Mobile Maritime Combined Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) System

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE. Request for Information - Maritime SIGINT and ELINT/COMINT Systems Introduction On behalf of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) International Fleet Support Program (PMS 326), the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Keyport (NUWC Keyport) is issuing this Sources Sought/Request for Information (SS/RFI) notice as a means of conducting market research to identify potential sources having an interest in, industry technologies available, and capability to support/fulfill an anticipated future requirement for a mobile maritime combined signals intelligence (SIGINT) system capable of Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) and Communications Intelligence (COMINT) with Specific Emitter Identification (SEI) capability in support of anticipated future Foreign Military Sales (FMS) requirements for a NATO Partner. The intent would be for such system, if procured, to be installed on an operational naval platform capable of blue-water operations. Responses addressing a combined ELINT/COMINT system/concept solution also meeting the identified SEI capability requirements is preferred. If a combined ELINT/COMINT system/solution is not available the government requests responses addressing only ELINT capability also meeting the identified SEI capability requirements. The results of this sources sought/market survey will assist the Government in developing potential requirements and contribute to determining the method of procurement, if a requirement materializes. The Government requests that interested parties submit electronically a brief description of your company, your company's solution, and your ability to meet potential system requirements. Submittals may not exceed 20 pages or 10 megabytes (MB). The government is principally interested in a product or products that are of a high Technology Readiness Level (TRL) - or an end item that is non-developmental but has been demonstrated in an operational environment, not just a lab, and is the integration of high TRL products. Furthermore, the government is interested in solutions or a family of solutions that are currently fielded or being fielded for defense/intelligence applications with a broad and well-established user base (i.e. NATO partners). (Fielded meaning mature or ready state at least TRL 5). Your interest in the RFI and your response is appreciated. Disclaimer This SS/RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes - it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. The government anticipates a full and open competition for the procurement should it occur. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Navy is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. The Government does not possess or cannot provide all the data necessary for performance of this requirement. Responders are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the System for Award Management (SAM) website (https://www.sam.gov). It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement. Responses to this notice will only be used to determine capability/availability of sources and serve as a supplementary market research tool to determine acquisition strategy. All information marked as proprietary information will be safeguarded to prevent disclosures to non-governmental personnel and entities. Required Capabilities The required system capabilities are provided via controlled unclassified information (CUI) attachment. Contractors must be properly registered in the SAM and the Joint Certification Program (JCP) in order to receive the controlled attachments. Offerors may obtain information on SAM registration and annual confirmation requirements by calling 1-866-606-8220 or via the internet at https://www.sam.gov. Information about the JCP is located at https://public.logisticsinformationservice.dla.mil/PublicHome/jcp/default.aspx. Responses to the SS/RFl As a result of this SS/RFI, the Government expects to receive responses from interested and capable sources in the form of summary documents, white papers, or presentations (hereinafter referred to as "materials") containing a description of the non-developmental end item, developmental item integrating non-developmental end items, and/or proposed concept. The materials shall be written from a system solution perspective showing how the material solution or concept would satisfy the above stated requirements. If your organization has the potential capacity to provide the required products/capabilities identified, please provide the following information: Organization name, address, CAGE code, email address, website address, telephone number, and size and type of ownership for the organization; Tailored capability statements addressing the particulars of this requirement; and Responses to all of the following questions in the same order as shown below. A. Overall System/Concept Questions 1. Can your company produce a system that meets all of the requirements of the provided performance specification by the fielding date? If yes, please provide a plan of how this would be done. If no, please provide information on what your company could produce by the fielding date. For a fully compliant system, what is the estimated production lead time to manufacture systems? 2. Which thresholds are out of reach, and why? Which thresholds, if turned into objectives, would significantly reduce cost? 3. Which objectives are attainable? Of the attainable objectives, do any drive price? If so, please name them and describe the impact to the price of achieving the objective. 4. Has your company previously released these system solutions/concepts to NATO Third Party Partners via an authorized method such as direct commercial sales, accommodation buys, or Foreign Military Sales in the last 5 years? 