Explosive Hazard Detection with Automated Target Recognition (ATR)

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

RFI Number: W15QKN-26-Q-1BJK

Explosive Hazard Detection with Automated Target Recognition (ATR)

1. General Information:

1. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION: No award will be made as a result of this request. This RFI is for informational purposes only. This RFI does not promise a future Invitation for Bid (IFB), a Request for Proposal (RFP), or Request for Quotation (RFQ). No solicitation document exists, and a formal solicitation may or may not be issued by the Government as a result of the responses to this RFI. Follow up inquiries requesting status of any related Solicitation in regards to this RFI will not be entertained. The Government will not be liable for payment of any response preparation expenses and is in no way obligated by the information received. Any costs incurred by interested companies in response to this announcement will NOT be reimbursed.
2. The information presented through this request will be discussed and assessed by the U.S. Army Capability Program Executive Ammunition & Energetics (CPE A&E), Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Armaments Center (AC), DEVCOM Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Center, and their SETA contractors. All proprietary or competition sensitive information should be clearly marked for proper protection. The information provided may be used by the Army in developing a future Performance Work Statement, Statement of Objectives and/or Performance Based Specification(s).

2. Background and Description

1. CPE A&E has been a leader in developing and fielding technologies in support of U.S. Army Combat Engineer applications. CPE A&E is currently conducting market research and trade studies of automated target recognition (ATR) technologies to detect explosive hazards and complex obstacles. The purpose of ATR is to increase the Soldier’s ability to detect, classify, and identify threats in support of maneuver elements during autonomous breaching operations.
2. CPE A&E is seeking input from industry on ATR solutions that will significantly reduce operator workload while maintaining or exceeding the probability of detection and maintaining or lowering the false alarm rate of explosive hazards and complex obstacles by trained operators. This RFI will specifically address ATR technologies that provide a Soldier with threat information. Although no specific threshold or objective specifications related to compatibility with existing equipment are included in this RFI (such as size, weight and power), technology solutions shall either accommodate, augment, or integrate existing U.S. Army equipment or demonstrate how the proposed solution(s) will supplant such equipment.

3. Definitions:

1. Automated Target Recognition (ATR): A capability which enhances the human functions of target detection, classification, and identification and assists some forms of tracking.
2. Explosive Hazards: Includes real, inert, or surrogate targets that represent anti-tank (AT), anti-personnel (AP), and top and side-attack mines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), submunitions, and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in surface laid, flush buried, and full buried emplacements.
3. Complex Obstacles: A combination of man-made objects used to impede maneuverability on the battlefield. Typical targets include tank ditches, concertina wire, hedgehogs, tetrahedrons, and dragon’s teeth.
4. Clutter Objects: Items used to create a realistic environment for testing the robustness of detection systems. This could include frisbees, tires, wheels, foliage, vegetation, etc.

4. Information Requested

1. Sources able to provide the requested information are invited to submit a White Paper limited to 15 pages (10 pages for Technical Capability Narrative and 5 pages for Collection Event details). Additional materials can be placed in an appendix with no page limit. The White Paper shall be organized as listed below and include the following information:

Cover letter providing:

1. Company Information
   1. Company name
   2. Date of Incorporation, if applicable
   3. Country of Incorporation, if applicable
   4. Please identify your company's business size standard based on the primary North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code of 541715. Provide a statement as to whether or not your company is considered a small or large business. Please also indicate any socioeconomic classification (8(a), Woman-Owned, Veteran-Owned and Operated, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned and Operated business, or HUB-Zone) that applies. For more information, refer to http://www.sba.gov/.
   5. Cage Code and Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number
   6. Number of years in business
   7. Number of employees
   8. Primary location(s) where work would be performed
   9. Mailing address
   10. Company website
2. Company Point of Contact
   1. Name
   2. Title
   3. Mailing address
   4. E-mail address
   5. Phone number

Questions (3a-3e) only apply to the Small Business (SB) Respondents and are to be included in the cover letter.

(3.) If you identify your company as a Small Business or any of the SB subcategories as stipulated in Question # 3:

     (a) Is your company interested in a prime contract?

     (b) Under the current SB recertification regulations, do you anticipate your company remaining a small business, under primary NAICS 541715?

     (c) In accordance with FAR 52.219-14, “Limitations on Subcontracting”, the small business prime must perform at least 50% of the work themselves in terms of the cost of performance. Please provide a plan which details how this percentage requirement will be met. As a SB and if your company is awarded a contract, will you be able to perform at least 50% (percent) of the work?

     (d) If you are a small business, can you go without a payment for 90 days?

     (e) Does your firm possess a Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) approved accounting system?

(4.) Provide details regarding proposed joint ventures, teaming arrangements, strategic alliances, or other business arrangements to satisfy the Government requirements. Vendors are encouraged to identify teams, indicating each team member's size based upon the NAICS code of the work that the team member may be doing.

(5.) Has your company performed this type of effort or similar type of effort (to include size and complexity) at Project Convergence or in the past for another government agency or other non-government customer? If so, please provide contract number, point of contact, e-mail address, phone number, and a brief description of your support of the effort.

(6.) What are the core competencies of your company that would support the development of this technology? Also, provide the total number of individuals currently employed by your company that are capable of supporting this effort.

