Army Research Lab HRED excited about partnerships with small businesses

Special submission from Army Research Lab

On July 28, the Army Research Laboratory Human Research and Engineering Directorate awarded a multiple award, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (MA ID/IQ) simulation and training engineering services (STES) contract with a ceiling of $134M.
This five-year, small business set-aside was awarded to 13 prime contractors and includes numerous subcontractors from industry and academia.

The multiple areas awarded are advanced simulation research (ASR), of which four prime contractors received awards; medical simulation research (MSR), of which five prime contractors received awards; and squad and small team research (SSTR), of which four prime contractors received awards.

The goals and objectives of the STES program was to find multiple small businesses and their subcontractors who have the technical expertise and good business practices to perform cutting-edge modeling and simulation, applied research, advanced technology development, and test and evaluation in support of ARL.

“This was a special contract for us, as it will be the first time in the history of our organization that we will have a contract with multiple contractors that are able to provide solutions from basic research and development, over the valley of death, and into the hands of our transition partners,” said Dr. Neal Finkelstein, chief engineer for ARL.

“We accomplished this by choosing outstanding industry and academia partners who will collaborate with us on our requirements across the span of the acquisition cycle from basic research to maintenance and support.”

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) of the U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) is the Army’s corporate, or central, laboratory. Its diverse assortment of unique facilities and dedicated workforce of government and private sector partners make up the largest source of world-class integrated research and analysis in the Army.