Paul Boye Technologies, Tennessee Apparel Corp., and Creative Apparel Associates, L.L.C., were awarded a $129M firm-fixed-price contract between the three contractors. The award, issued at the beginning of February 2012, will provide for the procurement of chemical and biological protective garments under the Uniform Integrated Protective Ensemble Increment 1 (UIPE I1) effort. Work will be performed in Tullahoma, Tenn.; Belmont, Maine; and Belfast, Maine, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2017. The bid was solicited through FedBizOpps with eight bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Natick, Mass., is the contracting activity.
The UIPE I1 is intended to be a single supplemental system that will provide enhanced individual protective capabilities to the warfighter through reduction of physiological and heat stress associated with garment thermal burden, weight and bulk. It is not intended to replace currently fielded CB garments but will provide an alternative lightweight capability for selected missions.
The listed requirements for UIPE I1 include providing protection from CB warfare agents to include retaining protection after exposure to Petroleum, Oils, and Lubricants (POL) and other environmental contaminants. The garment is required to be suitable for wear while performing combat operations, whether on land or at sea, in any climate, with minimal impact on combat effectiveness. UIPE I1 design must also permit efficient communications and be compatible with current and developmental protective component systems. It will also be compatible with current and developmental clothing and equipment including load-bearing equipment, helmets (i.e., cranial protection), handwear, footwear, body cooling systems, and protective masks of the Special Operations Forces (SOF) and the US Navy (USN).
Complete UIPE I1 performance requirements are available at the original solicitation announcement W911QY-11-R-0004 on FebBizOpps.