GPS ANTI-JAM ANTENNA SYSTEM for Army Platform

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. THIS REQUEST IS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES, AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT, INVITATION FOR BIDS, REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, QUOTES OR AN INDICATION THAT THE GOVERNMENT WILL CONTRACT FOR THE ITEMS CONTAINED IN THIS NOTICE. AFTER REVIEWING THE DESCRIPTIONS CURRENTLY POSTED TO FEDBIZOPPS, INTERESTED CAPABLE VENDORS ARE INVITED TO PROVIDE RESPONSES. THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT REIMBURSE RESPONDENTS FOR ANY COST ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUBMISSSION OF THE INFORMATION BEING REQUESTED OR REIMBURSE EXPENSES INCURRED TO THE INTERESTED PARTIES FOR REPONSES. Additionally, your response will be treated only as information for the Government to consider. As previously stated respondents will not be entitled to payment for direct or indirect costs that are incurred in responding to this RFI. Furthermore, this request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter into negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by the Army in developing its acquisition strategy, Statement of Work/Performance Work Statements and/or Statement of Objectives. Interested parties are responsible to adequately mark proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response accordingly. Synopsis: 1. Overview As one of the subprograms of Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing (A-PNT), AJAS enables continuous GPS signal acquisition and tracking in a navigation warfare, i.e. jamming, environment. Direct Reporting Program Manager Positioning, Navigation and Timing (DRPM PNT) is seeking information from industry on products and solutions for the development and production of AJAS that are suitable for use on Army platforms - predominantly ground vehicles - in operational environments. This Request for Information (RFI) is a follow up to an RFI on this subject that was released in November 2014. The Army is interested in any further technological developments pertaining to the topics and questions in sections 2 and 3, a number of which were contained in the previous RFI. 2. Technical Information The Army is interested in two classes of AJAS configurations: A low-cost AJAS with the Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) suitable for a wide range of Army vehicles; and a high performance AJAS suitable for selected platforms and fixed-site locations. The primary technical requirements of the AJAS include: - Power reduction for various types of jamming waveforms including broadband, narrow band, continuous wave (CW), pulsed CW, swept CW, and spectrally matched. - Power reduction for jammers from any directions to the GPS receivers - For use with existing receivers including Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR) and DAGR Distributed Device (D3) as well as future Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) receivers - For use with C/A-, P(Y)-, M-code as well as pseudolite receivers, in L1 and L2 frequency bands. The AJAS shall be compatible with Spot Beam and pseudolite signals. - Provision of control, monitor and test interface for use with GPS receiver, host platform, and test applications As the industry's AJAS development efforts proceed further, the Army will look for a best solution in terms of the performance, SWaP, cost, and schedule. The Army seeks information from industry on AJAS technologies and products deemed applicable to the Army platforms. 3. Requested Information Companies who believe they are capable of providing all or part of the requirements described above are requested to answer the following questions: 1. System Performance and Maturity a. What is the current state of AJAS technology? b. What level of performance can be offered, and what are the associated SWaP requirements? c. What is industry currently doing to improve technology? d. What improvements are likely in the future? e. For null-forming antennas, what are the physical barriers to improving the number of nulls and null depth in a given form factor? 2. Additional Capabilities a. What ancillary capabilities are available in AJ antennas to provide information on attitude/heading and direction of arrival or other electronic support measures? b. How effectively can firmware updates/upgrades be used with AJAS to offer incremental capability releases and/or respond to future compatibility/threat concerns? c. What architectures would best implement the incorporation of these additional capabilities with the base anti-jam functionality, and what are the trade-offs - changes in performance, SWaP-C, manufacturability, reliability, etc. - associated with them? What would the estimated SWaP be for any recommended combined solution? 3. Interface Requirements a. What are the physical, RF, digital, and electrical power interface requirements? 4. Non-Antenna Approaches to Anti-Jam a. Are there non-antenna (i.e. not relying on adaptive antenna technology) technologies that have been or are being matured to provide anti-jam capabilities? b. If so, what level of performance do they currently provide? Can they be used in combination with traditional AJ antennas? c. How do they compare to traditional AJ antennas in terms of SWaP-C, integration factors, technological limitations, etc.? 5. Cost a. What are the current drivers for cost? b. How could costs be driven down? c. How far could costs be driven down employing these strategies? 6. AJAS Experience a. What experience does your company have developing, producing, and fielding AJAS? b. For fielded AJAS, what platform(s) were they integrated on? c. What experience does your company have in partnering with a U.S. organic depot (for example Tobyhanna Army Depot)? 7. Sustainment a. What is the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) for your AJAS, and is this based on calculations or empirical data? b. For fielded AJAS, was it a Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) or could the antenna be repaired in the field; and if so, to what degree? For an AJAS that has not yet been fielded, what would be the intent? c. For fielded AJAS, what has been the average repair cost? Interested companies who believe they are capable of providing all or part of the information requested above are invited to indicate their interest by providing: 8. Company Information to include: a. Company name b. Company address c. CAGE code [if applicable] d. Business Point of Contact (POC) name, e-mail address, and telephone e. Technical Point of Contact (POC) name, e-mail address, and telephone 9. Responses may be submitted in respondent's preferred format. Abbreviations should be defined either on first use or in a glossary. Charts and graphics should have quantitative data clearly labeled. Assumptions should be clearly identified. 10. Proprietary and other sensitive information should be so marked with requested disposition instructions. Submitted materials will not be returned. 11. Please send responses via E-mail to the following: Jeremy Scott jeremy.d.scott36.civ@mail.mil Caroline Waiyaki caroline.w.waiyaki.civ@mail.mil 12. Paper submissions, electronic media, or physical samples may be sent to: Program Manager Positioning, Navigation and Timing ATTN Jeremy Scott 6006 Combat Drive APG, MD 21005 13. Reponses are requested by not later than 25 August 2016. Interested parties are encouraged to respond early. 14. Submitted responses shall be UNCLASSIFIED unless prior arrangements are made with PM PNT.