High Energy Radio-frequency Operations (HERO)

Sources Sought Title: High Energy Radio-frequency Operations (HERO) Date: 14 September 2018 DISCLAIMER: This is a Sources Sought (SS) under the Technical Information Engineering Services (TIES) Multiple Award Task Order Contract. This is NOT a request for Quotations or Proposals. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. This SS is issued to gain insight into capabilities available in the market and for planning purposes; this does not constitute a solicitation. In accordance with FAR 15.202 (e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government will not reimburse costs incurred by respondents in response to this SS, or for participating in information exchange regarding details of the SS. Only U.S. citizens and U.S. owned firms can respond to this SS. The U.S. Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG), Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005, on behalf of the Communications Electronics Research and Development Engineering Center (CERDEC) Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate (I2WD) Electronic Warfare Air/Ground Survivability (EWA/GS) Division, is conducting a Sources Sought to identify potential qualified sources for High Energy Radio-frequency Operations (HERO). HERO supports the family of AN/APR-39 Radar Signal Detecting Sets (RSDSs) Science and Technology development activities such as Advanced Threat Digital Receiver Enhancement (AnDRE) and Macrocell Receiver Conversion for mmW (MaRCm), the AN/ALQ-211 Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures (SIRFC) detection and countermeasure system, Radio frequency Electronic Warfare Technique Development (REWTD), and working knowledge of the EWAGS Radio Frequency System Integration Lab (RF SIL). Background and Description: AN/APR-39 The contractor shall provide support to design, develop, fabricate, and test prototype hardware and software associated with the APR-39 D(V)2 and S&T initiatives with regards to RF air/ground Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) and RF Electronic Countermeasure technologies. Technologies will include but are not limited to: MaRCm, AnDRE, advanced technique development, transmit antenna design, advanced RF signal characterization/de-interleaving software algorithms, and modeling of predicted performance. The contractor shall provide expert engineering and subject matter expertise related to technical data package development, specification generation, platform integration of ASE onto various aviation/ground assets, Airworthiness Release (AWR) process, Environmental/Qualification Testing and repair/refurbishment of test assets. SIRFC The contractor shall provide technical engineering services to develop Science and Technology enhancements to the fielded AN/ALQ-211 Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures (SIRFC) program. The contractor shall support the development of the detection algorithms were developed thereby being able to support algorithm development. The contractor shall support developing threat research which is necessary to identify the required signals that build up to a Mission Data Set (MDS) load for the SIRFC system. The contractor shall provide support to creating the mission data set load and performing the testing/validation/verification of the data prior to releasing the MDS for fielding in the Government on-site laboratory. Additionally, the contractor shall support integration of the Common Avionics Architecture System, (CAAS), into the SIRFC architecture in the Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate Radio Frequency Survivability Integration Laboratory. REWTD The contractor shall support the creation of counter radar technique generation and lab experimentation. The REWTD program consists of the creation of a closed loop radar and radar countermeasure test bed to develop and evaluate RF countermeasure (RFCM) and Radar System Electronic Protection (EP) techniques. The contractor shall support testing and integration, either through engineering support or by means of sub-contracting, to multiple RFCM and Radar System EP vendors when necessary. RF SIL The contractor shall provide technical support to Aircraft Survivability Equipment (ASE) programs. The contractor shall provide engineering services and expertise for the continued development of current and emerging technology solutions to support ASE systems and associated EWAGS programs and associated equipment/facilities. Services shall include acquisition, analysis, design, development and test of prototype hardware and software associated with Multi-Service fielded/next generation ASE systems, associated EWAGS Division programs and EWAGS associated equipment and laboratories. Services shall also include integration and upgrade with current technologies; evaluation of alternatives; and demonstration of various technologies. The contractor shall provide engineering support to existing and evolving complimentary technologies resulting in prototypes, integrated systems, and upgrades to the current ASE system(s) for subsequent integration, test, demonstration and fielding as needed. The contractor shall coordinate with I2WD project engineers to define task schedules for demonstrations, testing, and integration of equipment and systems in the RF SIL. The contractor shall assist Government project engineers in the execution of equipment maintenance and calibration for SIL test instrumentation, simulation systems, such as performing monthly calibration routines for the CESSIM systems in the RF SIL. The contractor shall support configuration management requirements; perform analyses and support demonstrations, tests and field experiments. The contractor shall assist in