5. Would the system/concept design include provisions to support new capabilities as well as incremental upgrades? 6. What would be a unit cost (acquisition) estimate for the solution system/concept, if available? 7. What are NRE, if any? 8. Please describe and characterize the current user base for the system/concept? If a new concept, please describe the user base of the existing products being integrated into the new end-item product? 9. Please describe the user base of other closely aligned products in your portfolio that would have commonality with the system/concept? 10. Which items, if eliminated, would significantly increase your ability to meet the fielding date? If your proposed systems or concepts have not yet been released to the partner, are you prepared to initiate the releaseabilty/exportability process if you do not yet have it already in progress for the system/concept solution? If your proposed systems or concepts have not yet been released to the partner, would you anticipate being able to release the system/concept to a NATO 3P Partner? Why? 11. Can system/concept product demonstrators for evaluation be provided to the Government by 15 JAN 2023? If no, when could product demonstration be provided? What functionality will the evaluation demonstrators contain? 12. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, what would be the administrative and management structure of such arrangements? B. General Requirements/System Engineering Questions 13. Would specific additional antennas be required to detect all emissions identified in the requirements? 14. What would be the scope of any development effort (if necessary) to meet the required capabilities? 15. What is your assessment of your system/concept TRL? Why? What is the basis for this assessment? 16. Please provide a high-level description of any system/concept environmental qualifications that have been completed or are planned. 17. What unique design characteristics make the proposed system/concept solution suitable for shipboard installation in a maritime environment or what efforts would be required to achieve suitability, if any? 18. Please describe your integration/interface concept with a naval surface ship (gray hull) for the system/concept solution. 19. What open architecture approach is being used, if any, or what may be potentially available? 20. What architecture standards are applied to the design and development (e.g., MOSA, SOSA)? 21. What common data formats are used by your system for ELINT, SEI and/or COMINT data? 22. Please provide a detailed list of anticipated end product physical and performance characteristics to include size, weight, power, cooling, interfaces, and data transfer rates. 23. How are cybersecurity challenges and vulnerability handled with your system/concept? 24. Do you employ a Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach or other systems engineering (SE) approach to ensure system performance is obtained? C. Maintenance, Training and Supportability Questions 25. What would be your maintenance concept for the system/capability solution? 26. What are the reliability, maintainability, and availability characteristics of your system/concept? 27. Please provide information on obsolescence planning, including methodology, time periods, success stories, etc. 28. What type of support and warranties do you usually offer at no additional cost? 29. What warranties or support do you offer at an additional cost? 30. What are your standard delivery terms, Free on Board (FOB) destination, FOB origin? 31. What types of technical data are provided as standard commercial practice? Industry Discussions Government representatives may or may not choose to meet with potential responders. The Government may or may not provide each respondent with an opportunity to present their submission to the Government programmatic and technical team. Such discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the stated requirements, especially any technical or programmatic risks. Questions Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Questions will be answered by email. The questions and answers may be sent to other contractors, so they shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information. Ensure proper CUI markings are used when submitting responses or questions. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding submissions. Questions and requests for clarifications on this notice must be sent via email to: kathleen.r.harrigan.civ@us.navy.mil no later than 12:00 PM PST on Monday, 28 Nov 2022. When submitting questions, include RFI # KYPT-23-0001-SIGINT in the subject line of your email. The Government may post questions and answers to the Opportunities website at https://www.sam.gov. NOTES: Do not send hardcopies (including facsimiles), as only electronic submissions will be accepted and reviewed. Do not lock or encrypt the file you submit, or attach password- protected files. The Government will scan all files submitted and if a virus is detected, it may be grounds for rejection of the response. Cost data is not required in the response to this RFI. Responses are requested no later than 2 PM (Pacific) on 15 Dec 2022. Interested parties are instructed to submit their response electronically via the DoD SAFE application located at https://safe.apps.mil. Interested parties wishing to submit a response shall notify kathleen.r.harrigan.civ@us.navy.mil no earlier than 14 calendar days prior to the 15 Dec 2022 submission deadline, providing their name and e-mail as contact information so the Government can generate a pick-up request from the DoD SAFE application to be sent to the Offeror, which is valid for 14 calendar days.