Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier Repair

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Eastern Region Acquisitions Division-Kansas City office intends to award, on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), with DB Control, 1120 Auburn Street, Fremont, CA, for repair of a G-IV Aircraft Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA) for the Aircraft Operations Center at MacDill AFB, FL. The TWTA's are installed on the high altitude research aircraft as an integral part of the Tail Doppler radar (TDR). The TDR is a research tool used for hurricane surveillance and research by the National Weather service and Hurricane Research Division. A Sources Sought notice was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website on October 2, 2015 and closed on October 7, 2015. No responses were received. Sole Source Justification DB Control fabricates TWTA's for various aspects for laboratory and airborne work. DB Control holds copyrights and patents for the design and fabrication of the TWTA's installed on the G-IV aircraft. The TWTA schematic is proprietary and needed for troubleshooting of the amplifier. DB Control possesses specialized test equipment to troubleshoot and repair these units. DB Control remains the sole owner of all intellectual property of all DB control products and processes. Replacement costs for a complete system would be well in excess of $200,000.00. This is NOAA's only spare and failure to repair it could jeopardize NOAA's research and surveillance abilities during hurricane season.