F-16 Interim Service Contract Six-Month Extension Sources Sought Synopsis

Solicitation Number: FA8621-11-R-6260 Notice Type: Sources Sought Synopsis: This effort is separate from the previous sources sought synopsis (FA8621-11-R-6254). The period of performance for this effort will be six-months from 01 May 2012-31 October 2012. All equipment is contractor owned; no equipment will be provided by the government. Please respond ONLY if you can provide ALL requirements listed below. F-16 Mission Training Center (MTC) Follow-on Services Sources Sought Notice Description I. Sources Sought Synopsis: This announcement constitutes a Sources Sought Synopsis (SSS), no solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) or an Invitation for Bid (IFB), nor is it to be construed as a commitment by the US Government to form a binding contract. Companies that respond will not be paid for the information submitted. a) The Government is conducting market research to identify, as potential sources, companies that may possess the expertise, capabilities, and experience to competently and competitively respond to requirements to provide training services for F-16 Mission Training Centers (MTC) following the end of the existing MTC services contract in April 2012. Only United States companies will be considered for contract award. b) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and Proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Companies responding to this market research are advised that participation does not ensure participation in future solicitations or contract awards. The Government will not reimburse any company or individual for any expenses associated with preparation or participation in this research. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this SSS. c) Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this Sources Sought Synopsis, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. d) Background: The F-16 MTCs are currently operating at the following Air Force Bases: Shaw, Misawa, and Spangdahlem. The F-16 MTCs are part of the Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) Program. DMO is an operational readiness initiative that networks geographically separated training devices in a real-time synthetic battlefield. It is scalable to provide individual, team, and team-of-teams combat training and mission rehearsal. It is the backbone for the Virtual Flag exercise used for AEF spin-up and the cornerstone of the AF training transformation. The F-16 MTC Integrated Product Team at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH is responsible for fielding aircrew training device capability that ensures the trainers maintain concurrency with the aircraft co-located at each base. Currently this capability is provided through a training simulation services contract that meets the Air Force requirements. This contract is programmed to end in April 2012. e) The Government anticipates a FAR Part 15, services contract with an extension of the current contract for six-months from 01 May 2012-31 October 2012. f) All current MTC equipment is contractor owned, in the required aircraft platform configuration and DMO standards, therefore no equipment will be provided by the Government. Any potential offeror must be able to provide fully operational F-16 units to the Air Force. All services will be housed in Government facilities and utilized by personnel designated by the government. Government-contracted instructors, separate from this acquisition, will use all aspects of the services in preparation for and conduct of lessons. g) Payment for training services under this contract will commence with start of service at each site. h) The purpose of this SSS is to determine offeror interest in providing training service support on contractor-owned fully operational F-16 MTC units to the Air Force. II. Program Requirements: a) This document specifies the performance requirements for the United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 Block 50 Mission Training Center (MTC) System Services that provide interim training services between the current contract, FA8621-07-D-6272, and the Full-Up F-16 Block 40/42/50/52 System Procurement contract. In this document the term Block 50 refers to F-16 Block 50/52. System Services refers to the total services provided under this contract, to include, but not limited to F-16 MTC simulation, security, mission control, and support capabilities. An F-16 Mission Training Center (MTC) shall consist of a four-ship F-16 system simulation along with scenario generation capability and two briefing/debriefing stations. Each System Simulation will consist of a representation of the appropriate F-16 aircraft model, both cockpit and software simulation, Instructor Operator Station (IOS), and a synthetic environment. Each F-16 MTC shall support basic and advanced mission training, tactics validation, operational test and evaluation, exercise support, and mission rehearsal, to include but not limited to, all weapons, internal and/or external sensors, communication systems, avionics systems associated with the F-16 Block 50, and operation in both local and Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) environments. Each F-16 MTC constitutes a DMO Federate System that can interoperate with other geographically distributed DMO Federate Systems, as part of a larger DMO Federation linked by the DMO Network (DMON), to provide real-time combat team training during scheduled DMO Events. The F-16 MTC shall provide a four ship system simulation that is capable of single-ship, local multi-ship, and long-haul multi-ship (DMO) training and mission operations at each operating location. The system simulation shall provide an ownship simulation; a realistic, high-fidelity synthetic environment with synthetic forces; all avionics and weapons; an IOS to control each cockpit; and a visual system with the full field-of-view (FOV) experienced by the pilot in the aircraft. System service at an operating location shall provide two brief/debrief rooms per F-16 MTC and a scenario generation system that is compatible with aircraft mission planning systems. b) The F-16 MTC shall support tactics validation, operational test and evaluation, exercise support, and mission rehearsal. For training, the F-16 MTC shall support Formal Training Unit (FTU) skills: transition, operation of aircraft sensors/systems, air-to-air, and air-to-ground, communications, data links, electronic system interface, or any other F-16 weapons system interactions. c) The system service shall support real-time virtual combat training by aircrew and other DMO participants. F-16 MTC system latency shall be minimized such that critical combat simulation interactions are realistic and accurate. This includes system internal and external interactions related to visual perception, communication, data links, electronic system interface, sensor and sensor jamming, electronic counter measures, or any other weapons system interactions that might incorrectly influence the outcome of an exercise or engagement during a local or DMO Events. F-16 MTC system latency shall not be detectable by the pilots during local training. F 16 MTC system latency shall not create false or unrealistic results with combat interactions during DMO Events. d) The system service capabilities shall be concurrent with F-16 Block 50/52 M5.1+ OFP at the MP09 DMO Standard. 