The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) intends to award a contract on a sole source basis to Aspen Helicopters, Inc. upon the basis of the authority provided at FAR 13.106-1(b)(1). ERDC-CRREL intends to procure ground support (in the form of installation services) and flight support for research mapping instrumentation. The primary aspect of this project is focused on capturing 3D topographic mapping data from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors over United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) owned reservoirs across the western and southwestern United States (Oxnard, CA, Fresno, CA, and Phoenix, AZ) during the current low-storage state induced by drought. The contractor shall perform the following tasks and provide the necessary support: a) Provide an Office of Aircraft Services (OAS)-certified Partenavia P-68C high-wing aircraft with the following: a. FAA approved camera port in the belly of the fuselage with mounting holes for attaching the custom RS/GIS CX Airborne Laser Scanner (ALS) system to the aircraft. b. An external GPS antenna mounting location on the top of the fuselage in line with the wings for the installation of the ALS GPS antenna. c. Access to two 28VDC power supply connections from within the passenger/sensor compartment. Connections should be a mil-spec connector. Contractor to provide details of this connection to RS/GIS CX. The power supply connections should be checked prior to installation of the ALS system and be in good working order. d. Reconfiguration of aircraft seating to accommodate the ALS system and a maximum of two system operators.    b) Installation and removal of RS/GIS CX ALS system in aircraft, charged at a        fixed hourly rate, including:        a. Custom modification to camera port mounting plate        b. Modification to GPS antenna mounting plate for fit        c. Configuration of power and communication cables inside the aircraft        d. Setup of Flight Management System (FMS) hardware inside the aircraft     c) An OAS-certified pilot capable of following planned flight lines using the RS/GIS        CX Flight Management System's pilot's display.     d) Ensure the aircraft has scheduled maintenance (50-hrs and 100-hrs) completed        prior to the start of each data acquisition campaign.    e) Provide scheduled maintenance (50-hrs and 100-hrs) as needed during data        acquisition campaigns.    f) Complete the collection of all listed focus areas in cooperation with RS/GIS CX        personnel (ALS system operator and ground crew).    g) Fly data acquisition flight plans at specified above ground level (AGL) altitudes        and airspeeds, as required by RS/GIS CX.    h) Arrange for use of Fixed-base Operator (FBO) locations in desired locations, per        flight plans specified by RS/GIS CX. Aspen Helicopters, Inc was identified as the only vendor capable of offering services and equipment meeting the requisite specifications and interoperability requirements with CRREL's existing ALS system and uniquely-designed mounting equipment. This includes a refined sensor package crafted through previous research efforts between Aspen Helicopters, CRREL, and USGS. Full interoperability is required to allow the system to take accurate LiDAR measurements and function seamlessly while deployed. As such, installing CRREL's specialized equipment on another aircraft is not feasible and would result in loss of functionality. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541360, which has a size standard of $15M. This Notice of Intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement. Any interested party that believes they can fulfill this requirement should submit a capability statement to be reviewed. All submissions will be considered, however there is no guarantee that submissions in response to this notice will in any way alter the Government's acquisition strategy. Please provide responses to this notice NLT 12:00 PM CST, 11 OCTOBER 2016 to: [email protected] Telephone responses will not be accepted. Responses to this notice will not be considered as a response to any solicitation, a request to be added to a prospective offerors list, or to receive a copy of any solicitation. A determination by the Government not to compete the contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Note: In order to be eligible for award of a Government contract, vendors must be actively registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), have no active exclusions, and complete the FAR and DFARS representations and certifications.

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