EO/IR SENSORS

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY - This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes - it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. Solicitations are not available at this time. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary; the United States Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the United States Government. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on FedBizOpps.gov. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement. The US Army Contracting Command is exploring options to support requirements to provide persistent surveillance for Force Protection (FP) at various Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) locations. The FP equipment must operate continuously on a 24/7 basis, in a very wide range of environmental conditions, including rain, dust, wind, and in temperatures from below freezing to extreme heat to support the safety of our troops and allies at forward deployed locations. While the individual requirements for a given Forward Operating Base (FOB) may vary, our intent is to utilize stabilized Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) sensors mounted on towers integrated with a ground control station solution and associated communications equipment as the primary FP solution. While the overall FP requirement remains constant for all locations, the specific EO/IR solution will vary depending upon specific range requirements. As such, we have a requirement to ensure the tower, ground control station, wiring, mounting interfaces, user interface, etc. remain constant and then selecting the correct EO/IR sensor based upon the specific requirements for range, weight, power & cost. Therefore, our requirement is for two EO/IR sensors that are completely interchangeable from a hardware and software integration standpoint with the tower. This includes a long range, single LRU EO/IR sensor and a shorter range, lighter weight, less costly single LRU EO/IR sensor. The long range EO/IR sensor must have demonstrated performance in a 24/7 extreme temperature environment. It must be less than 15" in diameter and no taller than 18.5". The turret weight must be less than 100 lbs. The power requirement must be less than 350W (average) with a maximum of 400W. The high-definition (HD) mid-wave IR (MWIR) sensor must have a minimum of a 1280x720 pixels in the focal plane array (FPA) with 40o, 6.9o, 1.3o, 0.65o and 0.36o fields of view (FOVs). The HD EO sensor must be a 1920x1080 pixel FPA capable of operating at 29.7Hz or 25.0 Hz with 4.54 um resolution. The HD EO will have 29.9o, 4.83o, 0.92o, 0.51o and 0.25o FOVs. The sensor must have a 640 x 480 pixel Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) sensor with 28.6o, 4.61o, 0.88o, 0.49o and 0.24o FOVs. The sensor must offer the option to include a SWIR Laser Illuminator (LI). The sensor must include a 150mW Laser Pointer (LP) and an eye safe Laser Range Finder (LRF) with a 25km range, better than 5 meter resolution and capable of operating at 1-6 Hz continuously and at 10 Hz in a burst mode. The sensor must also have a video tracker, provide image blending, MISP compliant STD 0601 metadata, inertial Navigation units, GPS receivers, and common cables. The SWAP EO/IR sensor must also have demonstrated performance in a 24/7 extreme environment. It must be less than 15" in diameter and no taller than 14". The turret weight must be less than 65 lbs. The power requirement must be less than 250W (average) with a maximum of 400W. The reduced range EO/IR sensor must also be able to rotate at 1 rad/sec or greater and the stability must be less than 10 micro radians. The HD MWIR sensor must have a minimum of a 1280x720 pixels in the FPA and continuous zoom from 40o to 2o and down to 1o with electronic zoom. The HD EO sensor must contain 1920x1080 pixels in the FPA capable of operating at 29.7Hz or 25.0 Hz with 3.69 um resolution. The HD EO will have continuous zoom from 45.3o to 2.38o, down to 1.19o with electronic zoom. The sensor must have a 640 x 480 pixel SWIR with multi-FOVs of 32.8o 5.32o, 1.01o and 0.56o. The sensor must offer the option to include a 1.5W Laser Illuminator. The sensor must include a 150 mW LP and an eye safe LRF with a 25km range, better than 5 meter resolution and capable of operating at 1-6 Hz continuously and at 10 Hz in a burst mode. The reduced range sensor must also have a video tracker, provide image blending, MISP compliant STD 0601 metadata, inertial Navigation units, GPS receivers, and common cables. Both the long range EO/IR sensor and the reduced SWAP EO/IR sensor must support HD-SDI, RS422 and Ethernet interfaces. Both sensors must use the same mounting hardware/interface and software interfaces and utilize the same cables so no other changes will be required when switching between the long range and reduced SWAP EO/IR sensor types on the tower. Both sensors must also provide active, self-contained cooling to ensure 24/7 operation in extreme heat environments where there is little or no airflow. ACC is seeking the following information: 1. What is your company's past experience in building High Definition EO/IR sensors? 2. What is the experience level of your personnel with respect to High Definition EO/IR sensors? 3. How many and what type of EO/IR sensors for force protection is your company currently supporting in the field? 4. Does your company produce High Definition EO/IR sensors for military systems? 5. Does your company produce or have a capability to produce most or all of the subassemblies and components required for these High Definition EO/IR sensors, or is your expertise primarily as a system integrator. 6. What is your estimated development schedule for a quantity of 25 each of these High Definition EO/IR sensors? Respondents shall not be obligated to provide the services described herein and it is understood by the United States Government that the cost estimates provided as a result of this request are "best" estimates only. The response date for this market research is October 21, 2015. No calls will be accepted. All responses to this RFI may be submitted via e-mail to Tiffany Moody, Contract Specialist, at tiffany.a.moody.civ@mail.mil, courtesy copy to Dianne Trimble, Contracting Officer, at dianne.f.trimble.civ@mail.mil, or Victorita Bailey, Contracting Officer, at victorita.bailey.civ@mail.mil, and with a hard copy to the U. S. Army Contracting Command, 3329 Mauler Road, Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898.