Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance Surveillance System - GEOINT (EMARSS-G) Wide Area Motion Imagery Sensing

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY COMBAT CAPABILITIES DEVELOPMENT COMMAND, C5ISR CENTER NIGHT VISION AND ELECTRONIC SENSORS DIRECTORATE AIR SYSTEMS DIVISION (ASD) 10221 BURBECK ROAD FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA 22060 W909MY-20-R-C021 Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance Surveillance System GEOINT (EMARSS-G) Wide Area Motion Imagery Sensing Introduction: This is a Sources Sought, as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(e). The purpose of this sources sought is to solicit industry feedback on the availability of a Non-Development (NDI), Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) or Government off the shelf (GOTS) replacement for the current EMARSS wide area motion imagery persistence imaging system and / or its subcomponent Mid wave infrared sensor. Respondents should provide material of existing hardware that address the specifications provided in this RFI. Additionally, the purpose of this sources sought is to encourage exchanges of information, maximize competition, and assist with determining appropriate small business set-aside decisions. Small business respondents should thereby note that failure to respond to this sources sought announcement, and/or failure to respond completely IAW the instructions, may result in this acquisition being solicited as Unrestricted/Full and Open Competition. Contracting Office Address: Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground-Belvoir 10205 Burbeck Road Bldg 362 Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-5863 Response Due Date: Interested parties should submit responses electronically by 08 June 2020 No Later Than 3pm EST (1500 hrs) via e-mail to kendall.j.spann.civ@mail.mil and sabin.a.joseph.civ@mail.mil General Information: This is not a request for proposal, request for quotation, or an invitation for bid, nor does its issuance obligate or restrict the Government to any particular acquisition approach. This sources sought does not obligate the Government to issue a solicitation. This sources sought is being conducted solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. Neither unsolicited proposal (s) nor any other offers will be considered in response to this request or accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Contractors are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this sources. Acknowledgement of receipt of submitted items will not be made nor will respondents be notified of the outcome of the information received. No funds are available to pay for preparation of response to this announcement. Any information submitted by respondents to this technical description is strictly voluntary. Respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and clearly identifying any proprietary information or trade secrets contained within their response. The Government will not be liable for, or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information that has not been both properly marked and clearly identified. Information marked proprietary received in response to this RFI will be safeguarded and handled in accordance with applicable Government regulations. To aid the Government in its review, please segregate proprietary information. Purpose: Airborne wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) sensors provide a vital tool for exposing the actions and behaviors of enemy vehicles and combatants in urban, suburban and rural areas. In 2008, the US Army developed its first generation day/night WAMI capability named the Airborne Wide Area Persistent Surveillance System (AWAPSS). Six AWAPSS systems were built and are currently employed on the Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance Surveillance System (EMARSS) program of record. The Army is currently conducting market research to identify sources capable of delivering either a non-development (NDI), Commercial/Government off the shelf (COTS/GOTS) replacement for the current EMARSS AWAPSS sensor system or an infrared imaging capability suitable for replacement of the AWAPSS existing (two) mid wave infrared (MWIR) cameras. Requirements: Airborne WAMI system image terrain while in orbit over a large area of interest at moderate ground sampled distance (GSD) resolution. Army specific WAMI technical performance specifications are provided in the Performance Specifications section below. The AWAPSS sensor interfaces to the EMARSS-G C-12 (King Air 350) aircraft via a pressure box interface designed for use with an L3 Sonoma 474 sensor located on the bottom center of the EMARSS-G aircraft. The EMARSS-G aircraft also has provisions for (non-simultaneous) mounting a PV Labs LDG 3A265 gimbal. Either of these interfaces is considered suitable for installation of a WAMI sensor. Addendums: Associated Government Furnished Information (GFI) in the form of Addendums are available to complete an acceptable response to this RFI. Refer to Section 10 of this annoucement for further instruction. Required Performance Specifications: The performance of a replacement AWAPSS system shall be equivalent or better than the current system whose characteristics are defined below. Nominal Collection Altitude: 15,000-25,000 feet above ground level Orbital field of view projected ground radius: ? 4 km Groundspeed: 100 to 240 knots The system shall provide persistent airborne surveillance of an area centered at a geo-designated point while the host aircraft orbits that point. The system shall provide a gap-free ground coverage diameter of at least 8 km when the aircraft is flying at the nominal altitude as specified above. Every point in the coverage circle shall be imaged at 1 Hz as a minimum. The sensor data shall consist of framed image data in a non-proprietary format (e.g. JPEG2000) with associated metadata which can be used for target geo-location and other mission analysis tasks. Ground Sample Distance: Waveband GSD MWIR / LWIR ? 1 meter Visible / VNIR ? 