Development of the Integrated Sensor System (ISS)

FCA-ISS Sources Sought Announcement August 2, 2012 This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE; there is no solicitation available at this time. No response will be provided to requests for a solicitation. THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE IS PUBLISHED FOR MARKET RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY The Defense Threat Reduction Agency is conducting market research in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10. Responders to this Sources Sought/RFI are requested to provide their technical capability information (aka Statement of Capabilities) required in performing the requirements provided below. Statements should address the specific requirements of this notice and identify the vendors' specific capability to complete these requirements, including, but not limited to a description of corporate experience with similar projects and information on applicable industry certifications at the individual and organizational level. DTRA seeks information from potential performers as Developer and System Integrator for the further development of the Integrated Sensor System (ISS) to produce and validate an operational, manufacturing prototype, and procurement technical data package. The objective of this Sources Sought is to identify technological concepts and performance potentials for ISS that fit the customers' concepts of operation, which also may be used as the basis for an ISS performance specification. Those interested in this opportunity may decide to partner/team with other businesses in order to meet the requirements of the acquisition. Responders should identify up to three relevant contracts and describe specific software engineering, systems engineering, knowledge, understanding, and expertise in Research and Development pertaining to the capability or system described. SECURITY: The contractor shall be provided access to a government TS/SCI facility with TS/SCI safeguarding capability. The contractor personnel working on this project and on-site at DTRA/HTRAC (Ft. Belvoir, VA.) shall require access to TS/SCI/RD/CNWDI, Foreign Government Information and For Official Use Only (FOUO) information. They will have, obtain and maintain the appropriate clearances and accesses. Foreign Nationals shall not participate on the project. All information developed, papers written or published shall require release by the Government and shall be subject to export controls. Contractor will be required to have automated information system (AIS) processing at their site. Administrative duties performed by the contractor will not require a clearance, but will require an investigation for IT sensitive duties. PROGRAM SUPPORT: Provide personnel and materials to support the Government in program planning and in developing and presenting ISS program reviews and presentations to other organizations. Provide personnel and material to support the Government in conducting ISS equipment demonstrations. FIELD SUPPORT: The contractor shall provide for field support of the ISS during development, testing and fielding. The contractor shall provide software and hardware maintenance, repair and insertion of product improvements, as required, to support government field testing. DEVELOPMENT OF CAPABILITY: The focus of this task is to build upon the previous work developing the ISS V1 and further develop and automate Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) and other functions for the ISS. The requirement is to reduce operator training, time to process and improve the accuracy of the operator's decision in detecting WMD processes, activities and events in Near Real Time (NRT) i.e., provide better probability of detection (Pd) and lower probability of false alarm (Pfa). The requirement is for a fully automated system for Mission Planning, data collection and processing, and display of events without Subject Matter Expert (SME) participation. ISS will provide warfighters with a near-field, unattended ground sensor (UGS) system for persistent below-ground activity surveillance in order to find and characterize underground facilities, tunnels, processes, events and other subsurface voids suspected of connection with weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Information from ISS is intended to support planning and decision processes for potential warfighter attacks, assessment of attack results, and monitoring of facility-reconstitution efforts. Other missions include persistent monitoring of suspected WMD test sites and supporting on-site inspection to assure compliance with treaties (example: Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and other treaty provisions including CWC and BWC). The ISS development approach is to integrate proven sensor, communications, and supporting technologies into a small and survivable package that can be delivered by a variety of means, including airdrop. The ISS shall also be able to integrate other sensor systems and devices developed elsewhere. ISS must be very difficult to detect during deployment and operation. Deployed UGS nodes will automatically network; recognize significant signals, process data and exfiltrate information to remote ISS processes on commercial-grade laptops and classified networks for user access and control. ISS is being designed to be operated by non-expert military E-4 to E-6 level personnel, or the equivalent in other agencies. As such, embedding expert knowledge using automation for ISS functions is a key design principle. Also, ISS development is emphasizing the integration of relatively mature technologies including MEMS. ISS hardware will be modular in design for specific mission configurations. This will allow component-technology advancements can be quickly absorbed into future versions. ISS will perform the following functions. - Support highly automated, physics-based user planning for optimum sensor deployment, mission planning and for prediction of performance for sensors that are already deployed. - Support deployment of sensor nodes and perform persistent surveillance where emplaced. - Autonomously detect and record events for signals of interest. Perform automated processing to classify, identify, characterize, locate, and track stationary and moving sources, both underground and on the surface. Provide alerts according to user-defined conditions. - Allow local operators to link directly to the sensor