A protest was filed earlier this week over a U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) contract award to Battelle in July for the Non Standard Commercial Vehicle (NSCV) program.
The seven-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ), firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is worth an estimated $170 million with a two-year option. The contract covers procurement, fielding, initial spares and new equipment training for up to an estimated 511 vehicles, including 375 armored variants and another 136 non-armored variants. Battelle is under a stop work order for NSCV, according to a company spokesman.
The deal supports requirements for modified commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) trucks and sports utility vehicles (SUV) that retain the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) profile while supporting the integration of armor, heavy-duty suspension and brakes, run flat tires and wheels and communication equipment. The vehicles to be modified are Toyota [TM] Land Cruiser models 76, 78, 79 and 200, Toyota Hilux trucks and Ford [F] Ranger trucks, according to a notice posted on Federal Business Opportunities (FBO).
Five companies bid for the contract, according to a Defense Department statement. Likely bidders include Navistar [NAV], which designed its Special Operations Tactical Vehicle-B (SOTV-B) from scratch to meet the NSCV requirement; Streit USA Armoring and Ultra Armoring, who was the non-armored incumbent from the previous program. Texas Armoring said it did not bid. Streit USA Armoring declined to say if it bid for the contract. Battelle was the incumbent from the previous armored portion of NSCV.
It was unclear at press time whether USSOCOM or the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was handling the protest. USSOCOM spokesman Kenneth McGraw said the award was under protest with GAO, but no open protests came up in the GAO database.
Battelle President of Contract Research Steve Kelly told Defense Daily Thursday that the company has been building NSC vehicles for the past six or seven years and longer under previous contracts.