Technical Capability Narrative:

     (1) Maximum 10 pages, Sans Serif, minimum 12-point font, 1” margins

     (2) The white paper should include a description of your company’s capability to meeting the technological goals listed in Para. 2.b. The narrative should discuss current technology readiness level of the system and any environmental limitations to assessing and collecting data in a field environment. 

     (3) Vendors with both a sensor and an algorithm are eligible to participate in the Collection Event (paragraph 5) and an on-site assessment if desired.  Vendors with only an algorithm can participate in a lab-based algorithm assessment event (paragraph 6). Vendors can participate in only one event.

5. Collection Event: Vendors with both, a sensor and algorithm.

1. CPE A&E is holding a collection event, tentatively scheduled for Q4 FY26, to allow for an assessment of performance and technical capabilities.  To participate in this independent assessment of your ATR system, please submit a white paper via e-mail NLT 15 May 2026 IAW instructions provided in paragraph 7.  
   1. The Government may provide a fixed amount of funding to each vendor for their participation to be determined at a later date. The collection event will tentatively take place in Q4 FY26 at Fort A.P. Hill, VA. In addition to an independent assessment, CPE A&E, in conjunction with DEVCOM C5ISR,  will provide your company the opportunity to collect data on threat-representative explosive hazards and complex obstacles, and will include day and night collection times. The company’s ATR-enabled sensor system must be self-supporting during the independent assessment under field conditions. The event will include a calibration area with known target locations to allow personnel to check functionality, operating condition, and make minor improvements to proposed systems under field conditions. Certain activities/companies may be restricted due to ITAR considerations. Additional information on this collection event will be provided at a later date.
   2. Participants interested in the live sensor evaluation mentioned in paragraph 5(a)(1) will also submit answers to (5)(2) (a) - (e) as part of your RFI response. (Maximum 5 pages, Sans Serif, minimum 12-point font, 1” margins. The 5-page collection event detail limitation is exclusive of the 10-page Technical Capability Narrative):
      1. A short description of the sensor system(s) (to include if you are proposing a UAS and/or a ground-based sensor) and algorithms your company plans to collect data with at the event.
      2. Number and type of sensors and/or cameras your company plans to bring to the event.
      3. Describe, in general, the algorithms that will be used to generate alarms in the data. Is the algorithm the result of supervised training? What, if any, training data was used?
      4. Can you run your ATR algorithms “real-time” on the sensor data as it is being collected? Is the ATR fully automated? If so, are you able to deliver the alarm files and sensor data files immediately after they are collected? If not, how long afterward can your ATR algorithm be run on the sensor data and the alarm declaration files and sensor data be delivered? 
      5. Describe how you plan to operate your sensor system against targets in the field.  For example, do you collect at a fixed altitude, specific field of view, , speed, percentage of overlap, etc?  Are there time of day, terrain, or environmental limitations to how your system will be used?   Has your system ever been integrated with a tactical network or any kind of neutralization systems?

6. Algorithm Assessment Event: Vendors with only an algorithm.

1. CPE A&E will conduct a lab-based algorithm assessment in 2026.  To participate in this independent assessment of your ATR algorithm, please submit a white paper via e-mail NLT 15 May 2026 IAW instructions provided in paragraph 7. 
   1. Any participation in such an event will be at no cost to the Government. The assessment event will take place within a Government laboratory. Additional information on this assessment event will be provided at a later date.
   2. Participants interested in the lab-based algorithm assessment mentioned in paragraph (6)(a)(1) will also submit applicable answers to (5)(2)(a) - (e) as part of your RFI response. (Maximum 5 pages, Sans Serif, minimum 12-point font, 1” margins. The 5-page collection event detail limitation is exclusive of the 10-page Technical Capability Narrative):
      1. A short description of the algorithm(s) your company is proposing.
      2. Describe, in general, the algorithms that will be used to generate alarms in the data. Is the algorithm the result of supervised training, semi-supervised, a foundation model? What, if any, training data was used, what types of targets and environments? Is the ATR fully automated?
      3. Past experience, locations tested or demonstrated

7. Submitting Questions and Responses to this RFI

1. Questions in regard to this notice should be submitted to the Contracting POCs and received no later than 8 May 2026.
2. Note that the company Point of Contact identified in the response will receive all information pursuant to this RFI.  All information marked as proprietary information will be safeguarded to prevent disclosures to non-government personnel and entities.
3. Response to this notice should be received no later than 15 May 2026. Respondents are requested to submit one electronic copy of the responses to the Contracting POCs. Include “ATR RFI W15QKN-26-Q-1BJK – YOUR COMPANY NAME” in the subject line. All requests for further information must be in writing or via e-mail; telephonic requests for additional information will not be honored.

POC: Steven Ghazi

Contracting Officer, ET Division

Army Contracting Command – New Jersey

9 Phipps Rd Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07801

e-mail: steven.s.ghazi.civ@army.mil

and

Jacqueline Smith

Contract Specialist, ET Division

Army Contracting Command – New Jersey

9 Phipps Rd Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07801

e-mail: Jacqueline.m.smith95.civ@army.mil

8. Data Rights: The Government desires that data be received with unlimited rights. However, the Government recognizes that proprietary data may be included with the information provided. If so, it is the responsibility of the interested party submitting data to clearly mark such proprietary information and clearly separate it from the unrestricted information as an addendum. No Classified data shall be provided via e-mail.