The Common Aviation Support Equipment Program Office (PMA-260) received a NAVAIR Commander’s Award May 31 for small business advocacy during the annual ceremony at Patuxent River.  

The PMA-260 team demonstrated the value of partnering with small business by exploring innovative solutions through sponsorship of five successful Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) programs and leading Program Executive Office, Aviation Common Systems and Commercial Services in small business use by awarding 20 percent of its total obligation authority to small businesses. 

“At the heart of the defense industrial base is small business, and no other program office knows this more than PMA-260,” said Capt. Matt Wilcox, PMA-260 program manager. “Through continued use of this important and valuable resource, PMA-260 delivers new capabilities to the fleet faster, improving aircraft readiness and resulting in increased combat effectiveness.” 

PMA-260 sponsors SBIR programs that increase availability through both predictive and interchangeable capabilities. Research is ongoing to identify and standardize health, environment and performance data collection capabilities to develop innovative technologies to streamline adoption of condition-based and predictive maintenance techniques in Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) and Test Program Sets (TPS). Another SBIR program uses open architecture tools to manage ATE capabilities to produce a library and develop a method to store, maintain, manage, and report test capabilities for ATE. Both programs have the potential to bring support equipment through the repair process faster, making these products available for operational use longer with less time in the repair shop. 

“Teaming up with small businesses through the SBIR program not only provides value to our program office by allowing us to advance our technology solutions through the innovation, resources, and expertise that is provided by the small business, but it also fosters communication and shared solutions across other services that share the same needs as us,” said George Lehaf, PMA-260 team lead. “The ATE based SBIR topics are just one example where we are able to regularly meet with our counterparts across the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps to ensure the developments will benefit their needs alongside our Navy stakeholders.” 

The program office worked with small business industry partner Allied Systems Company to develop new Carrier and Amphibious Assault Crash and Salvage cranes, which are critical pieces of equipment required to perform mission essential aircraft crash and salvage function aboard aircraft carriers and amphibious ships. The new cranes replace the legacy crash cranes that have been in operation for decades. The legacy cranes contain aging parts that are reaching obsolescence and are becoming increasingly difficult and costly to sustain. The new cranes have the potential to save thousands of dollars per year in repair costs. 

“Attracting industry to take on significant research and development efforts for new products with no market base beyond outfitting a few air capable Navy ships can be quite challenging but PMA-260 found the perfect small business partner in Allied Systems Company, whose engineering expertise in designing marine cranes and large mobile industrial equipment has proven well suited for meeting our unique naval aviation requirement,” said Sean Demme, PMA-260 Common Support Equipment deputy program manager.  

The program office also partnered with small business Technology for Energy Corporation for Advanced Track and Balancing Set Upgrade Kits to modernize the fleet’s capability to collect, process and display vibration data for airframes, engines and gearboxes to support multiple platform aircraft balancing requirements. The upgrade kits will replace the out-of-date processor and data acquisition boards, drives, and display. 

The program office awarded contracts to service-disabled and veteran-owned, woman-owned , Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone), and small/disadvantaged small businesses. In 2022, the program office selected 12 different small businesses for contractor program management, engineering, logistics and cybersecurity support services, including technical manual and training course development for fielded aviation support equipment end items. 

About PMA-260 

The Navy’s Common Aviation Support Equipment Program Office (PMA-260), led by Capt. Matt Wilcox, acquires, procures, develops, fields, and manages common aviation support equipment required for the operation and maintenance of aircraft, aircraft weapons, related aircraft weapons subsystems, and miscellaneous ground support equipment. Additionally, PMA-260 acquires, procures, and manages the Metrology and Calibration program and Mobile Facilities used to support Navy Expeditionary and Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron intermediate-level maintenance.