2025-0349 SATCOM Engineering Support Services (NS) - FRI 2 Jan EXTENDED

Deadline Date: Friday 2 January 2026 (was Monday 15 December 2025)

Requirement: SATCOM Engineering Support Services

Location: The Hague, NL

Full Time On-Site: Yes

Time On-Site: 100%

Period of Performance: 2026 Base: As soon as possible but not later than 02 February 2026 (tentative) – 31 December 2026, with the possibility to exercise following options:

• 2027 Option: 01 January 2027 – 31 December 2027

• 2028 Option: 01 January 2028 – 31 December 2028

Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET

1 PROJECT SPECIFICS

1.1 Background

The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) has been established with a view to meeting the collective requirements of some or all NATO nations in the fields of capability delivery and service provision related to Consultation, Command & Control as well as Communications, Information and Cyber Defence functions, thereby also facilitating the integration of Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, Target Acquisition functions and their associated information exchange.

NCIA is dedicated to acquiring, deploying, and defending communication systems for NATO’s political decision-makers and Commands. It operates on the frontlines against cyber-attacks, collaborating closely with governments and industry to prevent future debilitating attacks. The NCIA plays a crucial role in maintaining NATO’s technological edge and ensuring the collective defence and crisis management capabilities of the Alliance. In pursuit of our mission, we require specialized advisory services to enhance our interim workforce capacity.

1.2 Introduction

NCIA seeks for delivery in Local SATCOM Static Ground Station Engineering Support Services for the SATCOM Station in Den Haag (The Hague) - Netherlands. The Contractor shall provide on-site engineering services, to support both day-to-day operations of the station infrastructure and the main Site Engineer in planning, lifecycle management, upgrades, obsolescence mitigation, documentation, and compliance. These services will be delivered at the SATCOM Station in Den Haag - Netherlands, with services provided on-site in a secure operational environment.

1.3 Problem Statement

Current State: The engineering complexity of ground station infrastructure is large and multi-disciplinary. Without local engineering support at each station, NATO faces operational risks: increased downtime, delayed maintenance or upgrades, inadequate environmental control, certifications non-compliance, safety hazards, and inability to respond swiftly to emergent technical issues or infrastructure failures.

Impact: A lack of technical continuity may result in configuration drift, missed updates, or audit non-compliance, ultimately affecting mission- critical service availability and NATO cyber defence posture.

End State: For each station a dedicated local engineering support service that ensures all SATCOM and station infrastructure (antenna systems, RF signal chain, environmental systems, power, civil/structural, safety, etc.) are maintained, upgraded, documented, and ready to meet operational and technical readiness requirements, aligned with NATO standards and local host nation regulation.

2 DESCRIPTION OF DELIVERABLES (KEY RESPONSIBILITIES)

The Contractor shall deliver Local SATCOM Static Ground Station Engineering Support Services, including but not limited to:

Antenna and RF Signal-Chain Engineering

Maintaining antenna pointing, tracking, alignment, calibration of mechanical and control systems.

Overseeing RF front-end/back-end maintenance: modems, up/down-converters, LNA/TWTA/SSPA, filters, waveguides, and associated hardware.

Supporting link budget verification, signal quality monitoring, noise figure control, interference mitigation.

Assisting with weather, environmental, and surface reflections effects impacting signal path (radome maintenance, protective surfaces).

Structural, Anchoring & Civil/Mechanical Systems

Inspecting and maintain antenna foundations, pedestals, radome structural integrity, anchoring systems.

Supporting civil/structural works associated with site, including radomes, support towers, site drainage, buildings, shelters.

Overseeing mechanical equipment: radome motors/hydraulic or pneumatic systems, radome seals..

Power, Environmental & Facility Systems

Managing prime power (diesel generators, fuel systems), backup power, UPS, battery systems.

Maintaining HVAC, air handling, climate control, dehumidification, ventilation, fire suppression systems.

Monitoring environmental conditions inside RF shelters/rooms (temperature, humidity) critical to RF performance.

Safety, Compliance & Regulatory

Ensuring site compliance with host nation electrical codes, HSE standards, safety policies (electrical, fire, hazardous substances).

Maintaining grounding, lightning protection bonding per standards.

