Missile Defense Agency Engineering Team Industry Support (RFI)

This is a research and development sources sought notice requesting information from Industry for assistance with the Missile Defense Systems Engineering and Integration (SE&I) efforts supporting the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). In accordance with (IAW) FAR 15.201(e), responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Request for Information (RFI) or to otherwise pay for the submission of any information in response to this notice. Any response will be treated as information only and shall not be used as a proposal. The release of this synopsis is to gain information on sources and capabilities. MDA is seeking industry partners to provide SE&I services to work in concert with the Government's MDA Engineering team to plan, define, design, test, and assess the MDA BMDS. The BMDS is an integrated, "layered" architecture that provides multiple opportunities to destroy adversary missiles and their warheads before they can reach their targets. The system's architecture includes: Integrated and networked sensors including space, ground, and sea-based platforms for target detection and tracking Integrated Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications including the weapon system fire control and networks providing the warfighter with the needed links between the sensors and interceptor missiles Ground- and sea-based interceptor missiles for destroying a ballistic missile using either the force of a direct collision, called "hit to kill" or kinetic technology, or an explosive blast fragmentation warhead. For additional information on the MET-I mission see: www.mda.mil. MDA Engineering Team (MET): The MET-I Team is composed of four communities, each bringing a unique perspective or viewpoint to planning, defining, designing, testing, and assessing the BMDS. The four communities are the government (military and civilian), Federally Funded Research and Development / University Advanced Research Centers (FFRDC/UARC), Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) contractors, and Industry. MET-Industry Firewall Construct: The firewall infrastructure required at a minimum shall include hardware protection and procedures to guard against unauthorized or inappropriate disclosure of proprietary and/or sensitive information in use by the team, as well as prevention of potential organizational conflict of interest (OCI issues, and safeguarding of information to be used in future competitive acquisitions. Document markings and procedures for "MET-I Controlled Data" provides additional protection and formal processes for distribution outside the firewall. MDA is requesting information on capabilities from interested companies on their management teaming approach and expertise and innovative and efficient methods for conducting SE&I for the BMDS, which effectively incorporates the Aerospace Industry prime contractor perspective. The response should specifically include plans for how the companies would leverage industry's prime contractor expertise in the development and fielding of the BMDS components and ability to reach back to current BMDS producers as needed. In particular, MDA is soliciting capabilities of companies to support MDA with an Industry perspective for the capability development, system design, integration, verification, and assessment for the BMDS. Define ability of the responder to provide all of the requirements listed in the following areas (listed in order of importance) Teaming Arrangement / Management: Area 1: Efficient and Inclusive Team Approaches: Recommend logical and legal teaming approaches that may be innovative or non-traditional that you may select to incorporate relationships with existing and future BMDS system developers and producers that will likely require routine access to proprietary data from other corporate or independent organizations approved to team with the government. Area 2: System Engineering Processes: Discuss your understanding and approach to the capabilities-based systems engineering process. Capabilities-based system engineering processes must be highly collaborative between the system and subsystem levels and across the MDA Engineering Team communities. Discuss how your process relates to and efficiently integrates the corresponding phases of the systems engineering process. Discuss your organization's prior and current experience supporting Special Access Programs (SAP). Area 3: Points of Contact: List current or past Federal Government Points of Contact and contact information for Government organizations you have or had contracts requiring extensive experience in the development and implementation of capabilities-based system engineering processes and management. Engineering Competencies: Area 1: System Design and Requirements: Develop detailed architecture, functional performance and integration requirements and design, driving development and integration of the BMDS. Area 2: BMDS Concept Development: Determine capability needs, architecture options, concept definition analysis of alternatives, concept requirements, and interface definition for evolution of the BMDS to address critical gaps to objective BMDS capabilities. Area 3: Technical Reviews: Discuss