Purpose: The Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD) is interested in investigating and quantifying the performance characteristics of directional acoustic hailing devices that can be used to provide unambiguous warning(s) that, if ignored, may demonstrate hostile intent of that approaching person, vehicle, or craft. The JNLWD is sponsoring an evaluation of directional Acoustic Hailing Devices (AHD) for both sea and land applications including acknowledgement capability and military usefulness. The US Navy (USN) and US Army (USA) are jointly conducting the evaluation, which involves three phases to identify and compare existing AHDs, then select candidates for further military assessments including, but not limited to, convoy force protection, tactical checkpoints, detainee operations, port security, and maritime force protection operations. This effort will consist of three phases: -Phase I: Market Survey -Phase II: Performance Validation Testing and Evaluation (PVTE) -Phase III: Limited Military User Assessment (LMUA) Phase I: During Phase I, a market survey will be conducted to identify all commercially available AHDs or developmental AHDs (at or near Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 – prototype demonstration in a relevant environment) that would be available in the February 2006 timeframe for Phase II PVTE. A candidate AHD should be a ready-to-demonstrate system that can project a voice and tone separately to human targets with no collateral injury to the operators, individuals in the host platform, or unintended targets. It is stressed that USA and USN are seeking systems that are plug-and-play ready, requiring no major assembly or integration prior to evaluation. Candidate AHDs that require user integration of power supplies, amplifiers, speakers, etc. will be excluded from consideration. The manufacturers are requested to submit an information paper (limit 5 pages) describing their AHD and its capabilities. This should include, at a minimum, a picture of the AHD, physical characteristics, performance data, warranty information, and information related to tests (including lab tests, operational tests, destructive tests, etc.) conducted by the manufacturer or others. A panel of technical experts from the USA, USN, and the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) (serving as Trusted Agent) will select candidate AHDs for Phase II PVTE. Phase II: For Phase II, manufacturers of selected candidate AHDs will be requested to provide a system to PSU directly at no cost to the government for the PVTE, which includes a performance baseline evaluation. Non-selected candidates may contact PSU directly and arrange to provide a system for Phase II testing, but must also pay for all testing costs to conduct the baseline evaluation on their unit. The Phase II PVTE will be conducted by PSU Staff at their own facilities. The PVTE will consist of a visual inspection to determine the TRL and the measurement of component weights and volumes. Candidate systems that are not plug and play and require test personnel to engineer component integration will be excluded from further evaluation. The technical evaluation will consist of measurements of the maximum sustainable sound pressure level (SPL) and intelligibility measurements at ranges up to 1000m or more from the emitter, the maximum sustainable SPL as a function of frequency and temperature, frequency response, lateral and horizontal directivity as a function of frequency, total harmonic distortion, and input power. The signals to be used for the technical evaluation will be input to each AHD using voices and sounds recorded in an .mp3 file format. The primary frequencies of interest will be those most critical to speech intelligibility. The candidate AHDs with the best performance in Phase II would continue on to Phase III for tailored LMUA. The selection of candidate systems for Phase III LMUA operational testing will be based on a comparison of the candidate’s tested performance results with the required specific performance parameters that fall under the following broad categories: -Total system weight with each major sub-component weight denoted separately -Physical size of the system and each major sub-component -Ability to project and sustain intelligible speech and warning tone to targeted location at sufficient SPL -Ability to generate and sustain sufficiently directional beam to project intelligible speech and warning tone to a targeted location only -Cooling requirements -Power requirements -Harsh environment design and construction (including any prior destructive test results) -Safety considerations -Recommended mounting methods for vehicles and maritime crafts -Production lead time and throughput (units per month) -Procurement cost for the system -Operator’s manuals and training documentation Phase III: The Phase III LMUA operational testing is to determine how the device performs in maritime, convoy, and land environments. This will include testing on various vehicle and maritime platforms in different environmental conditions. The LMUA will be jointly conducted by USN and USA. Manufacturers chosen to participate in Phase III should be prepared to enter into a loan agreement (not to be considered a purchase agreement) with USA and USN for the LMUA. Phase II and III test periods are estimated to be 60 days each. Reports will be generated after Phases II and III. Submission: The information papers must be submitted separately to the POCs listed by 1600 EST on February 6, 2006. Again, the information papers are intended as a market survey and a basis for the selection of Phase II AHD candidates. The manufacturers will be notified by USA and selected candidates will be requested to provide their AHD to PSU directly at no cost to government for Phase II testing. Non-selected candidates will also be notified and may contact PSU directly and arrange to participate in Phase II testing at their own cost (including the cost of testing). Information papers addressing the above factors should be forwarded to Mr. Jeffrey Drobik, USA-ARDEC, office,
+1 (555) 000-0000,
contact@example.gov and Dr. Timothy A. Brungart, Applied Research Laboratory, PSU,
+1 (555) 000-0000,
contact@example.gov. This request does not constitute a Request for Proposal, and is not to be construed as a commitment by the government. All information related to this AHD survey and evaluation effort are solicited at no cost or obligation to the government and/or PSU.
