.50 Caliber Short Range Training Ammunition (SRTA) and .50 Caliber Short Range Training Ammunition Tracer (SRTA-T)

The U.S. Army Contracting Command - New Jersey, on behalf of U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command - Armaments Center (CCDC AC), Munitions Systems Directorate at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, is currently seeking potential sources for the manufacture and delivery of the following cartridges: 50 CALIBER SHORT RANGE TRAINING AMMUNITION (SRTA) DODIC: AC50 50 CALIBER SHORT RANGE TRAINING AMMUNITION TRACER (SRTA-T) DISCLAIMER: This sources sought is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute a solicitation and shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government. Responses in any form are not offers and the Government is under no obligation to award a contract as a result of this announcement. No funds are available to pay for preparation of responses to this announcement. Any information submitted by respondents to this technical description is strictly voluntary. Information submitted will not be returned. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any potential future solicitation. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the government-wide point of entry (GPE) at https://beta.sam.gov/. It is the responsibility of potential offerors to monitor the GPE for additional information pertaining to this requirement. Specifications: The cartridges will provide a substitute for the service ammunition, ballistically comparable to the .50 caliber M33 ball ammunition at a range up to 700 meters without any modifications to the weapons systems. The SRTA shall be functionally compatible with the standard issue M2A1 or M2 Heavy Barrel (HB) machine gun. Weapon compatibility includes, but is not limited to, being capable of being linked with M9 links, loaded, chambered, fired, and extracted after firing without binding or causing damage to the weapon and without cartridge induced malfunctions. The tracer cartridge threshold max tracer visible range is 175m from the muzzle. All energetic materials used in the non-tracer cartridges shall be qualified for their intended military use by the Army or a Marine Corps Qualification Authority. ****************UPDATE****************************** Questions from an Interested Contractor: Question: What is the acceptable range for ballistic comparability? According to our simulation, [interested contractor]'s SRTA and SRTA-T shows 50mm lower than the M33 ammunition at the distance of 700m. Would it be acceptable? Answer: Yes, providing it also meets the other detailed requirements. Question: Does "Max Tracer Visible Range 175m from the muzzle" mean that the tracer should not be seen after 175m? [Interested contractor]'s SRTA-T has [removed] of tracer visible range . Would it be acceptable? Answer: The tracer can be seen past 175M. End of Q&A ********************************************************************************************* Planned Acquisition: The Government contemplates an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for Fiscal Years (FY) 20-25 for this acquisition (five years from date of award). The estimated quantity to be procured for each fiscal year is 500,000 for 50 Cal SRTA and 125,000 for 50 Cal SRTA-T at an estimated production rate of at least 25,000 per month per cartridge type. Award is planned to be made in 4QFY20. Vendor Questionnaire: The purpose of this questionnaire is to obtain information from industry to assist in the market research. Firms/companies are invited to indicate their interest and capability to satisfy the above requirements by identifying the following items: 1. Company Name 2. Company Address / Country Represented / Website 3. Company point of contact and phone number 4. Business Size (Small/Large & Number of Employees) CAGE Code / DUNS Number. 5. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this effort is 332117. 6. Commerciality: (a.) Our product as described above, has been sold, leased or licensed to the general public (b.) Our product as described above, has been sold in substantial quantities, on a competitive basis, to multiple state and local governments. The development of the product was done exclusively at private expense. (c) None of the above applies. Explain. 7. Location where primary work will be performed (if more than one location, please indicate the percentage for each location). 8. Major partners or suppliers. 9. Identify existing facilities, equipment and workforce (identify what percentage would be supporting this new effort and what additional resources would be required). 10. Provide minimum and maximum monthly production rates of past production of same or similar items. 11. Identify manufacturing, managing and engineering experience of like systems of equal or greater complexity. 12. Identify lead time, including supplier/design qualification efforts and production ramp up time, to meet full capability for production and sustainment. 13. Please provide any additional comments. The applicable NAICS code for this requirement is 332992 - Small Arms Ammunition Manufacturing, with a Small Business Size Standard of 1,250 employees. The Federal Supply Code is 1305 - Ammunition Through 30 mm. Businesses of all sizes are encouraged to respond; however, each respondent must clearly identify their business size in their capabilities statement. Submission Information: All responsible and interested sources should submit their capabilities to produce 50 caliber SRTA and SRTA-T like cartridge configurations. The respondent must demonstrate and provide valid documentation that they have the ability to produce a minimum of 250,000 of each cartridge type, annually. If a source is not capable or interested in producing both cartridges, the respondent should state which cartridges they are capable of producing. Each potential source is requested to provide the contract number(s), dollar value(s) and brief description of work previously or currently being performed, which specifically demonstrates the contractor's ability to successfully satisfy the requirements of the .50 Caliber cartridge, as described above. Firms shall also provide point of contact information, where available, for the efforts cited above. In addition, please provide the firm's name and address, point of contact with telephone number and email address, CAGE Code and DUNS number, and size of business (i.e. foreign, large, small, small disadvantaged, 8(a), veteran owned, woman owned, etc.). Please identify any Proprietary information submitted. The Government reserves the right to reject, in whole or in part, any private sector input as a result of this market survey. The Government is not obligated to notify respondents of the results of this survey. Once a determination has been made by the Government as to the capabilities of the interested sources, the Government will release the required performance requirements and/or the detailed specifications. This is a market survey for information only, and shall not be construed as a request for a proposal or as an obligation on the part of the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this market survey or otherwise pay for information solicited. Offerors are directed to NOT submit proposals at this time. If a formal solicitation is generated at a later date, a solicitation notice will be published. The closing date for responses to this request is No Later Than (NLT) 17 January 2020 at 3PM Eastern Time. All submissions are requested to be made via electronic mail to both Points of Contact (POCs) for this action: Jonathan Kilgore, Contract Specialist, email: jonathan.m.kilgore.civ@mail.mil; and Christina Makhijani, Contracting Officer, email: christina.a.makhijani.civ@mail.mil. Phone inquiries WILL NOT be addressed; all requests should be submitted in writing via email. Respondents WILL NOT be notified of the results of the survey.