Army Seeks Vendors for Another JEDI Contract

The Army is looking to get more companies involved in its Joint Enterprise Data Interoperability, or JEDI, contract.

While it shares the same acronym as a more famous Pentagon procurement—the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, which is currently under litigation—the Army’s Joint Enterprise Data Interoperability contract has entirely separate mission objectives.

Through it, the Army wants to improve interoperability and logistics data sharing gaps between the Joint Services, NATO and other military coalition partners, and non-Defense entities "critical for accomplishing battlefield commodity coordination and troop/equipment movement,” according to a solicitation released June 1.

The solicitation for additional vendors capable of meeting security requirements and qualifications for both Defense Department and NATO networks follows a sole-source contract the Army awarded to contractor Nexus LCM last August.

“Since it takes approximately two years to obtain the required certifications, the government is seeking qualified vendors that may have obtained the requisite certifications since the award of contract,” the notice states.

The notice indicates the competitive advantage the military “has long enjoyed is eroding,” with adversaries catching up in “every domain of warfare-land, maritime, air, cyber and space” and growing in “scale, complexity and severity.”

“The Army can no longer afford to choose between improving our existing systems and developing new ones. We must do both to maintain our land power dominance,” the notice states. “In order to facilitate the increasing commitments for the U.S forces to provide logistical data to NATO, during NATO exercises, (U.S. European Command) initiated a capability demonstration for the use of JEDI translation processes and technologies.”

According to the notice, the successful capability validated the ability to rapidly translate U.S. force deployment data to NATO “without duplicating data entry between U.S. and NATO logistics information systems.”

With the concept proven, the Army wants more contractors to add to the mix. However, they’ll have to provide an abundance of capabilities and services to be eligible, including:

• Enhance integration of Joint and Army data into LOGFAS through JEDI implementation for U.S. Army Europe and 21st Theater Support Command to enable greater interoperability with NATO and the Joint Force.
• Enable JEDI to enhance additional detail on equipment and material and shows level 6 data.
• Enable JEDI interoperability end to end In-Transit Visibility tracking of Joint and Multinational forces.
• Enable JEDI interoperability between Movement and Funding Automated Support Tool (MFAST) and LOGFAS for in-theater movement requests.
• Enable JEDI interoperability and decision support tools between Army Common Operating Picture (AR COP), United Kingdom Army Recognized Logistics Picture (UK RLP) Demonstrator, and NATO RLP.
• Purchase custom software licenses and documentation required to facilitate the use of the JEDI Application DoD-wide to be used on Mission Partner Environment Non-Secure Internet Protocol Router and Secure Internet Protocol Router networks and sustainment.
• Support the use of NATO Shareable Operational Resources Tool with Enhanced Forward Presence units.
• Travel within and outside of the continental U.S. to attend, participate in and support annual exercise conferences and meetings with government and NATO planners and subject matter experts in support of the business process.