Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Upgrade

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 OceanServer Technology Inc. for upgrade of an OceanServer Technology Iver2-580-Base-S Standard Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) for the Mississippi Laboratory (ML) Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. A Sources Sought Notice was posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website on April 28, 2014 and closed on May 8, 2014. No responses were received Justification for Sole Source The ML requires upgrade of an OceanServer Technology Iver2-580-Base-S Standard Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) with a Conductivity-Temperature (CT) sensor payload to the larger Iver2-580-Base-42 AUV. The upgrade will transfer the CT sensor from the Iver2-580-S to the Iver2-580-Base-42 AUV, including the existing tail upgrade to magnetic seal, new double o-ring shaft seals and new fins, a 6-beam Doppler Velocity Log (DVL), Iridium communications hardware, a handheld remote controller, exchange the current transportation case for a larger used Iver2 Transportation Case and Stand, and a L3 Klein UUV-3500 Bathymetric & Side Scan Sonar. The L3 Klein UUV-3500 is a demonstration model with large transducers will provide bathymetry and side scan sonar capability, and includes a Klein Motion Sensor. Iver2 AUV: The Iver2-580-Base-S AUV has a 32-inch tube with 10-inch Forward Payload Space and is 5.8 inches in diameter. The Iver-2-580-Base-42 AUV has a 42-inch tube with 22-inch Forward Payload Space and is 5.8 inches in diameter. The upgraded Iver2 will provide the capability for habitat mapping operations concurrent with biological surveys at a tremendous savings in ship time costs. The Iver2 is small, can be deployed by hand during small-boat surveys. Other AUVs come at a price that exceeds $500,000 (depending on configuration) and require significantly more support than the Iver2 in terms of personnel and ancillary equipment. OceanServer Technology is the original manufacturer of the Iver2 AUV and is the sole vendor that can perform the upgrade.