Customs and Border Protection plans to recompete a support contract sooner than planned for an aerostat-based surveillance program, saying concerns during the initial year of the current contract are “unresolved.”
Until a competitive follow-on contract is awarded, CBP said it provided a one-year contract bridge for continued support of the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) program. The name of the contractor and value of the award were redacted in the June 15 award notice.
CBP in early 2020 awarded Peraton a potential five-year $277.5 million contract to provide operations and integrated logistics support for the TARS, which provides security along portions of the U.S. border with Mexico, the Florida Straits and a portion of the Caribbean to counter drug trafficking, human trafficking and smuggling. The radar system is operated at eight sites and provides persistent, long-range detection and monitoring for interdicting low-level, air, maritime and surface targets.
The current contract has a one-year base period and four one-year options.
Peraton has been supporting the program for more than 10 years and was uncontested in the most recent recompete. However, CBP said in the contract bridge notice that “Due to ongoing and unresolved concerns during the base year’s period of performance,” the agency” decided against exercising the option year and instead will conduct a competition for the TARS-3 procurement. CBP also said that it decided on a contract bridge instead of an option to “prevent the appearance of rewarding the contractor.”
CBP said a new contract “will meet the Government’s requirements for quality radar performance.”
The bridge begins on June 30.
CBP plans to issue a draft Request for Proposal (RFP) for TARS-3 in July, host an industry day in August, issue a final RFP in September, followed by an award in March 202. The upcoming recompete will also have a base year and four one-year options.
The TARS is used by the CBP Air Marine Operations Center (AMOC), the Caribbean AMOC, Border Patrol, Coast Guard, and U.S. military.