidLink is an on-line tool to quickly find government contract opportunities, review past contract awards, procurement history and a market research tool.  Sign up now for a free trial at www.bidlink.net

Posted on

Thales A/N PRC-148 Radio and Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Batteries

AN/PRC-148 Radio, Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio,MBITR, Thales
AN/PRC-148 Radio, Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio (MBITR) manufactured by Thales (Photo US Military)

The AN/PRC-148 Radio is a hand carried Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio (MBITR) used by the U.S. Military and numerous countries around the globe.  Thales Defense & Security, Inc. (TDSI) a subsidiary of Thales Group is a French multinational company.  Thales originally produced the PRC-148 Radio for USSOCOM under the name Racal Communications, Inc.

The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) awarded the 1st production contract for MBITR radio to Thales.  One of the early contracts we found was posted on December 18, 2002 for production of the AN/PRC-148 Radio it was for 30,000 radios under contract number USZA22-97-D-0019 awarded to Thales, formerly known as Racal Communications, Inc. (RCI).  Thales has continued with production since then.

The AN/PRC-148 MBITR Radio, its batteries and accessories are big business due to the fact of how long they have been produced and used by so many countries.  Newer versions such as the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Enhanced MBITR (JEM) have been introduced.

Most military products evolve over time with continuous improvements resulting in new versions and upgrades to a single product.  Part of this improvement process is solicitations are posted to seek out new incumbents or alternate suppliers.  Recently there have been several open solicitations for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used with the MBITR AN/PRC-148 Radio.

AN/PRC-148 battery
AN/PRC-148 hand held radio battery expanded (photo US Military)

The AN/PRC-148 hand held Radio uses a few different types of batteries, one of the most expensive is a rechargeable lithium-Ion battery costing over $500.00 each.  Recent sales of both NSN 6140-01-487-1153 and 6140-01-642-6920 have been awarded to Thales Defense & Security, Inc.  NSN 6140-01-642-6920, Thales part number 1600842-1 is the more expensive of the two.  The Department of Defense orders both of these rechargeable lithium-Ion batteries on a regular basis.

Defense Study on cost of batteries used in Military hand held radios

In 2012 the Defense Standardization Program Office posted the results of a study that compared the cost of batteries used in hand held radios.  It showed the AN/PRC-148 MBITR battery was about 50% more costly than the AN/PRQ-7 Combat Survivor Evader Locater (CSEL) battery.

The AN/PRC-148 and AN/PRQ-7 rechargeable battery packs are very similar in function, size, and voltage.  Both the AN/PRC-148 and the AN/PRQ-7 use 6 lithium ion 18650 type batteries.

The AN/PRQ-7 battery is somewhat competitive whereas the AN/PRC-148 battery packs supplied by Thales are proprietary.  One main difference among the battery packs was the physical interface to the radios and chargers.

DOD Battery Sales

Selling Batteries to the Defense Department is great business as DOD uses many types of batteries, have short shelf lives and buy a lot of them.

You can do further research on these NSNs yourself by creating a free trial at www.bidlink.net.

BidLink is an on-line tool to quickly find government contract opportunities, review past contract awards, procurement history and a market research tool.  Sign up now for a free trial at www.bidlink.net

 

Posted on

F-16 Wiring Harnesses $150,000.00, DOD Electrical Components, Hill AFB

Electrical Wiring Harness,F16
Electrical Wiring Harness (Photo credit Jeff Walston)

The Department of Defense (DOD) buys a lot of Electrical components for a variety of equipment, vehicles and aircraft.  There are many types of electrical components DOD buys, today we will briefly review one type, Wiring Harnesses.

If your company wants to start selling to the Defense Department and has some manufacturing capabilities, wiring harnesses are one of the items you should consider.  Over the past 20 years at BidLink our customers have asked questions like “How can I start selling to the Department of Defense?” One of the answers is “Start by going after simple items your company can manufacture”.

A wiring harness is a fairly simple item, basically consisting of a set of single conductor electrical wires bundled together (tied together with things like lacing string or cable ties) with wire terminations such as connectors or terminals at the ends.  The entire assembly is known as a “wiring harness” and is not the same as a cable assembly, so when searching for government solicitations use the word wiring harness.

