MICROWAVE RADIO FREQUENCY CABLE TEST CAPABILITY

Disclaimer This is a Request for Information (RFI) is for market research. 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 RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and 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. No solicitation document exists and formal solicitation may or may not be issued by the Government as a result of the responses to this RFI. No award is intended as a result of this synopsis. The Government will not reimburse costs incurred by Respondent in response to this RFI or for participating in information exchange regarding details of the RFI. This RFI is restricted to U.S. corporations. The Government and its Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance contractors will review the responses to this RFI. Synopsis The Project Management Office Aircraft Survivability Equipment (PMO ASE) is seeking commercial or military solutions to detect and isolate faults associated with microwave RF cables installed on Army aircraft. The intent is to field a capability that will enable Army soldiers at the unit level to support maintenance actions related to microwave RF cables. The Army requires the ability to test the microwave RF cable assembly installed on the aircraft in order to ensure cable integrity remains intact following installation and maintenance actions. It is critical to unit maintainers to be able to determine if cable performance is not in accordance with conditions contained in the system specification for insertion loss as well as have the ability to isolate the point of cable damage for replacement or repair. In addition to testing cables after installation or maintenance action, it is also important to conduct testing periodically to determine the status of the system's RF integrity. The PMO desires a test set capability that will deliver results in a pass/fail format as well as provide a diagnostic that indicates approximately where the fault is occurring to assist in the maintenance action. The Army is looking for commercial-off-the-shelf equipment which may include some application specific programming. All commercial equipment will be considered however, military ruggedized equipment is desired. Proposed solutions should include calibration requirements and vendor support capabilities. Required capabilities by priority. The intent of this Sources Sought is to assess the state-of-the art technology available in RF cable test products that could be applied to meet this requirement. The Government envisions a solution that meet the following operational requirements. 1. Fault detection. The capability to determine (pass/fail) when microwave RF cables are not operating within specification. Test equipment must ensure specification compliance of cables operating across the microwave frequency range. 2. Fault isolation. The capability to isolate the affected RF cable and/or the location of the detected loss in the RF cable to aid in maintenance. 3. Power requirements. The capability to operate using alternating current or direct current (battery) power. Batteries must be rechargeable overnight and the system must be able to operate under battery power for not less than 10 hours before recharging. 4. Packaging, Handling, Storage and Transportation. The test set shall not require new or additional actions, procedures, and techniques for packaging, handling, storage, or transportation from those already in use by the US Army. Total system weight should not exceed 35 pounds. 5. Maintenance Planning. All components of the test set shall be easily assembled, used and maintained. The test set design shall not require specialized tools to run or maintain the test set at the organizational maintenance level. 6. High Temperatures. The test set shall meet all specified performance requirements when operating in ambient air temperature up to and including 55?C. The test set shall suffer no damage or degradation of performance after being subjected to ambient air temperatures up to including 71?C while not operating. 7. Low Temperatures. The test set shall meet all specified performance requirements when operating in ambient air temperature down to and including -10?C. The test set shall suffer no damage or degradation of performance after being subjected to ambient air temperatures down to including -30?C while not operating. 8. Environment. The test set shall meet specified performance requirements when subjected to environmental conditions derived from expected ground operations of the aircraft to be supported. The test set shall permit full operating capability when exposed to operating environments. During periods of non-operation (including shipment and storage), the equipment shall be capable of exposure to more extreme environmental conditions without damage or degradation. 9. Set-up/Tear-Down Time. The test set design shall support a one-person setup and tear down. The test set design shall support a setup and tear down time of 5 minutes each, for all test configurations. The setup time excludes pulling the tester out of flight line storage, transportation to the job site and aircraft preparation. The setup time includes setup prior to test execution, and tear down after job completion. 10. Manpower and Personnel. The test set design shall support operation and maintenance within the existing manpower levels, and shall be operable by one technician in all modes. The test set shall not present undesirable or uncontrolled ergonomic hazards to personnel. 11. Water Resistance. The test set shall withstand exposure to moisture in accordance with the requirements of MIL-PRF-28800F and MIL-STD-810F. Instructions Responses MUST contain at minimum the following information: - A one page summary of the party's experience - A clear and concise description of the microwave RF cable test capability (not to exceed 10 pages in length) that also includes; - Battery life and charging time - Recommended laboratory calibration interval - Per unit price Responses may include solutions developed for other services or commercial applications. Responses may also include solutions for other applications (i.e. ground systems), but must show transferability to an aircraft maintenance environment. Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a white paper(s) addressing the above requested information. Currently available existing support documentation may also be included in submissions. Multiple submissions for different capabilities will be accepted. Submission of proprietary and other sensitive information shall be marked and identified with disposition instructions (submitted material will not be returned). The Government will review the submitted responses and may schedule further discussions with responding vendors individually. All emailed questions and RFI responses shall contain the subject line: "Microwave RF Cable Test Capability". Submissions can be through electronic mail only. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted. Interested offerors shall respond to this sources sought no later than 1600 (CST) on 25 October 2019. All interested contractors must be registered and active in the System for Award Management (SAM) to be eligible for award of Government contracts. All responses to this RFI shall be submitted via email to Mr. Christopher Williams, Contracting Officer at christopher.b.williams94.civ@mail.mil Responses shall be in electronic format, either ".docx" or ".pdf". White paper submissions shall be limited to twenty pages in length; there will be no limit on the submission of currently available materials. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities website located at http://fbo.gov/. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked proprietary will be handled accordingly.