Supporting audits, certifications, inspections, and ensure documentation is up to date.

Lifecycle, Obsolescence & Upgrade Support

Tracking equipment lifecycles and obsolescence risk (spare parts availability, vendor support).

Assisting in preparing upgrade / replacement plans for aging or failing components.

Supporting integration of new equipment or enhancements (e.g. filter upgrades, RF path improvements, mechanical improvements).

Operational Support & Incident Response

Providing fault diagnosis and corrective maintenance for station infrastructure and RF/SATCOM systems.

Supporting 24/7 or emergency response as required (depending on severity).

Liaising with operations, remote support, or central engineering for resolving issues beyond local scope.

Documentation, Reporting & Interface

Maintaining configuration control: keep technical baselines, drawings, as-built documentation up to date.

Maintaining local logbooks, ITSM/Ticketing system entries, TT-Comms (or equivalent).

Producing monthly engineering support reports with activities, faults, corrective and preventive maintenance, recommendations, risk assessments.

Supporting the Principal Engineer with technical justifications, decision support, acceptance of delivered works, and briefing material.

3 DELIVERABLES

The contractor shall produce the following deliverables:

1. Monthly Engineering Support Report – summarizing all local engineering activities: preventive & corrective maintenance, incidents, current risks, recommendations.

2. Fault / Incident Log – detailed records of failures/outages, root cause analysis, time to recover, and lessons learned.

3. Preventive Maintenance Records – schedule vs actual, status of all planned maintenance for RF, antenna, power, HVAC, civil/structural systems.

4. Compliance & Inspection Reports – evidence of electrical, safety, civil / structural inspections; grounding, fire suppression, radome integrity, etc.

5. Upgrade / Obsolescence Assessment Reports – periodically (e.g., quarterly/half-yearly) update lists of equipment/components at risk, with suggested mitigation/replacement.

6. Configuration & Documentation Package – updated drawings, technical baselines, as-built documentation, both for SATCOM & infrastructure.

7. Emergency/Incident Response Report – when severe faults occur, an ad-hoc report beyond the monthly log covering response, resolution, remediation.

4 SERVICE KPIs AND PENALTIES

The penalties defined below will apply to the payment amount based on the performance results measured through Annex B - Monthly Service Performance Report

Objective KPI01: Station SATCOM RF Availability

Standard: 100% of Availability

Performance Threshold: 99.9% of the measured period

Penalty (if under performance threshold): 1%

Method of Report: Monthly Report

Objective KPI02: Power System Availability (prime & backup)

Standard: 100% of Availability

Performance Threshold: 99.9% of the measured period

Penalty (if under performance threshold): 1%

Method of Report: Monthly Report

Objective KPI03: Preventive Maintenance Schedule Compliance

Standard: 100% of Completion

Performance Threshold: 99.9% of the scheduled tasks

Penalty (if under performance threshold): 1%

Method of Report: Monthly Report

Objective KPI04: Structural & Radome Integrity

Standard: 100% of Completion

Performance Threshold: 99.9% of the measured period

Penalty (if under performance threshold): 1%

Method of Report: Monthly Report

Objective KPI05: Incident Response Time

Standard: 100% of Completion

Performance Threshold: 99.9% of the measured period

Penalty (if under performance threshold): 1%

Method of Report: Monthly Report

5 PAYMENT MILESTONES

1. The payment shall be dependent upon successful acceptance of the Monthly Service Performance Report Acceptance (Annex B) signed by the SATCOM Operations Manager.

2. Invoices shall be accompanied by the Monthly Service Performance Report (Annex B) signed by the SATCOM Operations Manager.

3. Payment schedule will be according to payment milestones upon completion. Upon completion and validation of each milestones and at the end of the monthly milestone, following the acceptance of the Monthly Service Performance Report.

Payments will be made according to the following schedule:

2026 BASE performance – 02 February 2026 to 31 December 2026

Associated Deliverables: Provision of SATCOM System Management Services

Completion Deadlines: 28 Feb, 31 Mar, 30 Apr, 31 May, 30 Jun, 31 Jul, 31 Aug, 30 Sep, 31 Oct, 30 Nov, 31 Dec

Monthly Payment Amount: 1/11 total cost for calendar year. The deadline’s split is calculated considering a starting date 02 February 2026. This will be adjusted based on actual starting date.