Building wiring harnesses is one of the many items almost any company can produce.  You typically only need a few hand tools such as a wire crimping tool, wire cutter and strippers and possibly a soldering iron.  If you can read a drawing, buy a few parts such as wire, connectors and cable ties, you can probably manufacture a wiring harness.

Government contracts for wiring harnesses are plentiful as the DOD posts solicitations for them every day.  One of the open solicitations I found in BidLink is for 50 wiring harnesses used on the single seat F-16 Fighting Falcon (F-16C) Block 50 initially produced in the 1990’s.

F-16 Block 50,F-16C,Fighting Falcon
Single seat F-16C Fighting Falcon production block 50 (Photo credit Robert Barnett)

The NSN for this open government solicitation is 6150-01-460-5246.  The estimated contract value for this solicitation is over $150,000.00.  The solicitation number is SPE4A6-19-T-79A1 and is a small business set-aside with drawings available for any company wishing to manufacture this item.

DLA Aviation ASC Commodities Division is the procuring agency.  The Aviation Supply Chain (ASC) Commodities Division is located in Richmond Virginia.  The Contractors quote will include a price for 50 units plus the cost of producing one First Article to be sent in for government testing at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.

The Department of Defense awards 1000’s of contracts to companies every day for items like this, Is your company ready to start selling to DOD?

You can find this solicitation and 1000s’ of others in BidLink, simply put this NSN or solicitation in Bid Search to see the details.  BidLink is an on-line tool to quickly find government contract opportunities, review past contract awards, procurement history and a market research tool.  Sign up now for a free trial at www.bidlink.net

Posted on

Open DOD Solicitation for 9,415 Roadwheels for M113 APC

M113, M113 Armored Personnel Carrier Vehicle, solid rubber road wheels
M113 Armored Personnel Carrier Vehicle solid rubber road wheels being greased.
(Photo credit: Andres Chandler)

Preventive maintenance, repair and overhaul of military vehicles require a constant flow of parts and equipment. The Department of Defense (DoD) is always interested in new manufacturers and suppliers for this material.

While reviewing open government solicitations in BidLink.net we decided to look a little deeper into a current requirement for 9,415 solid rubber roadwheels for the M-113 series Armored Personnel Carrier Vehicle. The solicitation, SPRDL1-19-R-0351, originates from DLA TACOM – Warren, MI AND drawings are available for any company to review.

The NSN for this item is 2530-01-139-3748.  Past competition for the roadwheels was light.  The current supplier is an Israeli company, under contract number SPRDL1-18-C-0269, which is worth over one million dollars.

BAE Systems is the current prime contractor of the M113.

M113, M113 Armored Personnel Carrier
M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier (Photo credit Jason McCree)

“The M113 is part of the largest family of tracked vehicles in the world and has more than 40 variants. It can transport more than 12 troops and a driver, and can perform long-distance travel over rough terrain, while also capable of high-speed operation on roads and highways.” – Redstone Arsenal

To review the details of this solicitation and find other new government business opportunities, enter solicitation number SPRDL1-19-R-0351 in your BidLink.net search.

BidLink.net is an online tool for finding government solicitations and  government contract data.  BidLink has been gathering government contracting, solicitation and technical data for the past twenty years.  Signup now for a free trial.

Posted on

Autumn, Department of Defense, FY2020 Budget

apples, apple tree
Apple Picking the Beginning of Fall

The 2019 Autumn season for the United States of America and countries in the Northern Hemisphere begins on September 23rd.   Simply hearing the phrase “Autumn or Fall Season” immediately brings to mind various ends and beginnings.  Here in the Northeast for me it’s Fall Foliage, drinking hot apple cider after picking apples and new beginnings.

The U.S. Federal Government, Department of Defense begins its new fiscal year in Autumn.  Starting October 1st and ending September 30th.

On September 12, 2019 the Senate Committee on Appropriations approved its FY2020 Department of Defense Appropriations Act.  “The Department of Defense funding bill includes $694.9 billion which is an increase of $20.5 billion above the FY2019 enacted level.”

The Department of Defense plans on spending this money in Fiscal Year 2020. Is your company interested in getting some of it?

BidLink.Net is an online tool for finding Department of Defense business as well providing past government contract data.  BidLink has been gathering government contract and solicitation data for the past twenty years.  Signup Now for a free trial.

