FY27-32 Long Endurance Electronic Decoy Production / Technical Engineering Services

1. SYNOPSIS In accordance with FAR 15.201 and in anticipation of a potential future procurement program, this sources sought notice is being issued by the Department of the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), on behalf of the Program Executive Office (PEO) Integrated Warfare Systems (IWS) 2.0 Above Water Sensors Directorate. The Government is conducting market research to determine industry interest and capability in regards to production and technical engineering services requirements for the Long Endurance Electronic Decoy (LEED). The Government is especially interested in large and small businesses with the capability and interest to be the primary contractor. Please refer to Enclosure (1) for the system overview and background. This sources sought notice is intended for planning purposes only and is issued solely for conducting market research in accordance with FAR Part 10. This does NOT constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP). The Government is NOT seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals. This notice shall NOT be construed as a contract, a promise to contract, or a commitment of any kind by the Government. If a solicitation is issued in the future, it will be announced via the SAM.gov website, and interested parties must comply with that announcement. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any questions submitted or information provided as a result of this sources sought notice. 2. RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS 2.1 General. Interested parties shall submit responses via email to Michael Titus at micahel.d.titus.civ@us.navy.mil; Contracting Officer, Thomas Williams, at Thomas.D.Williams220.civ@us.navy.mil; and Contract Specialist, Celia Gonzalez, at celia.a.gonzalez4.civ@us.navy.mil by the closing date and time of this sources sought notice. The subject field of the email should contain "LEED Sources Sought." Responses should provide sufficient detail for assessment of potential contracting strategies and company interest. Failure to provide a response does not preclude participation in any possible future RFP, if issued. Please be advised that all submissions in response to this sources sought notice will become Government Property and will not be returned. Submitters should properly mark their responses with the appropriate restrictive markings. Information that is proprietary or competition sensitive will be protected from disclosure under the public records law only if properly labeled as such. Specific responses to the approaches will not disqualify or have an impact on participation and evaluation on future solicitations. Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing via e-mail to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer's email addresses. Verbal questions will not be accepted. Questions shall not contain classified information. 2.2 Page Format. Respondents to this sources sought notice must adhere to the following requirements: Submissions shall be single spaced in Times New Roman font with text no smaller than 12-point font. Page size should be 8.5 x 11 inches. The top, bottom, and side margins must be at least 1 inch. Any text contained within tables, graphs, figures should be 8-point Times New Roman font or larger. Included files should be created/prepared using Microsoft Office 2010 compatible applications. Graphics, photographs, and other data that may not be compatible with Microsoft Office 2010 should be submitted in Adobe Acrobat format. Submitted electronic files should be limited to the following extensions: .docx Microsoft Word .xlsx Microsoft Excel .pptx Microsoft PowerPoint .pdf Adobe Acrobat .mmpx Microsoft Project *.mdzip Packed MagicDraw File Format 2.3 Page Limitations. The white paper shall not exceed 10 single-sided pages. Each page must be counted except for the following: Cover Sheet Company Profile Table of Contents List of Abbreviations & Acronyms 2.4 Content. Responses shall be organized into the following sections with the following information: Cover Sheet - Sources sought notice number and title, date of submission, company name, company address, and technical point of contact containing a printed name, title, email address, and telephone number Company Profile - Include the following information: Company Name Company Address Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code Point of Contact E-mail Address Website address Telephone Number Business Category/Size (e.g., large, small disadvantaged, veteran, woman owned, etc.) Table of Contents General Response Information - The Navy requests responses to the following: Describe your capabilities and experience with Electronic Warfare offboard autonomous Decoy tactics, design, development, and transition to production. Include any applicable information relating to test processes, subcontractor/vendor management, and manufacturing process controls. Describe approaches you have found successful when managing risk and improvements to critical components found in offboard decoys such as the prime power sources, high power amplifiers and antennas. The Government is particularly interested in avenues that provide flexibility for incorporating improvements while managing systems fielded. Describe your experience working with modular systems and approaches you would recommend to embrace the payload modularity concept of the LEED program to include potential development, integration, test, and fielding of additional payloads. Please address methods that would be used to ensure that multiple modular payloads would all meet mission requirements (for example Ring Down) on the same flight vehicle. Describe how you would approach production qualification testing; to include system qualification for environmental, electromagnetic interference, shock, and vibration requirements as applicable. Describe your approach for continuing to monitor systems produced from multiple vendors and ensuring the final product satisfies requirements. Identify