Explosive Hazaed Defeat for Amphibius/Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare Applied Research and Advance Technology Development

FED BIZ OPS SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCMENT RFI# N61331-16-SN-EHDS Explosive Hazard Defeat (EHD) for Amphibious/Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare Applied Research and Advanced Technology Development The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) is requesting information on innovative technologies (at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) ranging from 3 through 6 only) that will support the Navy/Marine Corps to easily integrate and operate a modular reconfigurable Explosive Hazard Defeat (EHD) capability from light tactical vehicles and other platforms that are organic to a typical Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). Particular interest is information on technologies that implement a modular open architecture and that can support autonomous operation across the full range of environments encountered by the Marine Corps, including littoral coastal and inland environments. 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. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Navy is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Responders 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 interested party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is developed, it will be assigned a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) number and the announcement will be published on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOps) website at www.fbo.gov. It is the responsibility of the potential offers to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement. FSC Code: 6665 NAICS Code: 334511 Size Standard: 1250 employees THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. Description: NSWC PCD, in support of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Amphibious/Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare, is seeking information on techniques and technologies directed toward explosive hazard defeat. This RFI is for new and advanced EHD technologies to support preparations of Technology Concept demonstrations (TCDs) lead by ONR and NSWC PCD that are planned for completion by FY 2023. The TCDs provide a venue to mature and demonstrate developmental technologies that can be integrated with new and existing platforms to provide a MEU with a system-of- systems capability to conduct stand-off detection, neutralization, and marking of buried and surface-laid, on- and off-route explosive hazards while maintaining operational tempo. Information on EHD technologies provided through this RFI should address capabilities that support the protection to unarmored or lightly armored Marine Corps platforms from a myriad of enemy threats in various operating environments, and with modularity, scalability and re- configurability in mind to support multiple missions to meet commander needs. TECHNOLOGY DEMAND The goal of this RFI is to identify component technologies at TRL 3 - 6 that can support a system of systems performing distributed detection and neutralization of explosive hazards in a manner that provides the commander with options in field ranging from bypassing the hazard to neutralizing the threat while maintaining operational tempo. The information will help to facilitate feasibility to integrate demonstration systems into mission packages that can be effectively integrated into MEU organic platforms. AREAS OF INTEREST 1. EHD Attributes Information for techniques or technologies to support the TCD operational concept should address one or more of the following key EHD attributes: a) Detection/Classification - Determining and confirming whether an object is a threat of military interest b) Neutralization - Rendering the explosive hazard(s) as ineffective or unusable c) Marking - Registering the position of something detected d) Proofing - Verifying that a deliberately cleared route or area is free of explosive hazards e) Communications - This attribute includes networking technologies with the capability to ensure distribution of detection, neutralization, and marking information 2. Operation in Various Environments Information on EHD techniques or technologies should address operations in one or more of the following environments: a) Amphibious operations that involve movement between VSW (water depths ranging from 40 ft to 10 ft depths) and/or the surf zone (10 ft depth to the high water mark) and the point of departure inland from the beach landing zone. Examples include technologies to support explosive hazard defeat during beach-zone movement to contact and ship-to-object maneuvering. b) Rural village/urban, jungle/restricted and mountainous terrains. Environmental conditions that should also be considered range from dense jungles under humid and rainy conditions with heavy tree canopies to rocky mountainous terrain and grassy plains. 3. Unmanned and/or Autonomous Capability The concepts of operations for the TCDs rely heavily on multiple levels of autonomy. This means that sensor and neutralization systems must be capable of near real time autonomous operation, and should employ an open architecture that will enable these systems to be integrated into an appropriate unmanned platform. Stand-off detection/defeat technologies are being considered for integration into a variety of combat vehicles such as Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and possibly Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) or Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs). The Navy is specifically interested in component technologies that would demonstrate interchangeability or a multi-modal ability for detection, in-stride breaching, marking and reporting in a littoral environment or an alternate environment. EHD detection/marking/neutralization capabilities of interest include: a) Technologies that support or provide the capability to perform autonomous real-time detection of explosive hazards or indicators of the likely presence of explosive hazards with sufficiently high probability of detection and sufficiently low false alarm rate to permit follow-on systems to operate at a tempo determined by the commander. b) Autonomous confirmation of the existence or absence of explosive hazards upon detection. c) Marking technologies. d) Network level situational awareness tools incorporating a geo-referenced threat marking database that includes geographical features of interest or concern. e) Network level asset coordination and planning tools. f) Technology to support autonomous proofing of surf-zone/beach zone areas g) Semi-autonomous or supervised autonomy packages to support unmanned neutralization of threat objects. h) Scalable modular variants of the above technologies to support operation on different platforms and to provide capability to operate in multiple environments. Platforms being considered for integration of the above technologies are those involved in