NSWC Crane Touts Benefits of S2MARTS OTA for Acquiring Electronic Warfare Tools

Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division has highlighted the effectiveness of one of its Other Transaction Authority vehicles for acquiring electronic warfare solutions.

According to division officials, the Strategic and Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trusted Systems is useful for working with non-traditional defense contractors.

Brooke Pyne, director for S2MARTS, added that the contracting vehicle allows the command to reach small businesses and organizations that would not typically submit proposals to the Department of Defense.

S2MARTS also provides access to state-of-the-art technology in the warfighting domains of air, ground, surface and the spectrum, including infrared and radio frequency technologies, NSWC Crane said Monday.

Electronic warfare experts at NSWC Crane said that the contracting tool has been used for technologies like software-defined radios, countermeasures for small unmanned aircraft systems, offensive electronic warfare capabilities and modeling and simulation tools.

Shaun Davis, NSWC Crane’s program manager for S2MARTS, said the OTA also offers the flexibility that the division needs to negotiate intellectual property and data rights.

The OTA encourages non-traditional companies to think differently by providing them a problem statement instead of a work statement, Davis said.

Pyne added that the specificity of NSWC Crane’s problem statements makes it easier for the S2MARTS team to find the right non-traditional contractor for the job.

David said that S2MARTS still has room to grow as some teams within NSWC Crane are still learning how to best take advantage of it. He added that the OTA’s portfolio can also be expanded through additional workload and funding.