critical corporate capabilities and certifications that would aid the production or design modifications. Examples of capabilities and certifications include knowledge of information assurance, quality processes, Failure Analysis and Corrective Actions, and International Standards Organizations Certifications. Describe your management approach to ensure the design is procurable throughout the life cycle. Address approaches for qualifying replacement components, addressing life cycle supportability, minimizing commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) obsolescence issues and maximizing interchangeability with current and future system configurations. Describe your experience and approach to providing training support such as curriculum development, in-person training, and/or remote support. Describe your experience and approach to providing depot and production support to include product certification, component monitoring, and refurbishment. Provide the expected place(s)/address(es) where the production work and test would be performed. Identify if your company has the capability to be a prime contractor or if it is only interested in subcontracting opportunities. Describe your approach and experiences to transitioning a Model Based Systems Engineering design methodology into a Production engineering and Product support methodology. Additionally, feel free to include Model based approaches or examples to any of the general response categories within the solicitation. Example model methodologies are encouraged to help illustrate concepts. Describe your experiences coordinating, programming, and flying multiple decoys within the maritime environment around Naval vessels. Please specifically address how many decoys have been coordinated in a relevant environment at one time along with growth potential. Segregate proprietary information by properly marking and clearly identifying any proprietary information or trade secrets contained within their response. The Government will not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information not properly marked and clearly identified. Proprietary information received in response to this sources sought notice will be safeguarded and handled in accordance with applicable Government regulations. List of Abbreviations & Acronyms 2.5 Classification. Interested parties must ensure responses are unclassified and appropriately marked. If a potential respondent believes submission of classified material is necessary or will provide a higher quality response, please contact Michael Titus with a copy to the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist. 2.6 Deadline. Interested parties shall submit their response via email to Michael Titus at michael.d.titus.civ@us.navy.mil; Contracting Officer, Thomas Williams, at Thomas.d.williams220.civ@us.navy.mil; and Contract Specialist, Celia Gonzalez, at celia.a.gonzalez4.civ@us.navy.mil by 3:30pm Washington, DC local time on 20 December 2024. 3. DISCLAIMER This sources sought notice is issued solely for Market Research purposes. It does not constitute a RFP or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This sources sought does not commit the Government to solicit offers or award a contract. The information provided in this sources sought is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. The Government may request further information regarding respondents self-assessed capabilities and may request a presentation and/or a site visit. Any such requests would not signify preference nor solicitation. Respondents are advised that ALL costs associated with responding to this sources sought will be solely at the interested parties expense, and the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or costs incurred or associated with submitting a response to this sources sought. Primary Point of Contact: Celia Gonzalez, Contract Specialist celia.a.gonzalez4.civ@us.navy.mil Secondary Point of Contact: Thomas Williams, Contracting Officer Thomas.d.williams220.civ@us.navy.mil Enclosure (1): 1. Overview Companies would be required to produce multiple LEED systems per year. Companies may be required to provide Engineering Services. The company shall have significant expertise in electronic warfare design of airborne autonomous decoy systems to include testing, data collection, data analysis, software design, and hardware design. The company is required to have personnel with substantial experience performing on a program or project of a similar production for a United States Department of Defense Component. Specific expertise required but not limited to includes: Program Management Systems Engineering Software Engineering Hardware Engineering Radio Frequency (RF) Subject Matter Experts (SME's) with Engineering backgrounds Signal Processing SME's with Engineering backgrounds The company must have a facility capable of handling and storing classified (up to Secret) hardware, documentation, and test software. Upon request, the Government may provide environmental test facilities for initial environmental qualification testing and subsequent testing as required. 2. Background and Implied Requirements The effort consists of production, testing, and engineering services of LEED. The LEED system is designed to counter anti-ship missiles. The system consists of a countermeasure (the decoy), the canister/launching mechanism, and shipboard equipment. The countermeasure consists of a payload and a common air vehicle that can command/control payloads designed for specific missions. The canister/launching mechanism protects the countermeasure before it is deployed and is responsible for deploying the countermeasure to defend the ship against anti-ship missiles The shipboard equipment includes all hardware and software needed to command, control, communicate with the countermeasures both stored and deployed The LEED capability will be integrated with the AN/SLQ-32 system. LEED will be fielded on United States Navy ships and may be fielded on foreign ships . 3. Technical Data A Technical Data Package (TDP) is not available.