TSA preps industry for operational testing recompete
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By
Ross Wilkers
The Transportation Security Agency will use this $100 million-plus blanket purchase agreement to verify systems as effective and suitable for use.
The Transportation Security Administration has given industry a preview of how it plans to recompete a blanket purchase agreement for broad operational test and evaluation support services.
TSA is setting up the new BPA to have a five-year period of performance and a ceiling value north of $100 million. The agency is planning to release a solicitation on or around March 1 and make an award during calendar year 2027’s second quarter, according to a Wednesday notice in the Acquisition Planning Forecast System.
Science Applications International Corp. is the incumbent, having won the current BPA in September 2022 via the General Services Administration’s Multiple Award Schedule program. TSA has obligated $88 million in order volume to-date ahead of the current pact’s September 2027 sunset, GovTribe data indicates.
Within the TSA context, operational testing covers work to verify that a new or modified system is operationally effective and suitable for use by the agency. TSA also uses these tests to determine that its infrastructure is ready to accept the system, that all operational requirements are met and that all critical operational issues are resolved.
Field-representative personnel conduct the tests at TSA sites with production-representative systems. This includes security screening technologies, credential authentication systems, explosives detection, prohibited items detection and alarm resolution in checkpoint and checked baggage screening.
The BPA recompete winner will provide on-site test and subject matter expert personnel to support exercises at airports around the U.S., facilitate cyber resilience testing and human factor assessments.