C27J Avionics and Flight Management Suite Update

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION UNITED STATES COAST GUARD and UNITED STATES ARMY C-27J MEDIUM RANGE SURVEILLANCE AIRCRAFT COCKPIT OBSOLESCENCE 1.0 DESCRIPTION 1.1 The United States Coast Guard and United States Army, in support of the C-27J Medium Range Surveillance (MRS) Program, are seeking information on how an interested contractor could design and install an update to the C-27J avionics and Flight Management System (FMS) suite. 1.2 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) BEING RELEASED PURSUANT TO FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (FAR) PART 10: MARKET RESEARCH. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes - it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quote (RFQ), nor a promise to issue an RFP or RFQ in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Furthermore, the U.S. Coast Guard is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondents are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the responding party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP or RFQ, if it is issued. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S. Government to form a binding contract. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website (http://www.fbo.gov). It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement. 2.0 BACKGROUND The National Defense Authorization Act of 2014 authorized the transfer of 21 C-27J aircraft from the U.S. Air Force to the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Army. The C-27J is a medium-size military transport aircraft manufactured by Leonardo S.p.A., formerly known as Alenia Aermacchi. The Department of Defense procured the C-27J as part of the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) Program. The Lockheed Martin-designed JCA cockpit is facing significant obsolescence and Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Materiel Shortages (DMSMS) issues, necessitating the U.S. Coast Guard to seek a cockpit refresh. 3.0 SCOPE The United Stated Government C-27J users are aware of several components in the C-27J that are obsolescence risks in the near future and will threaten the availability and sustainability of the aircraft beyond the year 2020. The obsolescence risk is two-pronged due to FAA legislation and DOD requirements for new capabilities (e.g. ADS-B, IFF Mode 5, increased navigation performance) coupled with component supply chain pressures related to DMSMS. The services have identified, assessed, and analyzed the DMSMS risks in the C-27J and are looking for potential solutions to mitigate the C-27J obsolescence risk before the supply chain and aircraft availability are affected. Specific technical details surrounding the obsolescence and cockpit avionics upgrade for the C-27J are still in formulation, but for the purposes of this RFI, all vendors should look to the industry standard for FAA / ICAO worldwide deployable operations. Additionally, the services are interested in at least two courses of action (COA). All solutions should take into account the proprietary nature of the current C-27J mission computer and associated operational flight profile data. One COA should incorporate the currently installed proprietary Mission Computer, involving a partnership with the OEM to architect a joint FMS solution. A separate COA should involve a plan in which an entirely new FMS would be installed. 4.0 RESPONSES Interested parties are quested to respond to this RFI with a white paper (maximum 5 pages) in Microsoft Word compatible format no later than 20 July 2017. Responses shall be submitted via email only to the Contracting Officer at carrie.e.bryant.civ@mail.mil. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and must be clearly marked. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. 5.0 INDUSTRY DISCUSSIONS The Government intends to host a discussion of this requirement at the C-27J Spartan User Group (SUG) meeting in Washington, DC, on 03 August 2017. All interested parties should email carrie.e.bryant.civ@mail.mil no later than 20 July 2017 if they would like to participate in this discussion. 6.0 QUESTIONS Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by email to the Contracting Officer's email address. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Questions will be answered by email; accordingly, questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information. The Government does not guarantee that questions after 20 July 2017 will be answered. 7.0 SUMMARY This is a Request for Information (RFI) only to identify sources that can design and install a cockpit refresh for the C-27J aircraft. This information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. The Government has not made a commitment to procure any of the items or services discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.