Monthly Payment Document: Completion of milestone shall be accompanied documented Monthly Service Performance Report Acceptance (Annex B) signed by the Station Commander or authorized point of contact and the Contractor. This document will accompany the invoice.

2027, 2028 OPTIONS: 01 JANUARY TO 31 DECEMBER 2027/2028

Associated Deliverables: Provision of SATCOM System Management Services

Completion Deadlines: 31 Jan, 28 Feb, 31 Mar, 30 Apr, 31 May, 30 Jun, 31 Jul, 31 Aug, 30 Sep, 31 Oct, 30 Nov, 31 Dec

Monthly Payment Amount: 1/12 total cost for calendar year

Monthly Payment Document: Completion of milestone shall be accompanied documented Monthly Service Performance Report Acceptance (Annex B) signed by the Station Commander or authorized point of contact and the Contractor. This document will accompany the invoice.

6 PERIOD OF PERFOMANCE

6.1 The base period of performance is 2 February 2026 to 31 December 2026.

6.2 If the 2027 option is exercised, the period of performance is 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027.

6.3 If the 2028 option is exercised, the period of performance is 1 January 2028 to 31 December 2028.

7 PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS
Place of Performance: Work will be conducted primarily on-site in Den Haag - Netherlands in designated as Class I and II Security Area.

Travel Requirement: Travel may be required to other Purchasers’ locations on exceptional basis. Travel arrangements will be the responsibility of the contractor and the expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with Article 5.5 of AAS Framework Contract and within the limits of the NCIA Travel Directive.

Hours of Operation: The Contractor is expected to follow the Purchaser’s working hours—Monday to Thursday from 08h30 until 17h30 and Friday from 08h30 until 15h30.

Reporting: The Contractor shall produce Monthly Service Performance Report completion reports (format: e-mail update), which include details of activities performed, the list of the KPI completion and penalties if it is applicable.

Safety and Compliance and other arrangements:

• Follow all safety protocols to prevent accidents and injuries.
• Ensure compliance with agency, industry standards and regulations.
• The Contractor shall manage and be responsible for all activities mentioned in the Section 2.
• Install and operate the equipment following the manufacturer’s requirements.
• Minimize the impact to the service during the execution of the work.
• Bring immediately to the attention of the Purchaser Point of Contact on-site any issues preventing the execution of the work.
• The Contractor shall: Strive to lower the rotation of Contractor’s personnel and maintain the same staff Contractor working under this SoW.
• The Purchaser will support the Contractor with access to the IT systems as required.

8 SERVICE DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS

It is mandatory for the Contractor to be in possession of a valid NATO Secret security clearance for the duration Period of Performance. Only a valid NATO security clearance is acceptable- no equivalents will be accepted.

Security requirements from NS Projects are in compliance with Security Requirements for NATO Secret (NS) Projects (Classified Projects).

Services delivery should be compliant with Project Security Instructions (PSI).

9 SERVICE DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS

[See Requirements]

Requirements

• It is mandatory for the Contractor to be in possession of a valid NATO Secret security clearance for the duration Period of Performance. Only a valid NATO security clearance is acceptable- no equivalents will be accepted.

9 SERVICE DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall fulfil the following requirements:

• Language Proficiency: English: C1

Qualifications:

• Education: University Degree in Telecommunications, Electronics, or a related field, with at least two years of post-related experience; or Higher Vocational Training with a minimum of five years of post-related experience.
• SATCOM Expertise: Minimum of three years of practical experience in SATCOM systems, including UHF, SHF, HF and EHF systems.
• Technical Expertise: Familiarity with modern military communication networks, including interfaces, protocols, and experience with SATCOM Operations.
• Customer Service and Incident Management: Familiarity in service management (incident, problem management, etc.) and a customer-focused approach in a control centre environment.
• Experience in test equipment usage (e.g. spectrum analyser, vector network analyser, oscilloscope, power meter) and ability to automatize measurements using different programs/programming languages (e.g. LabView, Matlab, Pyhton, C).
• NATO Environment: prior experience working in a NATO or multinational military setting, with a solid understanding of NATO operational standards and protocols.