your organization's history and capabilities participating in technical and programmatic meetings and working groups, Peer Reviews and Boards, as well as interactions with other Department of Defense (DoD) organizations. Area 4: Modeling and Simulation: Develop BMDS models and simulation requirements to enable accurate representation of the BMDS to support Ground Test (GT)/System Post Flight Reconstruction (SPFR) and Performance Assessments (PA) resulting in increased confidence in the assessment of the BMDS. Area 5: Integration and Verification: Develop BMDS integration planning documentation driving software/hardware (SW/HW) deliveries to support capability deliveries. Development of requirement verification plans to support the technical assessment providing the rationale supporting capability delivery decisions. Develop direction to the test community to ensure sufficient data is collected to enable Models & Simulation Verification Validation & Accreditation to support high confidence BMDS capability verification and assessment. Area 6: Cyber-Security: Assess current and future BMDS designs ability to withstand and counter cyber security threats and vulnerabilities that could cause an impact on BMDS mission capabilities. Develop BMDS specification requirements for counter-cyber-security designs to ensure that BMDS design, development, and verification address cyber requirements in accordance with (IAW) Agency, Combatant Commands (COCOMs), DoD, and Federal Government Directives. Facilities and Infrastructure: Area 1: Facilities: Off-site facilities convenient to government center-of-gravity operations at Redstone Arsenal, AL to execute the contract to include such collateral actions such as building maintenance and operations. Area 2: IT Infrastructure: Secure communications across military and commercial communication systems; while also ensuring compliance with the MET-I firewall construct as defined above. Ability to perform model based extensive analysis using proprietary models and data. Maintain extensive databases in System Architect and Dynamic Object Oriented Requirements System (DOORS) with supporting analyses. Data processing at multiple levels of security, up to SAP and sensitive compartmented information (SCI) programs. The Government does not intend to limit either the number or types of teaming arrangements entered into by potential responders (i.e., any given contractor may respond to this RFI as a prime contractor and/or participate as a subcontractor on one or more other teams responding to this RFI). The Government does not intend to impose restrictions on team membership after award, except as necessary to prevent Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) issues IAW FAR 9.5 between this requirement and advisory and assistance contracts supporting MDA Engineering. This effort requires that contractor personnel hold, SECRET level security clearance. A select number of contractor personnel must be eligible for TOP level SECRET clearance. Please submit your company's response encompassing capabilities for each of the three (3) Teaming Arrangement/Management areas, six (6) Engineering Competency areas, and two (2) Facilities and Infrastructure areas listed. You may include a statement of interest, qualifications, experience, expertise, products and any relevant corporate literature and product data. Please submit the information requested in the same order and using the same Area numbering scheme in this notice to facilitate review by the Government. Replies will be separated from, and have no bearing on, evaluation of proposals submitted in response to any future formal Request for Proposal. Information received in response to this request may be used by the Missile Defense Agency for acquisition planning and solicitation preparation activities. Eligibility in participating in a future acquisition does not depend upon a response to this notice. MDA will not critique the responses to this notice. MDA does not intend to pay for the information solicited and will not reimburse any costs associated with responding to this RFI; therefore all submissions shall not exceed 25 pages. Proprietary information is neither sought nor desired by MDA. If such information is submitted, it must clearly be marked "proprietary" on every sheet containing such information, and the proprietary information must be segregated to the maximum extent practicable from other portions of the response (e.g., use an attachment or exhibit). Interested business concerns' response shall not to exceed 25 page, single sided, 8.5 inch x 11 inch pages using Times New Roman 12 pt. font, with 1 inch margins on top, bottom and sides (11 inch x 14 inch or 11 inch x 17 inch foldouts shall be counted as two pages). Small businesses responding to this RFI must include business size and business socio-economic category. The response should be sent by e-mail to the Contracting Officer, Cassandra Pendergraft; Cassandra.pendergraft@mda.mil by by Close of Business (COB) on November 17, 2017. Any questions and all responses should include the company name, address, and phone number, and the name, e-mail address and phone number of the point or points of contact within your organization. Approved for Public Release 17-MDA-9399 (26 Oct 17)