1) Cockpits. The F-16 MTC shall provide high-fidelity cockpit representations of the F-16 Block 50 aircraft cockpits, including controls, displays, and avionics. Cockpit components shall provide high physical (3-dimensional) and functional fidelity of the actual F-16 Block 50 aircraft. This shall include as a minimum, map case, air conditioning vents, and ejection seat pitot booms. Ejection seat hardware shall support strapping in with existing F-16 life support gear, but is not required to be fully functional. The cockpits shall support aircrew chemical warfare (CW) training requirements and be compatible with actual CW equipment worn by the aircrew using the unmounted CW equipment (MBU-19P) internal batteries to provide the airflow. Cockpit controls, displays, and lighting (including external lighting effects) shall support all modes of employment including day and night vision operations. 2) Synthetic Environment. The F-16 MTC shall include a realistic, high fidelity synthetic environment capable of supporting a full range of mission training and operations for day/night, low altitude, and all-weather missions for the full range of weapon systems and sensors. The F-16 MTC shall provide an inter-correlated and intra-correlated environment for all visuals (OTW, NVG, EO/IR), audio, radar, datalink, electronic combat, navigation, weapons, mission functions, and Master Entity Database simulations used for all training and mission events. The synthetic environment shall support single, two, three, or four ship operations for stand-alone missions, local network missions, and DMO Events. The synthetic environment shall provide the capability to engage a full range of potential threats and targets, to include ground/surface/air forces and moving models, in accordance with operational Air Force mission planning systems generated scenarios. 3) Instructor Operator Station (IOS). The IOS shall provide the instructor with the capability to assess performance (tasks and tactics) and support real-time instruction to any cockpit or selected group of cockpits (local and DMO). The IOS shall provide the degree of oversight required to conduct formal aircrew qualification and mission evaluations from the IOS by a flight examiner. The capability to select and monitor any combination of all displays and instrument indications of each cockpit shall be provided. The capability to rapidly select and simultaneously view four cockpit displays or sensors shall be provided. The capability to select and view four cockpit displays or sensors shall be user friendly for minimal delay and disruption to the console instructor. The IOS shall provide the capability to select an overhead God's eye view of the engagement area with the capability to zoom in and out, and 3-dimensionally rotate any areas of interest, and turn on/off entity trails. The IOS shall provide the capability to insert malfunctions during generation, setup, or execution of scenarios (preprogram or manually input) for all aircraft, systems, and weapons. The IOS shall have the capability for secure private communication with any other IOS within the F-16 MTC and with any individual crew under its control. 4) Visual Display System. The visual simulation shall provide high fidelity OTW and sensor (including NVIS and Helmet Mounted Cueing System (HMCS)) views correlated together along with all displayed information in the cockpit to support instruments, navigation, A/G, and A/A missions. Visual cues presented to the pilot shall simulate those in the F-16 aircraft and shall not present false, erroneous, or inappropriate perceptions that would adversely impact aircrew training. The visual simulation shall support realistic Detection, Orientation, Recognition, Identification (DORI), target range, aspect angle, and closure rate determination by crew members for all targets and threats. The visual simulation shall support mission report functions such as visual Line-of-Sight (LOS) ranging, LOS material property, LOS entity ID, height of terrain, weapons impact detection, collisions detection, and intervisibility testing. Terrain and other solid objects shall appropriately limit physical flyout of weapons. The visual simulation shall display realistic representations of hostile and friendly weapons effects (e.g., missiles in flight, AAA, bomb detonations, cluster bomb detonations, smoke columns, multi-state damaged models, countermeasures, SAM launch blast, SAM trajectory, and gun tracer trajectory). 5) Networking. The F-16 MTC shall be capable of providing distributed exercise and regular recurring DMO participation. The system shall interoperate with other existing and planned DMO Systems and shall comply with the adopted DMO System Standards. The F-16 MTC shall operate as a participating DMO Federate System in the DMO System for distributed network training. The F-16 MTC shall support the simultaneous conduct of any combination of local single-ship and networked missions, and DMO Events. The DMON will be interconnected with other Department of Defense (DoD) military services' training systems in the future to accommodate Joint Task Force (JTF) training. The F-16 MTC shall not develop any unique architecture or non-standards-compliant interfaces that would preclude or otherwise limit DMO connectivity and interoperability. No degradation in operating performance shall be noticed in the F-16C MTC when operating in the DMO environment except as limited by fidelity or interoperability of external entities not under the control of the F-16 MTC. All missions and operations supported in the local training modes shall be supported in the DMO environment. This includes training with external constructive, virtual, or live entities. 