Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) Risk Mitigation and Maturation

THIS IS NOT A NOTICE OF SOLICITATION ISSUANCE, BUT RATHER A SOURCES SOUGHT that will allow the Government to identify interested sources capable of meeting the requirement described in this notice. Interested sources can submit a capability statement to the Government Point of Contact identified below. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS: The Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) Competitive Prototype (CP) Project Office, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC), Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC), Technology Development Directorate's (TDD) Aviation Technology, requires developmental engineering, design, and prototyping support with the objective of technology risk mitigation and maturation to inform and accelerate acquisition decisions for FARA CP aircraft. The proposed work includes; design studies, analyses, simulation, testing, integration and fabrication activities in order to mitigate risks, investigate operational usage, and conduct maturation activities at the technology, subsystem and system-level maturation for the Bell Textron FARA-CP variant, the Bell 360 Invictus. The source must have access to the Bell 360 Invictus detailed design data and software models to perform the work. The Government does not have access to this detailed design data that it can disclose to potential sources for performance of the required work. Any interested sources capability statement must clearly address how it will perform the required work, including access to the Bell 360 Invictus detailed design data and software models. Background: Army Aviation must operate in highly contested/complex airspace and degraded environments against peer/near peer adversaries capable of an advanced integrated air defense system. The Army currently lacks the ability to conduct armed reconnaissance, light attack, and security with improved stand-off, and lethal and non-lethal capabilities with a platform-sized to hide in radar clutter and for the urban canyons of mega cities. To close this gap, the Army has envisioned an optionally manned, next generation rotorcraft with attributes of reduced cognitive workload, increased operational tempo (OPTEMPO) through ultra-reliable designs and extended maintenance free periods, and advanced teaming and autonomous capabilities. Teamed with unmanned systems and various air launched effects, this platform will be the center piece of the Integrated Air Defense System (IADS) breeching team to provide freedom of maneuver in a multi-domain battle. This platform is the - knife fighter of future Army Aviation capabilities, a small form factor platform with maximized performance. Critical to this envisioned platform is a resilient digital backbone designed to allow rapid capability advancement in subsystems and software and affordable life cycle management. This purpose-built aircraft will be fielded at echelons above division but other variants could be fielded across all aviation formations. To meet this gap, a Future Attack and Reconnaissance Aircraft Competitive Prototype aircraft is being designed, built and tested by Bell Textron under Other Transaction Agreement for Prototype (OTAP)# W911W6-19-9-0002. The Bell Textron design is currently still in competition for selection to an Engineering and Manufacturing Design (EMD) program. The proposed work will address design, fabrication, test, and prototyping work not included in the scope of the OTAP for the Bell 360 Invictus. ADMINISTRATIVE: The Government will review and consider all capabilities statements received by the closing date set forth in this notice. The Government retains the sole discretion on the decision whether or not to conduct a competition based upon information received in response to this notice. All capability statements should be sent to Rob Waible via e-mail at Robert.c.waible.civ@mail.mil. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. All responses are due within 15 calendar days of the posting date of this notice. The information sought herein is for planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a request for quote (RFQ), Request for proposal (RFP), Invitation for Bid (IFB), or as an obligation or commitment on the part of the Government to acquire any product or service. There shall be no basis for claims against the Government as a result of information submitted in response to the Sources Sought. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Sources Sought, or otherwise pay for any information submitted by respondents to this request. This notice is for market research purposes only and is not indicative of a full requirement. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this Sources Sought. All information received in response to this Sources Sought that is properly marked as "proprietary" will be protected as proprietary information. Such information will be reviewed by a team comprised of Government as well as Covered Government Support Contractors, as defined in Title 10 of the United States Code, Section 2320, providing technical assistance for the Government's preparation of an acquisition strategy. The Government officers and Covered Government Support Contractors have acknowledged their obligation to protect such information to the maximum extent permitted or required by the Economic Espionage Act, 18 U.S.C. 1831 et seq., and other applicable statutes or regulations. In addition, Government members will be reminded of their obligations to afford protection under the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905. All Covered Government Support Contractors are required to protect the information by the terms of their contracts. The Government will make a determination whether or not contractor personnel have organizational conflicts of interest that could adversely affect protection of the information. In an effort to ease the coordination for potential need of nondisclosure agreements between multiple parties as part of the Government's market research, the Government will treat all notice responses as proprietary and to disclose the contents only for the purpose of Government market research and acquisition planning activities. All proprietary information is submitted with the above understanding that these contractor technical experts will have access and should be marked accordingly. The Government shall not be liable for, or suffer any consequential damages, for any proprietary information not properly identified. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Proprietary information will be handled accordingly. Please be advised that submissions will not be returned.