0.35 meters For sensor performance modeling purposes assume the following atmosphere extinction for VNIR 0.18/km, MWIR/LWIR, 0.1/Km (Mod TRAN Mid latitude summer, 5K visibility, desert extinction) The Noise Equivalent (NET) of the infrared sensor including residual non-uniformity after correction shall be less than or equal to 40mK as measured in the laboratory. The sensor shall provide provisions for Non-Uniformity Correction (NUC) of all imagers. Individual calibration sources shall be provided for any thermal imagers. Questions To This Announcement: All questions pertaining to this announcement are due, in written form to the Contracting Office, no later than five business days prior to the close of this announcement. The Government gives no guarantee of timely response, but will answer on a best-effort basis via an amendment to this notice. Therefore, the Government recommends that offerors submit questions early in the process. Offerors should clearly mark any questions or material related to communications regarding this RFI notice as proprietary, if content warrants such a claim. Use the following format for your question submittals: E-mail subject line should read - Wide Area Motion Imagery Sensing RFI Question Submit questions in an organized manner directly in the e-mail text. Label each question with a general subject matter reference. Keep questions brief and to the point. Government Furnished Information: Associated Government Furnished Information (GFI) in the form of Addendums will be provided only to interested parties once a CAGE code is verified. The Appendices to be provided are available to complete an acceptable response to this RFI. Interested parties should contact Kendall Spann (Kendall.j.spann.civ@mail.mil and a courtesy copy to Sabin Joseph (sabin.a.joseph.civ@mail.mil) via an e-mail with the subject line [Request for GFI Addendums RFI W909MY-20-R-C021] and provide the following information: Email to Request and Receive Appendices with; Contractor Name CAGE code Name of Requestor Do not send information marketing a company's capabilities to the above addresses. Response Submittal Instructions: Participation in response to this sources sought will not preclude any vendor from responding to future acquisitions, either individually or as part of a team. Submitters are requested to limit responses to a total page limit of twenty (20) pages. Marketing brochures will not be considered adequate information in response to this RFI. The font shall be Times New Roman and no smaller than 10pt with at least a one-inch margin. Please submit your responses electronically by [ADD HERE] in a Microsoft Word compatible file or Portable Document Format PDF file. Files greater than 20MB cannot be transmitted through the network firewall. Therefore, any file greater than 20MB must be submitted by CD-ROM media to the address listed at the top of this document. If submitting via CD-ROM, please also send an email with the mailing confirmation or tracking information. Small Business Questions: Please provide the following Point of Contact information: Company: CAGE: Address: Point of Contact: Phone Number: Fax Numbers: Email Address: Please identify your company's size status based on the primary NAICS code of 541 -- Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services/541330 -- Engineering Services . The small business size standard for this NAICS code is $16.5 Million. For more information refer to http://www.sba.gov/content/table-small-business-size-standards. Under the current SB recertification regulations, do you anticipate your company remaining a small business, under primary NAICS Code of 541 -- Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services/541330 - Engineering Services? If you are a Small Business please answer questions 3.1 & 3.1. All others skip to Question #4. IAW FAR 52.219-14 (DEVIATION 2020-O00008 Rev 1), do you anticipate that you will not pay more than 50 percent of the amount paid by the Government for contract performance to subcontractors that are not similarly situated entities?. If you are a small business, does your company have adequate resources, financial or otherwise, to perform the requirement? Please provide details regarding any anticipated teaming arrangements, strategic alliances, or other business arrangements. Respondents are requested to identify teams, indicating each team member's size status based upon the NAICS code of the work that the team member may be doing. Please list the process used in selecting the teaming members. Is your company currently providing similar capabilities to another government agency (you may also include contract #s for government) or other non-government customer? If so, please identify the agency or non-government customer. If you are unwilling to share your customer's identity, please address whether your company offers the same or similar services commercially. Please identify your company's past and current customers to which you provided these type of capabilities or similar capabilities, including a customer/company name and point of contact, phone number and address/e-mail where they can be contacted. Does your company have a Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) approved accounting system? Please identify the company's facility clearance level. Also indicate the number of company employees and their position(s) that currently possess or are eligible for SECRET and TOP SECRET clearances. What is your company's current rate of personnel retention over the last five (5) years? Does your company have a Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) certification or similar? If not, does your company plan to acquire one? Please address past experience for WAMI, electro-optic and reconnaissance systems. Disclaimer: THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT INTEND TO AWARD A CONTRACT ON THE BASIS OF THIS RFI OR REIMBURSE ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PREPARATION OF RESPONSES. This announcement is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. Proprietary information and trade secrets, if any, must be clearly marked on all materials. All information received that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses will not be returned nor will the Government confirm receipt. Whatever information is provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for determining how to proceed in the acquisition process. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. All Government and Contractor personnel reviewing responses will have signed non-disclosure agreements and understand their responsibility for proper use and protection from unauthorized disclosure of proprietary information as described in 41 USC - 2101-2107. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information not properly identified. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with the applicable Government regulations.