This Sources Sought announcement serves to notify industry of technical services and supplies required for the engineering and production of CH-47 BLK II aircraft to support the US Army Cargo Helicopters Project Management Office (PMO). The PMO is conducting market research in accordance with FAR 10.001 to determine feasibility of a competitive acquisition and to identify potential sources that can provide CH-47 BLK II aircraft production, program management, engineering, logistics, technical and maintenance engineering support, software engineering support, data analysis, supportability, technical meeting support, configuration control support, safety, engineering and accident investigations, Category I and II Quality Deficiency Reports (QDRs), drawing and record maintenance, training, engineering change proposals, contractor field service representative for pre- through post-production, sustainment, and fleet support for US Government (USG) and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) requirements. The PMO is seeking potential sources for production of aircraft and non-recurring engineering to support the complete lifecycle of the CH-47 BLK II Chinook heavy lift helicopters. The effort is expected to include, but not limited to:
- Provide all aspects of engineering and logistics expertise to support incremental development and integration efforts associated with on-going CH-47 BLK II aircraft systems improvement and production efforts.
- Leverage engineering and manufacturing improvements and lessons learned from the MH-47G New Build and CH-47 programs as a means to control initial cost.
- Develop and maintain affordable and executable manufacturing processes for the CH-47 BLK II Chinook with appropriate process and quality control to ensure that the as-built aircraft meets the approved airworthiness design and performance requirements.
- Produce aircraft in accordance with the approved airworthy design, employing industry-best manufacturing and quality practices supported by the appropriate industry processes and quality control certifications.
- Maintain a government approved flying program in accordance with AR-95-20, Contractor’s Fight and Ground Operations, in order to accomplish Flight Acceptance Test procedures.
- Maintain produced aircraft in accordance with Army Regulations.
- Maintain and document procedures for managing system engineering and software and hardware development and manage the CH-47 BLK II Chinook program in accordance with these procedures.
- Maintain an Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) program to include technical maintenance and Commercial and Non-Developmental Items (CaNDI) documentation, prime contractor spares, provisioning technical documentation, inventory documentation, configuration documentation, training documentation, and other support elements needed to maintain and operate the H-47 Chinook when fielded. The documentation shall be used during life cycle support for the device.
- The Contractor shall provide a dedicated production facility, engineering services, production labor, equipment, materials, tools, fixtures, test equipment, and data required to accomplish the work efforts and perform as set forth in this Sources Sought announcement.
- Maintain a program management system that will provide programmatic schedule and performance information to the USG throughout CH-47 BLK II production and which can be leveraged upon in subsequent lifecycle phases.
- Establish and maintain an executable CH-47 BLK II Chinook Program Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) which covers all aspects of the program.
- Maintain a sound risk management system. Mitigate risk to the maximum extent possible, especially on integration efforts through the use of metrics to monitor program status.
- Manage a comprehensive configuration management system. Apply Configuration Management to all hardware and software configuration items (CIs), and CI documentation.
- Maintain a rigorous safety program which influences all aspects of the H-47 program.
- Maintain a government approved Critical Safety Item (CSI) program.
- The Contractor shall control, account for, and report mass properties for the aircraft. Mass properties attributes include, weight, inertias, and center of gravity of aircraft parts, from the component to the air vehicle level.
- Maintain a Weight and Balance Control Program to ensure weight and center of gravity remains within the flight envelope for all mission profiles identified throughout the life of the contract.
- Improve / Maintain System Reliability.
- Control Costs (maintain recurring cost of CH-47 BLK II O&S costs)
The Boeing Company is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for the CH47 helicopter. The Government anticipates award of a Sole Source contract to Boeing to fill these requirements unless other capable sources are identified as potential prime vendors. This sources sought is issued only to identify potential sources for prime vendors. It is not intended to solicit parties interested in subcontracting or partnering opportunities. Reponses received from vendors that do not intend to be the prime contractor for these requirements will not be evaluated or given further consideration.
Interested parties who have the capability to provide the requested services and supplies should respond to this announcement in writing and shall be limited to 20 pages which shall include the following information:
- Offerors name, address, point of contact, phone number, and e-mail address
- Offerors interest in bidding on the solicitation when it is issued
- Description of existing production facilities.
- Offerors CAGE Code, business size, (if a small business, please indicate whether HUB Zone, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, 8(a), etc…)
- Offerors Joint Venture information, if applicable (existing and potential)
- If the requested services have been provided or offered to the Government within the past three years, a description of the services and applicable Government contact info shall be provided.
- Provide any other pertinent information that will assist the Government in this assessment.
All responses shall be submitted to the US Army Contracting Command, ATTN:
CCAM-NSB/Barbara Lupo, (Contracting Officer) barbara.l.lupo.civ@army.mil, Gulia Evans, (Contract Specialist) gulia.m.evans.civ@army.mil, and courtesy copy to Cargo Helicopter Product Management Office, ATTN: SFAE-AV-CH-ICH/Jacob Bierman (Acquisition Analyst) jacob.b.bierman.civ@army.mil. Your response is required no later than 1600 CDT 27 August 2025. All questions and comments must be via electronic e-mail, and no telephone calls will be accepted. The submission of this information is for planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to procure any services.