AOC requires a seven-year Indefinite Delivery-Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract designed to provide service, repair, and replacement of parts that are required to keep the aircraft in an airworthy condition to the maximum extent practical.
The Lockheed Martin WP-3D Orion aircraft were originally manufactured in the mid-1970s. The airframe is no longer in production and the original primary user, the United States Navy, no longer maintains a large fleet of serviceable P-3s. The availability of serviceable parts and part suppliers is expected to decline over the remaining service life of NOAA P-3s, estimated to end in 2031. For this reason, NOAA AOC requires support services that directly maintain the operation of several aircraft parts. Access to ready to place in service Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) will reduce aircraft down time and allow NOAA to continue to meet its mission requirements over the span of these contracts.
As WP-3D operations are considered to be a year-round, 24-hour operation, an ideal contractor would be within a short driving distance from the AOC Lakeland facilities (100 miles or less) in order to ensure that parts requirements can be met at any time of day, any time of year. Consistent quality of work is essential for aircraft readiness.