Marine Corps amphibious operations and include: a) Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) b) High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV)/ Humvee c) Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV) d) High-Mobility Engineer Excavator (HMEE) e) Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) f) Small robotic platforms to be determined by ONR as suitable to support the TCD objectives 4. System of Systems/Multi-Platform Attributes Information on techniques or technologies should support integration into modular, scalable, reconfigurable, and interchangeable mission sets, while being adaptable to various environments and threats. Technologies are envisioned to be easily transportable, and to support timely reaction for MEUs. Technologies may support multi-vehicle coordinated autonomous operation with mission specific behaviors. The Navy is interested in technologies that, upon integration, would demonstrate the ability to operate in the presence of other EHD systems and to adapt to various operational tempos, multiple environments, spectrum of threats, and scalability to multiple vehicle classes. Maturity of subsystems, integration validation and testing of subsystems would dictate appropriate demonstration readiness. Vendors shall provide the following information: TITLE: Descriptive title for technology solution SUBMITTER INFORMATION: Responses should include the company name, location of company, and the title, telephone number, and both mail and e-mail addresses of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss the submission. GOVERNMENT CUSTOMERS/INTERESTED ORGANIZATIONS: Identify Government customer organizations cognizant of the technology and challenges in utilizing the technology. These should be the organizations/ agencies that have interest in the technology and have the technical or programmatic expertise for assessing the values of the technology to potential Government customers. Identify any relevant related Government programs (and/or point of contact), including organization, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone and FAX numbers. Points of contact that can provide additional information useful to the technology review should be included in an Appendix. (Pages in the Appendix do not count in the page limitation.) Letters from current or potential Government customers expressing an interest in the technology solution and in addressing the challenges are encouraged. Such letters may be included in the Appendix, again without impacting the page limitation. TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION/ SOLUTION IMPACT: This section provides essential background information on the technology. This section should include at least the following: 1. Technology Description. The technology/approach and its current and future uses. 2. Benefits. The potential advantages of the offered technology over alternative technologies in terms of cost, performance, maturity, endurance and other factors. 3. Problem Statement. The technical and or programmatic challenges with implementing the offered technology solution. 4. Technology Impact. How the offered technology can be utilized to enable a future EHD capability. INDUSTRY CAPABILITIES: This section describes industry's current and expected capability to produce and/or integrate the technology. RISKS: Include a discussion of technical and business risks and issues that must be addressed and resolved (or accepted) before the technology/concept/system could be developed and demonstrated. 1. Business Risks. Include a high level assessment of the schedule and cost risks associated with bringing the technology solution on-line. 2. Technical Uncertainties. Include requirements for new manufacturing processes, remaining development risks, product qualification/certification requirements, and technology and manufacturing readiness. CRITERIA: Please succinctly address how the technology offered will comply with the technology requirements. CONCEPT OF EMPLOYMENT: An initial employment concept is desired to support the understanding of the technology to meet operational needs. 1. Technical approach. State recommended technical objectives and outline the technical approach.Identify what the technology would accomplish and how. At a high level, describe what work and investments would be necessary to achieve a TRL 6 capability within the mission area for the given technology. Include a time-phased plan for major elements of the approach. 2. Cost/Funding Estimates. High-level cost estimates of implementing the offered technology development. FORMAT & PAGE LIMITATION Submittals should be provided on standard letter size 8-1/2 by 11 inch paper, limited to a maximum of 5 single sided, 1.5-spaced pages. Cover sheet not included in page limit. The font for text should be Times New Roman 12-point or larger. The Responder may use oversize pages (including "foldouts") where appropriate to contain graphic presentations. Oversize pages do not count as extra pages within the page limitations. Submitted responses should be in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat format. Existing commercial documentation and product literature can also be submitted and is not subject to a page limitation. Responses containing contractor proprietary information or GOVERNMENT CLASSIFIED INFORMATION MUST BE MARKED AND TRANSMITTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH CONTRACTOR COMPANY REQUIREMENTS OF THE NATIONAL INSDUSTRIAL SECURITY PROGRAM OPERATING MANUAL (NISPOM), RESPECTIVELY. Proprietary information can be submitted by either encrypted email or CD/DVD digital media. Proprietary information must be clearly marked. Classified submissions are preferred through CD/DVD digital media, but may also be submitted via SIPRnet. RESPONSES/REQUESTS FOR CLARIFICATION Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with electronic or paper submittals to be received by the Government no later than 15 June 2016. Each response must reference the RFI title. Telephone responses will not be honored. Unclassified documentation, and technical questions regarding unclassified information, should be sent via e-mail to the Contracting Office. Mailed classified documentation must be packaged and transmitting in accordance with the NISPOM. Ensure the outside envelope is marked: Attention: Document Control NSWC PCD 110 Vernon Avenue Panama City, FL 32407. The inner envelope must be marked: Attention: Kimberly Tuttle, Code X12 An email stating the unclassified title of any classified mailed responses must be sent to the Principal Investigator and the Contracting Office. CLASSIFIED DOCUMENATION DELIVERED VIA SIPRnet SHALL BE DELIVERED TO THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR ONLY. POINTS OF CONTACT: Principal Investigator: Kimberly Tuttle NSWC PCD, Code X12 110 Vernon Avenue Panama City, FL 32407 kimberly.tuttle@navy.mil kimberly.tuttle@navy.smil.mil7 It is preferred that all questions be submitted in writing through the Contracting office: kristin.jacks@navy.mil