J--Refurbish Vertex collars - caribou

The USGS Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) has the need refurbish 30 caribou video camera collars. The Government intends to award this requirement noncompetitively IAW FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i) and FAR 12 to Vectronic Aerospace of Germany. The Wetland and Terrestrial Ecosystem Branch (Ecosystems Mission Area) at the Alaska Science Center requires caribou GPS video camera collars to meet the objectives of a research project on the Porcupine Caribou Herd on the Alaska's North Slope (CAE project - Assessing the effects of climate-induced variability on the behavior, distribution and demography of the Porcupine Caribou Herd). The research project relies on collecting video footage of caribou during the summer in remote areas of Alaskan and Canadian Arctic to understand how climate conditions and insect harassment influence caribou foraging behavior, movements, distributions, and demographic rates. Camera collars need to be able to collect a short video clip (~10 seconds) every ~20 minutes throughout the summer season, and then reliably drop-off after triggered remotely based on the caribou's location. The camera collars have already been purchased from Vectronics, but they need to be refurbished so they can be successfully redeployed in the field to collect additional data. Vectronic Aerospace specializes in the design and manufacture of video camera GPS collars for use on free-ranging wildlife. They currently have camera collar products available which have several key features including iridium 2-way satellite communication, high resolution activity sensors, programmable drop-offs that can operate with 2-way communication, and memory to hold ~20 hours of video. No other telemetry company has a product with all these features, all of which are necessary to collect adequate data and successfully recover collars from the field. Given the complex product design, Vectronics is the only company that will refurbish their own video collars, and refurbishing collars in Government inventory is in the best interest of the taxpayer ($818 to refurbish a collar versus ~$3,834 to purchase a new collar). Other interested concerns having the ability to furnish these supplies shall submit a capabilities statement to the Contracting Officer no later than the closing date of this announcement. All submissions will be evaluated to determine if competitive opportunities exist. This is NOT an RFQ. This does represent the Government's only written notice of this procurement. All responsible sources may submit a response which, if timely received, must be considered by the agency. The Government anticipates award of a Firm-Fixed Price type contract. All firms must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database at www.sam.gov. Please contact the Contracting Officer, in writing, by email at contact@example.gov, with any questions. This notice and any resulting contract or order conforms to the requirements in place through FAC 2021-02, effective 23 November 2020.