implementing modifications to the RF SIL systems so that they are capable of generating threats for both fielded and emerging weapon systems. The contractor shall provide laboratory and field test support, to include but not limited to hardware and software support, for I2WD managed and supported programs. The contractor shall review test plans, procedures, and interface control documents. The contractor shall assist in planning, conducting and analysis all testing, which may include obtaining the use of external contractor test facilities. The contractor shall provide engineering services and acquire materials for the development and testing of current and emerging hardware and software requirements to support the SIL and associated systems/equipment/facilities. The contractor shall provide technical services to design, develop and test prototype hardware and software associated with the RF SIL and associated system programs. These include the: Radar Warning Receivers (RWRs), AN/ALQ-211 Suite of Integration Radio Frequency (RF) Countermeasures, Laser and Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) countermeasure systems; ASE hot bench configurations (such as U.S. Army's Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS), Threat Simulators (to include but not limited to Combat Electromagnetic Environment Simulator (CEESIM), PLM-4 and Joint Services Electronic Combat Systems Tester (JSECTS)) and its associated ASE configurations). The contractor shall ensure that all sources, sensors, and instrumentation comply with interface requirements established for the RF SIL. The contractor shall prepare engineering documentation for all prototype equipment and systems that are integrated into the RF SIL, including software documentation. The contractor shall provide engineering services and acquire hardware and/or software necessary to support all RF SIL programs, initiatives and activities. The contractor shall provide engineering services and material acquisitions for current and emerging software requirements to support the RF SIL including software enhancements and software development. The contractor shall provide requisite personnel for the development and/or enhancement of software modules and routines for current and future RF SIL integration efforts and current and future simulation and modeling routines (i.e. CEESIM), Electronics Warfare Simulator (EWSIM), One Semi Automated Force s (OneSAF) Test Bed (OTB), Dedication EW Displays (DEWDs), Meggitt Displays, Multi-purpose Displays (MPDs), Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS), Rotary Wing Aircraft (RWA)). The contractor shall also develop status and control software, to include not limited to anechoic chamber pedestal control, 1553 data bus control, and data reduction capability, to facilitate the integration and testing of systems and equipment into the RF SIL. The contractor shall provide support in algorithm and software development in order to analyze data collects captured during fielding experiments/demonstrations. The contractor shall provide laboratory, anechoic chamber, field and contractor facility testing support on a wide variety of project types. Where required, the contractor shall actively participate in all testing activities taking initiative, to ensure that testing goals and schedules are met, and testing is completed to the satisfaction of the Government. The contractor shall provide all levels of technical and programmatic support for the Surface Emitter Target Tracking System (SETTS). The contractor shall maintain, install, and provide necessary operations for SETTS testing activities. The contractor shall provide laboratory and field test support, to include but not limited to hardware and software support, for I2WD EWAGS managed and supported programs, such as analysis of aircraft Avionics and ASE busses 1553 messages to determine flight test performance of the system under test, including but not limited to, the SIRFC and APR-39 systems. The contractor shall review and assist in the preparation of test plans, procedures, and interface control documents. The contractor shall assist in planning, conducting and analysis of all testing. Interested parties are requested to respond to this SS with a white paper and/or currently available existing support documentation. The responses shall include, but not be limited to: (a) description of the notional cost and schedule necessary to complete the task, and (b) references to any related publications, reports, and technical data analyses that further support the technical portion of the response. The Government will review the submitted responses and may schedule further discussions with responding vendors individually. Only U.S. citizens are authorized to respond to this SS. All emailed questions and SS responses shall contain the subject line: HERO SS. Responses shall be in electronic format, either ".docx" or ".pdf". White paper submissions shall be limited to ten (10) pages in length; there will be no limit on the submission of currently available materials. The Offerors must define terms, explain any technical/Army-specific jargon, and spell out acronyms on first use. All responses must be submitted to usarmy.apg.rdecom-cerdec.mbx.i2wd-ewags-quarterly-rfi-1@mail.mil no later than 12:00 p.m. est (noon) October 22, 2018. Responses shall not be above the level of Unclassified//For Official Use Only (FOUO). The KO and Specialist will not answer questions about this RFI via email or over the telephone. All questions must be sent to the email box included in this RFI. The information provided and received in response to this announcement is subject to the conditions set forth in FAR 52.215-3 -- Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes