The usual deluge of contract awards came with the end of the Pentagon’s fiscal year.
The old year ended Sunday, Sept. 30. As a result, the preceding Friday, Sept. 28, was a very busy day for contracts people, judging by the wave of year-end announcements from the Defense Department.
It even looks as though some contracting officers worked Saturday.
Among the contracts awarded in the year-end rush:
Sept. 29: The U.S. Navy awarded CDM Constructors Inc. of Carlsbad a three-year, $49.1 million contract to design and build a potable water treatment and blending facility at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. In addition, the Navy may exercise options that could make the deal worth as much as $55.5 million. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest in San Diego awarded the deal. There were three bidders.
Sept. 29: The HCG-JCG Joint Venture of Escondido is among five small businesses that may compete for general construction projects at U.S. Navy facilities in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. The five winning bidders will split a pie of $249 million. Separately, Federal Construction Group Inc. of San Diego is among six small businesses that have been chosen to compete for $95 million worth of construction projects at the 100-square-mile U.S. Navy base in Crane, Indiana, home of Naval Surface Warfare Center. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic in Norfolk, Virginia, awarded the five-year deals, receiving 19 bids on both. The winning bidders now go on to compete for task orders under the contracts.
Sept. 28: The U.S. Army awarded a five-year, $441.6 million contract to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. for technical services related to the Army’s Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system. The propeller-driven, remotely piloted vehicle is a variant of GA’s original Predator aircraft. The Army solicited bids on the internet and Poway-based GA-ASI was the sole bidder. The U.S. Army Contracting Command of Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, awarded the deal.
Sept. 28: Leidos Inc. received a $57.8 million U.S. Navy task order to perform work at the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego. Under the five-year deal, Leidos will examine the effects of deployments and career experiences on the overall physical and mental health of service members and their families. The Naval Medical Logistics Command of Fort Detrick, Maryland awarded the deal. Work will last through September 2023. The award is a task order under a previously awarded U.S. General Services Administration contract.
Based in Reston, Virginia, Leidos has its roots in the San Diego company called Science Applications International Corp. or SAIC. In 2009, the company moved to the Washington, D.C., metro area and, in 2013, split into two companies named Leidos and SAIC.
Sept. 28: The U.S. Army awarded Rancho Bernardo-based Daylight Defense a four-year, $16.3 million deal to design, develop, build, integrate and test an optical transceiver demonstration system. One bid was solicited and one was received. Some $6.6 million in R&D funding from 2018 was applied to the contract. The U.S. Army Contracting Command of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, awarded the deal.
Sept. 28: The U.S. Navy awarded Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) a four-year deal for the Standard Missile 6, including spares. San Diego has a small, supporting role in the contract: 1 percent of the work will be performed here, yet that work will be worth millions. The bulk of the deal — worth $395.5 million in all — will be split among East Camden, Arkansas; Tucson, Arizona; and Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. The contract could balloon to $579.7 million if the Navy exercises all of its options. The Naval Sea Systems Command is the buyer.
The ship-launched SM-6 missile is a surface-to-air weapon that is 21 feet long and weighs 3,300 pounds. It is able to hit targets over the horizon, as well as satellites. The Navy is obligating some $484 million in weapons procurement funding for 2017 and 2018.
