Notice of Intent to Sole Source: JBTDS

Notice of Intent to Make a Sole Source Award. This is not a Request for Quote / Proposals. In accordance with FAR Part 5, the purpose of this notice is to advise industry that Army Contracting Command - Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) is contemplating award of a sole source action to Chemring Sensors and Electronic Systems (CSES) for Full Rate Production (FRP) of the Joint Biological Tactical Detection System (JBTDS).

The FRP contract will be established as an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a single thirty-six (36) month ordering period. The contract is planned for award in FY26. Award of this contract is contingent upon Full Rate Production (FRP) Decision approval in accordance with the Major Capability Acquisition (MCA) pathway of the Adaptive Acquisition Framework (AAF).

The Capability Program Executive for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Sensors (CPE-CBRND) has a requirement for the FRP of the JBTDS. The JBTDS provides the Joint Forces with a mission-critical capability for sustained operations in a CBRN environment as well as force protection in peacetime and contingency operations.

JBTDS is the only militarized, tactical, lightweight biological surveillance system designed specifically for rapid detection, collection, identification and warning of Biological Warfare agents. The system fills a validated Joint Requirement for tactical-level biological detection interoperable across Services, highly mobile and sustainable under the constraints of modern force structure.

The JBTDS system is a lightweight, man-portable, battery- operable system designed to provide detection, collection and identification of airborne biological warfare agents. The system’s modular architecture Detector/ Collector (D/C), Identifier and Data Station (DS) enable flexible, task-organized deployment across multiple mission sets.

The FRP scope encompasses production, quality assurance, testing, configuration management, logistics support and delivery of the production-representative Technical Data Package (TDP). This action represents the logical follow-on to contract W911QY-15-C-0035, under which CSES executed the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) and Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) phases. The FRP contract is required to ensure transition from LRIP to sustained production and fielding.