The Department of War has announced plans to launch a competition for a potential five-year, $1.4 billion multiple-award contract vehicle to provide research, development, test and evaluation engineering and technical support, or RETS, for the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering, or OUSW(R&E).
According to a presolicitation notice published Friday on SAM.gov, the proposed RETS indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract will be competed as a total small business set-aside program.
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What Is the Scope of the RETS IDIQ Contract?
According to a draft performance work statement, the RETS IDIQ contract will support classified and unclassified programs on multiple networks and security domains.
Support will span multiple mission and technology areas, including multidomain operational environments; cyber and information warfare; emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, autonomous systems, directed energy and electronic warfare; cybersecurity and counter anti-access/area denial capabilities; human performance and biomedical technologies.
The contract covers eight task areas: mission engineering, systems engineering, software engineering and developmental test and evaluation; prototyping, experimentation, demonstration and scaling; modeling and simulation; strategic operational analysis and technology assessment; science and technology research and assessment; data management and analysis; technology protection; and ad hoc surge support.
What Is the Objective of the Prototyping & Experiments Task Order?
According to a separate draft PWS, the prototyping and experiments task order aims to facilitate joint, multicomponent and multiclassification experimentation to accelerate innovation and modernization initiatives to compete with peer and near-peer adversaries. These activities are designed to validate and accelerate required capabilities, support rapid force modernization and inform budget decisions across DOW, among others.
Under this task order, the contractor will provide technical support aligned with OUSW(R&E) priorities to advance science and technology efforts and field advanced warfighting capabilities. Required services include mission, systems and software engineering, and developmental test and evaluation; modeling and simulation; and prototyping, experimentation, demonstration and scaling.
