58 -- NATO NC3A Notification of Intent (NOI) to Invite Bids for CIS Support to Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams (OMLT) Mobile Operations in Afghanistan

OVERVIEW The NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A) intends to advertise for International Competitive Bidding (ICB) on works and services within the framework of the NATO Security Investment Program. Eligible firms will be invited to provide bids on a Request for Quotation (RFQ) for CIS Support to provide voice communications to the NATO Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams (OMLT) Mobile Operations in support of the expansion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. This Notification of Intent (NOI) covers the first of two phase of this project. The primary objective of the first phase is to provide secure High Frequency (HF) voice to the NATO OMLTs within Afghanistan territory. The second phase of the procurement will be for Crypto/Satellite phones (details will be advised at a later date). The secure voice communication requirement addressed by this project is the internal communication between mobile teams, static NATO Communications Centres at Afghanistan National Army Garrisons, Regional HQs and ISAF HQ. This will underpin robust force protection and command and control capabilities for these teams while they conduct their tasks. OLMT will follow the Afghan National Army (ANA) during training and operations; hence they need to be highly mobile and free of geographical restrictions caused by the eventual communications solution. NC3A is serving as the Host Nation for this project, which was authorized by the NATO Infrastructure Committee. The envisaged bidding procedure for this RFQ will be the Basic Ordering Agreements (BOA) procedure with the additional opportunity for the Nations in response to this Notification of Intent (NOI) to nominate bidders in addition to the companies identified by NC3A as BOA vendors. The estimated value of this project is 2.5 million Euros ($3.2 million USD). The reference of the Request for Quotation (RFQ) is RFQ-CO-11970-OPL. The U.S. Department of Commerce will be using the same RFQ reference. Bidding documents are expected to be NATO UNCLASSIFIED. Further performance of the contract will require contractors to have personnel and facility clearances at a level of NATO CONFIDENTIAL. OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS OMLTs will be employed at ANA Corps, Brigade and Battalion level, as well at ANA garrisons. The main tasks are to mentor, coach and facilitate continual training of the ANA units after their initial training at the Kabul Military training centre (KMTC), as well as supporting ANAs operational employment planning and execution. OMLTs will provide the critically important conduit for liaison between ANA units and nearby ISAF units. Mobile units (OLMTs) and static centres (garrisons) must be able to use secure HF voice communication at all times (24 hours/7 days). A multicast functionality is required in situations where urgent messages have to be forwarded to many OLMTs at the same time. The security requirement for information exchange and classification of information is up to and including ISAF CONFIDENTIAL, the security solution must be releasable to all ISAF contributing nations/units. The solution for mobile units must be man portable and suited for HF radio set (appropriate antenna system included) for on-foot operations. The solution for static units and centres must be of the same type of HF radio set (appropriate antenna system, amplifier with the focus on Afghanistan territory, recharging capability for mobile teams and batteries included). A tactical secure HF radio system with NATO approved crypto equipment will constitute the multicast solution. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SECURE HF VOICE All versions of equipment (portable, static and vehicle versions) should be user friendly. Users should be able to prepare the equipment to use and operate its primary functions without any training, and users should be able to operate all functionality of the equipment by reference to the provided user documentation. Training should be provided for management and control functions. This system consists of 56 mobile teams (man portable version of HF radio set) and 20 static locations (14 garrisons, 5 regional commands and ISAF HQ - 20 static versions of HF radio set). The equipment will be used within Afghanistan territory (high mountains, long distances, harsh and dusty environment) requiring military specification of the system. The overall requirements for all versions of the HF radios set (portable static and vehicle) include: - frequency range - 1.5-30 MHZ - type of modulation - AM (clear voice mode) - version requirements - portable, static and vehicle versions - emissions (ITU code) - J3E - modes of operations - ALE - crypto equipment - embedded crypto for portable, static and vehicle versions (approved for use within NATO) - antenna system - appropriate antennas for static and mobile versions CRYPTO EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS ISAF requirement for classified HF voice and data services, information exchange and classification of information is up to and including ISAF CONFIDENTIAL, the security solution must be releasable to all ISAF contributing nations/units. The system will deliver limited and interim DCIS capabilities that will provide ISAF with classified and unclassified voice services and user equipment to eligible deployed OMLT teams. Crypto equipment system management will be carried out from the NATO NGCS strategic network to the maximum extent possible. Nevertheless, ISAF will have limited in-theatre capabilities to manage their crypto key distribution and secure voice services. BIDDING PROCEDURE The U.S. Department of Commerce does not serve as the Host Nation for NATO projects. Its role is to approve for bidding those firms of NATO-member nations with a facility located within the United States. Only firms approved by the U.S. Department of Commerce will be allowed to bid. Please visit the following website for instructions on applying for approval to bid on NATO projects: http://www.bis.doc.gov/defenseindustrialbaseprograms/OSIES/NATOprograms/index.htm With the exception of those firms already nominated as identified BOA vendors, additional firms must be introduced by their National Delegations with the required Declaration of Eligibility (DOE). A firm that has been approved for bidding on NATO projects must request that the U.S. Department of Commerce issue the required DOE for each project on which the firm wishes to bid. The DOE (Specimen in Annex V to Ref.A of NSIP Document 2261) is used to nominate the firm to the Bidders List for a particular project. The U.S. Department of Commerce forwards the DOE to the U.S. Embassy, which in turn forwards it to the Host Nation. The Host Nation will not accept requests for nomination received directly from firms. Firms that the U.S. Embassy nominates to the Bidders List will be contacted directly by the Host Nation when the Request for Quotation (RFQ) has been issued. In addition, personnel working on this project, or visiting installations and/or working at NATO sites, are required to have a NATO CONFIDENTIAL security clearance. It is the responsibility of the contractor to ensure that the Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (DISCO) forwards to the Host Nation the NATO clearance certifications for all personnel assigned to the contract. IMPORTANT DEADLINES 1. Final date for the U.S. Department of Commerce to submit a Declaration of Eligibility on your behalf: 23 August 2006 2. Anticipated date that the Host Nation will forward the Request for Quotation (RFQ) to those on the Bidders List: August 2006 3. Anticipated closing date for receipt of bids: TBD 4. Anticipated contract award date: September 2006