network with a handheld device that partially replicates remote processing functions. - Rapidly (NRT) and automatically report results of attacks (e.g. BDI, bomb damage indicators) and assess target reconstitution progress post-strike. Automatically pass BDI data to external modeling applications for bomb damage assessment. - To a limited extent, sense the environment in order to adjust planning and operating parameters, e.g., determine seismic velocities, acoustic velocities, and weather conditions. Correct planning models accordingly. Update sensor performance predictions and correct data output. - Integrate with external systems and classified networks to automatically discover and retrieve needed data and models, e.g., 3D geotechnical, weather, environmental models, and to publish and make accessible ISS-generated information products. Key Performance Parameters - Level of surveillance coverage, persistence, event-detection probability, and location uncertainty. - Likelihood of detection of ISS presence during deployment and operation. - Level of automation in characterizing, localizing events and activities, and level of autonomous operation with low false alarms (or reduced requirement for number and skill level of operators). - Security and survivability in expected environment. - Interoperability (with external modeling, targeting, and C2 systems). - Mission flexibility and growth potential. Technologies of Interest - Sensors and detectors covering multiple physical phenomena needed for an specific mission, but not all at the same time (e.g., seismic, acoustic, electromagnetic, radio-frequency, infrasound, thermal, flow rates, infrared, chemical, biological, and radiological). This includes sensors for measuring environmental parameters affecting the above, e.g., seismic velocities, soil conductivity, acoustic velocities, and weather. - Automated algorithms for classification, characterization, assessment, location, and alerting of operators. - Sensor array, fusion, and signal processing techniques for improving signal detection (Pd) lower false alarms (Pfa) and location performance. - Inference and cognitive methods for higher level situation assessment based on underlying ISS data. - Mobile (handheld) processing; communication with items in the field. - Signature-based techniques, fuzzy logic, and pattern-matching. - LPI/LPD secure communications; networking and clustering. - Security of deployed nodes, software, and data; anti-tamper; encryption - Miniaturized and survivable components and nodes; MEMS; affordable manufacturing. - Modular architecture and packaging for mission flexibility and growth. - 3-D planning, modeling, propagation modeling and visualization for sensor performance optimization and presentation. - Integration and qualification methods for air deployment from e.g., UAVs. - Power sources, including power harvesting and power management. ISS is an ongoing research and development (R&D) project. Funding levels are anticipated to be $3-6M per year for FY14-17. -The software and prototype are Government owned and the future system improvements shall also be Government owned. Future development will occur in two, two year phases, beginning in FY-14 ending in FY-17 building on the initial phase that is now nearing completion. A FY 13 contract is anticipated to allow interaction and turn over with the current team. The first phase will produce fully functional software and an incremental version of deployable operational-prototype hardware intended to develop and validate automated algorithms, and reduce component and manufacturing risk. The next and final increment will be fully functional in final, miniature and rugged form. Use of Government facilities for component testing and system verification and validation is desired, but cannot be assumed. Information is sought on responders' past and current applicable and specific research, development, test, and evaluation resources available to support ISS development. Sources Sought responses should reflect corporate information and capability and a summary reflecting experience related to the above areas. Include the same information for expected team members, if applicable. The Government requests that interested offerors submit an electronic response (Microsoft Word "*.docx" file) of not more than twenty (20) pages (not including cover and title pages), 8.5" x 11" paper, 12 pitch, Times New Roman font. Responsible sources having relevant experience may submit their statement of interest and technical capabilities. They should also identify what type of business they are. Responses should also include the company name, CAGE code, point of contact, and address. All information received in response to this Sources Sought Synopsis that is marked "Proprietary" will be handled accordingly. Responses will not be returned nor will receipt be confirmed. Responses are due no later than August 30, 2012 10 am Eastern Time (ET). Email responses should not exceed 5 Megabytes (MB). Responses received after this date and time may not be reviewed. Any information submitted by respondents to this sources sought synopsis is voluntary. DTRA does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this notice or to otherwise pay for the information solicited. Respondents should not construe this synopsis as a commitment for any purpose. Respondents will not individually be notified of the results of any government assessments. The Government's evaluation of the capability statements received will factor into whether any forthcoming solicitation will be conducted. Submit responses electronically to Elizabeth Bauer, Contract Specialist at elizabeth.bauer@dtra.mil and Cynthia Sanders Contracting Officer, at cynthia.sanders@dtra.mil by no later than 10:00am Eastern Time on August 30, 2012. All requests for further information must be made in writing or via email; telephonic or facsimile requests for additional information will not be honored. Contracting Office Address: Other Defense Agencies, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Defense Threat Reduction Agency 8725 John J. Kingman Road, MSC 6201, Fort Belvoir, VA, 22060-6201, UNITED STATES Place of Performance: 8725 John J. Kingman Road, MSC 6201 Fort Belvoir, VA 22060 Point of Contact(s): Primary Point of Contact.: Elizabeth Bauer, Contract Specialist elizabeth.bauer@dtra.mil Phone: 703-767-4257 Secondary Point of Contact: Cynthia Sanders Contracting Officer cynthia.sanders@dtra.mil