Air Force pushes back date for Desktop III proposals

Richard A. Danca
Government Computer News

December 19, 1988

Air Force Pushes Back Date For Desktop III Proposals

The Air Force Standard Systems Center has postponed for about two months the deadline for proposals for the Desktop III microcomputer procurement, after potential bidders asked for more time.

Officials at the Standard Systems Center (SSC) at Gunter Air Force Base near Montgomery, Ala., extended the Dec. 7 due date to Feb. 1 for the system proposal and technical proposal, the first two of four parts. The remaining two parts, contract and associated information and a cost summary, are due Feb. 10.

"There were numerous requests from industry for more time to develop good proposals," said an SSC spokeswoman, Lt. Ronda Kantack.

The SSC did not announce a new date for awarding the contract. Earlier it had set April 28 as the award date. Desktop II, the current contract with Zenith Data Systems, also known as the Z-248 contract, expires Feb. 28.

The Desktop III deadline extension affects other milestones for which the Air Force did not announce new dates.

The original request for proposals, issued Nov. 7, said the Air Force planned to finish evaluating proposals by Feb. 4, finish discussions with bidders by Feb. 21, conduct functional test demonstrations of offered equipment and software in mid-April, and issue its first order under the new contract May 10.

The extension was part of minor amendments the SSC issued late last month. Other changes included slight revisions in how bidders present information in their proposals.

During the hiatus between standard microcomputer contracts, military agencies can buy through vendors' General Services Administration schedules.

Under the current contract with Zenith, a basic AT-compatible Z-248 with 512K of memory and two floppy drives costs $1,098 with no monitor. That same model would cost $1,153 through Zenith's GSA schedule. DoD and GSA prices for a Z-248 with a single floppy drive and a 20M hard disk are $1,504 and $1,579.