AMPEX AIRBORNE and GROUND DATA RECORDERS

THIS SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. 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. The Air Force Test Center (AFTC), 412th Test Engineering Group, Edwards Air Force Base, CA 93524 is conducting preliminary planning market research to obtain information from potential and eligible contractors for an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract for United States Air Force - soliciting information and comments from offerors who can provide non-developmental, production ready Range Commanders Council (RCC) document IRIG 106, - Telemetry Standards compliant Ampex Airborne Data Recorders suitable for use in high performance military test aircraft and Ampex Ground Data Recorders, and sustainment services for both new and legacy data recorder products. For the detailed requirement, see attached Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS). PURPOSE: This is a sources sought synopsis as part of Market Research being conducted by the United States Air Force to identify potential sources for one or more anticipated Airborne Data Recorder supply and services contracts. REQUIREMENT: The Air Force Test Center (AFTC), 412th Test Engineering Group, Edwards AFB, California is soliciting information and comments from offerors who can provide non-developmental, production RCC IRIG-106-17 compliant Ampex Airborne Data Recorders suitable for use in high performance military test aircraft and Ampex Ground Data Recorders, and sustainment services for both new and legacy data recorder products. The Ampex Airborne and Ground Data Recorders compliant with RCC document IRIG 106, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, and Chapter 11 is required. Backwards compatibility with previous releases of IRIG 106, Chapters 9 and 10 is required. Compatibility with IRIG 106 Telemetry Network Standard (Chapters 21 thru 28) is highly desirable. Continued compatibility must be ensured. The RCC Telemetry Group is the standards body of the Range Commanders Council whose primary mission is to provide telemetry data interoperability across test organizations. The data interoperability interface is critical to the success of this acquisition. The airborne data recorders must be capable of simultaneous high speed recording from many combinations and many types of data (digital, analog, audio, video, and busses) on the military test aircraft (e.g. PCM, Mil-Std-1553, Mil-Std-1760, Fibre Channel, IEEE 1394b, RS-170/NTSC, DVI, S-video, VGA, RGBHV, RS-343, Discrete Logic Level Hi/Lo, Digital Audio, Universal Serial Bus, Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, RS232/422/485, ARINC 429, ARINC 664, ARINC 708, SCSI, SATA, etc.), as well as be capable of delivering that data output at high speed after the recording mission. Offerors will be required to have demonstrated experience and expertise in supporting legacy product, providing system enhancements and upgrades, repair, technical support, and retrofit for hardware, firmware, and software products as necessary. The offerors will be required to have demonstrated experience and expertise in supporting new technical recording requirements including but not limited to new data types that will be defined in future publications of RCC IRIG 106, Chapters 9, 10, and 11, as well as supporting higher data rates and greater storage capacity as they become necessary. Capability to support new TmNS technical recording requirements in RCC IRIG 106 Chapters 21-28 is highly desired. Legacy airborne and ground data recorder products to be supported include recorders and recorder modules provided by Ampex Data Systems. Offerors shall comment on their ability to perform the required services on the products of these manufacturers. Products Ampex Airborne and Ground Data Recorders and components Services System Enhancement/Upgrade to enhance the capabilities of products provided under contract. Repair/Retrofit/Analysis of products provided under contract and of legacy products in order to restore intended function and to determine cause of failure. Technical Support and Field Service in order to assist with proper installation, operation, and maintenance. Offerors shall comment upon their ability to provide airworthiness documentation consistent with airworthiness criteria found in Mil-Hdbk-516c, their data system volatile and non-volatile memory, their Supply Chain Integrity processes for both hardware and software, and their Quality Assurance processes and certifications, if any. NAICS / SMALL BUSINESS SIZE STANDARD: The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 334511 - Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing and the Small Business size standard is 1,250 employees. In accordance with (IAW) Acquisition.GOV, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 10.001(a)(3)(i), in order to determine if sources capable of satisfying the agency need exists, the Government will consider all Sources Sought (SS) responses received, particularly those received from small businesses. Responses to this SS permits the Contracting Officer, IAW FAR 19.203(c), to consider an acquisition for the small business socioeconomic contracting programs to include 8(a), Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), or Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) programs, and to consider a small business set-aside (see 19.502-2(b)). Small businesses in all socioeconomic categories are highly encouraged to identify capabilities in meeting the requirements at fair market prices. INFORMATION REQUESTED: The Government requests interested offerors that can fully provide and support this requirement furnish the following information: a. Company name, address, points of contact, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. b. Information should include a brief description of experience in providing the type of products and services described above. Please include contract references relating to research and engineering expertise to include: contract number; agency supported, period of performance, original contract value, and Point of Contact (POC) with current phone number. The information package must be clear, concise, and complete. The Air Force is under no obligation to provide feedback to the company, or to contact the company for clarification of any information submitted in response to this request. c. Identification of business size (small or large) and identify the socioeconomic disadvantaged category, as defined the Acquisition.Gov Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR Part 19 and also currently listed in the System for Award Management (SAM). Small business size standards are published by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and may be found at https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/Size_Standards_Table.pdf. The potential North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes assigned to this procurement is 334511, - Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing. The Small Business Size Standard is 1,250 employees. d. Any other information deemed useful to the Air Force. e. Request responses be submitted via email (preferred method), fax, or mail to the Primary and Secondary Point of Contacts as listed below. Responses should be limited to no more than 15 pages. Note: File size shall not exceed 10MB - emails over this size will not be received. Telephone requests for technical information will not be honored; however, respondents are encouraged to submit technical questions as well as comments in writing, (email preferred). f. All responses shall be forwarded to Terence Vickers at contact@example.gov, and Wendell Brown at contact@example.gov. The due date and time for responses to this synopsis is 3:00 pm Pacific Standard Time on 18 Feb 2020. INDUSTRY DAY (BASED ON INTEREST FROM RESPONDANTS): The 412th Test Engineering Group may hold an industry day to present its mission and anticipated objectives of the services anticipated as well as meet and consider comments from industry. The government may schedule an industry day based on responses received resultant from this sources sought. THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. This is a request for information/sources sought announcement ONLY. This request for capability information does not constitute a request for proposal - no contract will be awarded from this notice and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. Submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary - the Government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred. The Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of any information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged. This notice is for planning purposes only, and does not constitute a solicitation for bids/proposals. Responses will assist the Government in determining whether to set-aside/restrict competition in some way or solicit offers from all responsible sources. If a Request for Proposal (RFP) is issued, it will be announced at a later date. All interested parties must respond to that RFP announcement separately from the response to this announcement, and are responsible for monitoring the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website for the posting of any solicitation or subsequent updates.