LEIDOS DETECTION STANDARD 8.0 CHARACTERIZATION STUDY

The Office of Procurement Operations (OPO) on behalf of the Office of Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) hereby issues this notice of intent to award a sole source procurement.  DHS OPO intends to solicit and award a sole source contract to Leidos Security Detection & Automation Inc. located at One Radcliff Road Tewksbury, MA 01876-1181.  This is a notice of intent to solicit and award a sole source contract under the authority of FAR 6.103-1 “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements”. 

Summary of the requirement

Background

In 2021, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Requirements and Capabilities Analysis (RCA) Office, in collaboration with DHS S&T, developed the Checked Baggage Detection Standard v8.0. The development of the Checked Baggage Detection Standard v8.0 was finalized and established an Objective (O) detection key performance parameter within the Checked Baggage Operational Requirement Document (ORD). The Threshold (T) detection key performance parameter has currently been set to Checked Baggage Detection Standard v7.2 by TSA’s Office of Acquisition & Program Management’s Electronic Baggage Screening Program (EBSP). The differences between the Threshold (T) and the Objective (O) detection key performance parameters have further characterized a capability gap within the checked baggage aviation security environment. TSA is requesting that DHS S&T execute a Research and Development (R&D) investment to identify detection capability of currently qualified and fielded Explosive Detection Systems (EDS) against Checked Baggage Detection Standard v8.0.

Under Contract No. 70RSAT21CB0000011, the existing EDS systems was tested against a specific subset of threats from Checked Baggage Detection Standard v8.0, which were specified by the Government. After the completion of Contract No. 70RSAT21CB0000011, it was determined that an important threat category had not been tested and that additional effort would be required in order to include this category for a complete Characterization Study. The information will be used to determine trade space in setting the baseline Detection Functional Requirement Documents (D-FRD) for the future EBSP program acquisitions and systems engineering lifecycle management. Detection trade space consists of existing detection standards, various threat categories, specific threat materials, targeted detection, and mass thresholds. Other key detection trade space parameters include minimum material thickness and overall detection.

Scope

The scope is to conduct efforts to characterize the performance of existing, qualified, fielded Leidos EDS, and if selected, Leidos EDS that are soon to be qualified to address emerging and critical threats identified in Checked Baggage Detection Standard v8.0. This program includes test planning, execution, and delivery of results to the Transportation Security Laboratory (TSL), S&T and to TSA using existing explosive detection equipment currently deployed at TSL and/ or Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB).

This effort will ultimately test existing Leidos EDS systems against a specified subset of threats from Checked Baggage Detection Standard v8.0 to be specified by the Government. The Contractor shall also analyze data sets to investigate selected Homemade Explosive (HME) material (e.g., S11d) in additional concealments (e.g., small appliances). The Government will provide information on the concealments to support this data set.

A full data set shall be collected on Leidos 6700 and a partial (20%) data set on Leidos 6700ES. The contractor shall support conversion between these two configurations of the test equipment.

Place of Performance: The primary place of performance will be at contractor facilities in Tewksbury, MA and the TSL located in Atlantic City, NJ.

Period of Performance:  8 months after date of award.

Market research was performed and supports the sole source determination. A determination by the Government not to compete based upon responses to this notice is solely at the discretion of the Government.

This is a notice of the intent to award a sole source contract. It is published for informational purposes only and not a request for competitive proposals. Therefore, no solicitation document exists for this requirement.  Any firm believing that they can fulfill the requirement may be considered by the agency. Interested parties may identify their interest and capabilities in response to this synopsis. All questions and/or comments regarding this notice shall be addressed in writing to the Contracting Officer Jennifer.Koons@hq.dhs.gov or Contract Specialist, Frances.Gray@hq.dhs.gov by September 25, 2025 by 10:00 AM Eastern.  Questions by phone will not be considered.