DISA launches search for tactical data link contractors
Gettyimages.com/Anton Petrus
By
Nick Wakeman
The small business contract will run through 2030 to maintain tools that help military systems exchange standardized messages and data.
The Defense Information Systems Agency is looking for small businesses to work on a pair of specialized software tools used for tactical data link communications.
The contract will cover work on the tactical data link configuration management tool and the U.S. message text format – web application.
AccelGov currently supports the tools under an Encore III small business task order, but it runs out later this year.
DISA wants to find a small business that can maintain and improve the tools that help military units talk to each other using standardized message formats, according to the sources sought notice posted Thursday.
The tactical data link configuration management tool, or TCMT, is a document management system for military communications standards. TCMT tracks changes to specifications that govern how military systems exchange tactical data.
The U.S. message text format, or USMTF, is a catalog of for 300 standardized message formats that Defense Department systems use to communicate with each other.
DISA wants to continue developing the tools through a contract that will run between September 2026 and September 2030.
The agency wants respondents to describe their experience working with commercial technologies such as JAMA, mySQL, and Kubernetes as well as their experience working with cloud-based solutions.
USMTF is also undergoing a modernization effort and is transitioning to a National Information Exchange Model. DISA is asking for small businesses to describe their experience working with that standard.
DISA is also collecting information to determine if there are two or more small businesses that have the qualifications to meet the requirements.
Responses to the notice are due April 10.