SAM #21-00017

B-52 APQ-166 Magnetron/Electron Tube Depot-Level Repair

The U.S. Air Force is seeking capable sources for depot-level repair of the B-52 APQ-166 radar system’s magnetron/electron tube. - Government buyer: Department of the Air Force, Air Force Sustainment Center (AFSC), office FA8539 / AFSC PZABA; the attachment also identifies the 407th Program Manager. - OEM: Communication & Power Industries, LLC (CPI), identified as the original manufacturer and the only known repair source. - Product: AN/APQ-166 Strategic Radar System electron tube, NSN 5960-01-318-0987, part number VMX-1849. No purchase quantity is stated. - Requested services: Depot-level fault isolation, testing, inspection, repair, and packaging, with return of serviceable units. Combined line-item maximum rate is two units per month. - Notable requirements: Meet form, fit, function, and interface requirements under Source Control Drawing 156-116; replacement parts must equal or exceed original quality. The contractor provides and maintains required materials, tools, support and test equipment, and must report production and asset actions in CAVAF. - Operational and quality controls: Prioritize JCS/MICAP backorders, address assets affected by Product Quality Deficiency Reports, and comply with counterfeit-parts controls and quality-management requirements. - Source constraints: The Government does not own the technical data needed for repair or qualification of another source, considers obtaining the data or reverse engineering uneconomical, and has no evaluation samples available.

Description

The Government is conducting market research to identify potential sources that possess the repair data, expertise, capabilities, and experience to meet qualification requirements to purchase the B-52 APQ-166 Magnetron/Electron Tube.  The National Stock Numbers (NSN) and Part Numbers (PN) are as follows: NSN 5960-01-318-0987, PN VMX-1849.

The APQ-166 is currently repaired by CPI (88236) under contract FA8539-22-D-0002. The RMC/RMSC code for the APQ-166 is R3/R. This service has been performed multiple times by CPI, which is the original manufacturer of the APQ-166. The technical data required to organically repair or complete the repair is not owned by the Government and is uneconomical to acquire the data by purchase or to reverse engineer the item. No samples are available for potential suppliers to evaluate.

View original listing