Posted on

DOD Hubzone Solicitation for Aerial Delivery Cargo Slings

Supplies Rigged, Cargo Sling, Low-Velocity Airdrop
Supplies Rigged with a Cargo Sling, Ready for a Low-Velocity Airdrop out of an Aircraft

This government solicitation is for the manufacturing of Aerial deliver cargo slings.  This specific sling in this solicitation is equipment used by the Special Forces air operation Seal Team.  Aerial deliver cargo slings are used to secure cargo to parachutes for airdrop missions.

A22 Cargo Bag, Cargo Sling
A22 Cargo Bag with Green Sling

This solicitation SPE4A7-19-T-592R, a Hubzone Small Business Set-Aside is for NSN 1670-01-008-7755. The official name of this item is Sling, Cargo, Aerial Delivery.  This simple item is a great government business opportunity for any small business.  This specific solicitation is looking for companies located in a Hubzone areas.  This NSN has a complete set of drawings available for any company to review.  This Request For Quote is from the contracting office: DLA Aviation – Aviation Supply Chain (ASC) Supplier operations – AE and AF division.

The new manufacturer who wins this government contract is to include their costs to produce a First Article for Government testing and one unit for Production lot testing.  Current competition for this item is very low. The estimated total contract award is over $35,000.00

The winning contractor will provide the First Article to the Army – Aerial Delivery Engineering Support Team in Natick Massachusetts.

There are 1000s of government bid opportunities posted every day.  The government and DOD are constantly looking for new sources and manufacturers of the millions of products they purchase.

Cargo Slings are one of many items which are fairly simple in nature that DOD buys.  For this one if you can buy webbing material and sew it together you could become a new government contractor.

To see this solicitation or any other solicitations search on the NSN in BidLink.

BidLink.Net is an online tool for finding government solicitations as well as past government contract data.  BidLink has been gathering government contract and solicitation data for the past twenty years.  Signup Now for a free trial.

Posted on

Small Business Set-Aside for Legacy AN/TPS-43 Radar System Parts

The AN/TPS-43 air-transportable Radar Set (US Air Force photo)

The Department of Defense is currently seeking suppliers for a waveguide assembly originally used on the AN/TPS-43 Radar, which dates to the early 1960s.  Although this request was originally posted last April and subsequently removed, it has been re-opened for quantity 27 waveguide assemblies NSN 5985-00-563-0865.

NSN 5985-00-563-0865 crosses to four approved part numbers from: Cobham, Waveline, Northrop Grumman, and Atlantic Microwave.  Of note, the current requirement is a Small Business Set-Aside; which means that three of the four companies listed cannot bid directly as they are registered large businesses.   Suppliers and distributors of electronic products and /or microwave components may be interested in taking a look at this solicitation.

To review this open government solicitation, and all others, search on NSN 5985-00-563-0865 in BidLink.net’s bid search.

BidLink.Net is an online tool for finding government solicitations as well as past government contract data.  BidLink has been gathering government contract and solicitation data for the past twenty years.  Signup Now for a free trial.

Posted on

Eaton Pressure Switches used on Helicopter Landing System; Open Solicitations

DLA Land and Maritime currently has a need for a pressure switch, NSN 5930-01-285-9932.  This pressure switch currently listed under part number 6607P9-42 by Eaton Aerospace.  This pressure switch is part of the Recovery assist, secure and traverse (RAST) system, Helicopter Landing System.  It is one of 4 pressure switches that system uses. These are expensive switches costing over $1000.00 each.  There is currently an open solicitation for 14 of these switches and according to BidLink procurement history DLA Land and Maritime posts solicitations for this NSN a few times per year.

This NSN is a component part of several different Rapid Securing Devices.  The major program this part belongs to is the Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE).  The Helicopter Landing System (HLS) is a sub-program under the category Recovery.  The Helicopter Landing System is basically a devise that secures and clamps the helicopter to the flight deck.

To see this open government solicitation or any other simply search on the CAGE code 02750 (Eaton) or the NSN 5930-01-285-9932 in bid search.

BidLink.Net is an online tool for finding government solicitations as well as past government contract data.  BidLink has been gathering government contract and solicitation data for the past twenty years.