6) Briefing/Debriefing (B/DB) Capability. The F-16 MTC shall include two B/DB capable rooms. The B/DB rooms shall have a minimum occupancy of 8 people per room. The B/DB rooms shall be interchangeable and B/DB shall be able to operate simultaneously at multiple levels of security. The B/DB shall support mission generation/modification capabilities. The B/DB shall provide simultaneous video teleconferencing to support briefing and debriefing without degrading any local mission or DMO Event in progress. The B/DB capability shall operate at the same network security level as the mission being supported. The briefing capability shall support commercial briefing presentation formats commonly used by F-16 instructors and flight leads for accessing and presenting squadron briefings. The briefing capability shall support pre-mission planning and briefing to prepare F-16 pilots for any existing mission scenario, and shall be interoperable with Air Force mission planning systems. For DMO Events, the briefing capability shall support simultaneous viewing of presentation data with secure distributed participant teleconference video and audio. The debriefing capability shall support debriefing of the F-16 pilots for any recorded mission scenario. The debriefing capability shall permit the playback of recorded segments of a mission scenario from each local cockpit's perspective and a God's eye view at normal and accelerated speeds. The debriefing capability shall display a summary on the effectiveness of maneuvers, countermeasures, weapons delivery, and the percentage of damage incurred on a target for battle damage assessment. B/DB shall include a large display three-dimensional or God's eye view (vertical, horizontal, or from any point in space) of the scenario with a zoom capability to observe selected views of the engagement. Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) performance may be used as a guide. The B/DB capability shall support mission situational awareness by providing mission playback from any perspective of the battlefield, selectable cockpit views (friendly, neutral, hostile), stealth views and tied/wingman visuals with appropriate parameters (friendly, neutral, or hostile), while simultaneously displaying information from all F-16 MTCs. B/DB shall include a display area per cockpit simulator to allow simultaneous display of each crew's recorded information. Changing views or display options shall be available real-time during playback. e) F-16 pilots obtain over 20 percent of their overall training events through the MTC; therefore, Air Combat Command requires no break in training during the transition from the incumbent contractor. f) F-16 MTCs must be delivered and maintained in a fully operational status that remains concurrent with the home station aircraft configuration and that maintains the ability to be available for use at least 95 percent of the time. The operational hours for Shaw AFB are ten (10) hours per day, five (5) days a week; Misawa and Spangdahlem operate eight (8) hours per day, five (5) days a week. III: In response to this SSS, please provide the following information: Part I: Business Information: Please provide the following business information for your company and for any teaming or joint venture partners: - Company Name: - Address: - Point of Contact: - CAGE Code: - Phone Number: - E-mail Address: - Web Page URL: North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code: 541990 - All other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Based on the above NAICS Code, state whether your company is: - Small Business* (Yes / No) - Woman Owned Small Business (Yes / No) - Small Disadvantaged Business (Yes / No) - 8(a) Certified (Yes / No) - HUBZone Certified (Yes / No) - Veteran Owned Small Business (Yes / No) - Service Disabled Small Business (Yes / No) - Central Contractor Registration (CCR) (Yes / No) (*) If you answered yes, please explain whether your company would be capable of meeting the requirements of FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting. Part II: Capabilities: a) Indicate the current locations of the three (3) F-16 MTCs to be used and the date of their availability for training as the Government will require testing of these MTCs to determine their capabilities meet the current program requirements before they are shipped to their new locations. b) Describe your company's past and current experience in providing simulation services for F-16 fighter aircraft combat training systems. c) Describe your version of the F-16 MTC to provide training services for three (3) fully operational MTCs that meet the requirements stated above, worldwide, in April of 2012 and provide the training capability including proof of meeting availability requirement. The government requires no training interruptions between service contracts. Please provide your approach to accommodate this requirement and your risk mitigation strategy. d) Describe your company's approach to install the MTC equipment within sixty (60) days of contract award. The MTC must already be built, DMO compliant, and ready for training with full CLS support in place as described in the program requirements section. e) Describe your company's experience in providing simulation services for DMO compliant networked high-fidelity training devices and simulations for fighter aircraft combat training systems. Include a brief description of the work performed, length of effort, and agency/organization supported. [Please limit the response to this paragraph to no more than three (3) pages.] f) Describe your specific capabilities with networked, high-fidelity, fast-jet training devices and simulations, and threat generation for combat training in a classified environment. g) Are there any other relevant topics, concerns, and information that will help the Government in forming an acquisition strategy? Please e-mail your responses to shelley.coffe@wpafb.af.mil and julianne.rinkinen@wpafb.af.mil E-mail must be received no later than 1400 EDT, 29 August 2011. Also, please mail an original signed copy of your response, postmarked on or before the same date, to: ASC/WNS Attn: Shelley Coffe 2300 D Street, Bldg 32 Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7249 (937) 255-4931