Command Management System RFI

Amendment 0002: Amend Closing Date from 27 September 2021 at 1200PM EDT to 30 September 2021 at 1200PM EDT. Amendment 0001: Amend Closing Date from 20 September 2021 at 1200 to 27 September 2021 at 1200. In a 2018 article, Bryan McGrath described a present Combat System state where dualities exist between Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) Systems and the Combat System (CS) that result in large amounts of actionable information existing in various places, but it is insufficiently attributed and fused to be useful to the warfighter. When fusion does occur it most often happens at - human speed inside the brains of watch-standers, while the threat evolves to make greater use of capabilities that move at machine speed. These dualities must begin to disappear into a system of converged command, control, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting (Converged C2ISR&T) (McGrath, 2018). This concern has continued to be echoed at the Navy flag-level and has resulted in the establishment of requirements for a Future Surface Combat Force (FSCF) with an Integrated Combat System (ICS). ICS requirements derive from authoritative requirement sources, with primary decomposition from the FSCF Initial Capabilities Document (ICD), Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) studies, and predecessor studies (OPNAV, 2020). The FSCF ICD was signed and released by Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) in September 2018 (JROCM 099-18, 2018). In response to the ICD, OPNAV N96 tasked Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) to develop a Top Level Requirements (TLR) document to further frame what would be required by an ICS as part of the FSCF. The ICS is envisioned to be a single combat system solution that will be fielded across surface ships and shore sites (Larter, 2019). The ICS will start with existing surface combat system capability that will be modified to support meeting FSCF ICD capability needs. Existing interfaces to sensors, weapons, and communications will remain mostly unchanged due to funding and other resource constraints; however, the combat management system (e.g. common core) will require evolution over time to provide a multi-platform Combat System-of-Systems (CSoS) ICS capability. In parallel, the Department of Defense is pursuing an aggressive software development program focused on bringing automated software tools, services, and standards to DoD programs so that software applications can be created, deployed, and operated in a secure, flexible, and interoperable manner (AFCEA, 2019). The effort, referred to as DevSecOps, merges software development efforts with operations to increase speed of software delivery (DoD, 2019). A Domain Driven Design (DDD) approach is also being considered to manage combat system complexity and accelerate capability development though bounded context independence (Evans, 2003). DDD activities are planned to focus on the Combat Management System as the integration entity between the warfighter and combat system resources (i.e. weapons, sensors, communications). An initial Combat Management System (CMS) Reference Model for the Integrated Combat System (ICS) is provided in (Murphy, 2020). Agreement on the reference model is the first step towards organizing into stakeholder groups to define the CMS architecture. INFORMATION REQUEST To aid in DDD, the Navy invites industry and academia to provide recommendations in the following areas. Please provided rationale for any recommendations. Recommended changes to functional allocation and interfaces suggested by the white paper Existing software that can be reused to meet requirements and approach for reuse Container implementation patterns using Kubernetes and Istio to ensure high availability and hard-real-time performance Technologies to consider for software implementation and messaging; e.g. Java, ReactJS, Kafka, OMG DDS Interface management approach Approach for modeling and management of software architecture; e.g. tools, modeling languages, repositories Existing implementations and documentation for other domains that can be leveraged for best practices; e.g. Space X, other services (e.g. USAF), transportation industry Responses to this RFI should include as much detailed information as possible. A CUI Distribution D White Paper is available only upon request, and all interested parties are encouraged to request a copy by email to the following address: denise.acors@navy.mil. In order to receive the additional information for this RFI, the company MUST include: Company Name and Address Point of Contact (to include phone/email) Cage Code Capability Statement Point of Contact (to include phone/fax/e-mail) NAICS Codes Business Size and Status Type of Small Business (if applicable, i.e. 8(a), woman-owned, HUB zone, etc.) NSWCDD requests responses from Contractors NO LATER THAN 12:00 PM EST 20 Sep 2021. Contractors are encouraged to submit responses prior to this date. All communications with industry must be coordinated through the cognizant Contract Specialist, via e-mail at denise.acors@navy.mil, phone 540-653-8237. This RFI is published in accordance with FAR 15.201(e) and is for PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY. It does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a commitment by the U.S. Government, nor should it be construed as such. Respondents are advised that NSWCDD is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. There shall be no basis for claims against the Government as a result of any information submitted in response to this RFI. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or reimburse RFI preparation costs incurred by a Contractor when providing the information requested under this notice. If a solicitation is released at a future date, it will be synopsized on the BETA.SAM website. It is the responsibility of the interested Contractor to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement. All correspondence sent via email shall contain a subject line that reads COMMAND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM RFI with the RFI number (N0017821R2302) and the name of your organization. Attachments with files ending in .zip or .exe are not allowable and will not get through e-mail filters. Ensure only Portable Document Format (PDF) and Microsoft Office document formats are attached to your email. All other attachments may be deleted. The Government may consider meeting with or requesting additional information from potential sources following the market survey. Any results of any Government analysis will not be provided. NSWCDD may request further information regarding the capabilities of respondents to meet the requirements as deemed necessary. Eligible partners who may respond to this synopsis include companies, public and private foundations, non-profit organizations (including universities) and state or local government organizations. The Government will not pay for any information received. Phone call responses will not be accepted. Information received shall be treated as Business Sensitive and will not be shared outside Government activities and agencies without permission of the provider. Any information supplied under this RFI shall be provided free of charge to the Government. All responses should be unclassified. Information and materials submitted in response to this request will NOT be returned. If responses contain proprietary data, it shall be marked appropriately. It is the respondent's responsibility to clearly define to the Government what is considered proprietary data. REFERENCES DoD. (2019, August 12). DoD Enterprise DevSecOps Reference Design, Version 1.0. Evans, E. (2003). Domain Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software. Addison-Wesley Professional. JROCM 099-18. (2018). Initial Capabilities Document (ICD) for the Future Surface Combatant Force (FSCF). Larter, D. B. (2019, January 14). The future of the US surface fleet: One combat system to rule them all. Retrieved from Defense News Web Site: https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2019/01/14/the-future-of-the-us-surface-fleet-one-combat-system-to-rule-them-all/ McGrath, B. (2018, January 22). The Future of Navy Combat Systems. Retrieved from Hudson Institute Website: https://www.hudson.org/research/14124-the-future-of-navy-combat-systems Murphy, A. (2021, April 21). Integrated Combat System (ICS) Combat Management System (CMS) Conceptual Reference Model [White Paper]. Dahlgren: NSWC. OPNAV. (2020). Future Surface Navy's Integration Combat System (ICS) Top-Level Requirements (TLR) Document for Surface Ships (DRAFT).