Mounted moving target indicator sensor for the Persistent Surveillance Systems-Tethered Aerostat program.

Product Director (PD) Aerostats is issuing this request for information synopsis as a means of conducting market research to identify potential sources having an interest and industry technologies available to provide an Aerostat mounted moving target indicator (MTI) sensor for the Persistent Surveillance Systems-Tethered (PSS-T) program. The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement, if a requirement materializes. Based on the responses to this request for information notice/market research, this requirement may be set-aside for small businesses (in full or in part) or procured through full and open competition. Multiple awards may be made. All small business set-aside categories will be considered. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding submissions. DISCLAIMER THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) TO BE SUBMITTED. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. PROGRAM BACKGROUND PSS-T consists of 58 program of record (POR) aerostats and 19 quick reaction capability (QRC) contingency stock aerostats. The PSS-T POR aerostats are capable of persistent, integrated, networked, and multi-sensor information collection by operating for long periods of time at an altitude to maximize the line of sight and field of regard of on-board systems. The PSS-T systems are Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platform equipped with a variety of sensors to fulfill force protection, communication, and surveillance missions. PSS-T is required to be employed during all phases of theater operations. PSS-T is responsive to the ground component of a joint warfighting force by providing weather-dependent, persistent surveillance at operating locations throughout the operational area and directly enhancing the commander's situational understanding. REQUIRED CAPABILITIES This is a request for information (RFI) market survey. There is no solicitation available at this time. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. Any information submitted by respondents to this synopsis is strictly voluntary. This market survey does not constitute a or a request for sealed bids, nor does its issuance restrict the Government as to its ultimate acquisition approach. The Government will neither award a contract solely based on this notice, nor pay respondents for any information that they submit in response to this request for information. The Government is conducting this request for information market survey to determine rough order magnitude (ROM) / price and availability (P&A) from potential sources capable of fulfilling aerostat improvement requirements as follows: Physical threats to PSS-T include surface-to-air missiles, antiaircraft artillery, Man Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS), air-to-air missiles, rockets, cannon fire, unmanned aerial systems and attack drones. To detect these threats, provide enhanced situational awareness, and replace the current radar, PD Aerostats is seeking information on currently available Ground and Dismount MTI, Maritime and Air-to-Air RADAR sensors. The system shall be comprised of an aerial sensor component mounted to the Aerostat and a ground component to process and display the data collected. The Government is requesting that respondents provide solutions that are readily available through the initial development cycle and at least technology readiness level (TRL) 7. This includes the usage of modified commercial off the shelf (COTS) products, leverage of other Government Developments or solutions developed with internal research and development (IRAD) funding. The intent of this Request for information is to assess the state-of-the art of the technology available in near term within 12 months for use on aerostats products that could be applied to meet this requirement. The Government requests that respondents provide a detailed description of the proposed solutions and how it meets or exceeds the Government's objectives. If the vendor has longer term solutions in the 3-5 year development cycle the Government would be interested in a summary of those efforts for future situational awareness. OBJECTIVES The primary objective is to identify a radar that meets the best fit for program requirements and needs today. Appendix A, for reference only, includes the program specific requirements for previous solutions. There are tradeoffs that can occur within the current list of requirements based on available capabilities. PD Aerostats is looking for multimode capable RADAR that provides any or all of the following: Ground Moving Target Indicator (GTMI) and Dismounted Moving Target Indicator (DMTI), Maritime, and Air-to-Air capabilities. i. MODE DESCRIPTIONS a. GROUND MOVING TARGET INDICATOR GMTI modes include the ability to detect, track tactical vehicles, and provide Doppler velocities with direction of movement for vehicles with Radar Cross Section of at least 5 m2 and 10-15 meters or more separation. The minimum detectable velocity of the GMTI sensor shall be at least 2 Kilometers per hour. Additionally, the system must be able to detect a standard moving military target vehicle with a probability of detection (Pd) of at least 85% at the maximum optimum line of sight ranges. Vendor should provide a data curve showing Pd vs Range for target detections. Assume Aerostat altitudes of 3- 5000ft AGL. b. DISMOUNTED GROUND MOVING TARGET INDICATOR DMTI targets should be discernable at slow walk or faster with 1 meter separation. The MTI sensor shall provide the capability, while in DMTI mode to achieve at least 80% probability of detection (Threshold) at 8Km under standard conditions of target size (0.5m^2) and velocity (0.5 m/s) and with 90% Pd at 20Km as an objective. Vendor should provide a data curve showing Pd vs Range for target detections. Assume Aerostat altitudes of 3- 5000ft AGL. c. MARITIME Martine mode of interest includes fishing boats as small at 10 ft to large ships. The MTI sensor should be able to process targets in sea states 1-3; interest is also in small wooden vessels and semi submersibles. Interest in ISAR for larger vessels. Additionally, the system must be able to demonstrate a probability of detection (Pd) of at least 85%. Vendor should provide data curves showing Pd vs Range for representative vessel sizes reference above. Assume Aerostat altitudes of 3-5000ft AGL. d. AIR TO AIR Air-to-Air mode interest includes Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System DoD Group I, II, and III and subsonic missiles. Additionally, the system must be able to demonstrate a probability of detection (Pd) of at least 85%, vendor should provide data curves showing Pd vs Range for representative Group classes reference above. Assume Aerostat altitudes of 3-5000ft AGL. ii. OPERATIONS The MTI sensor shall provide the capability to detect and classify moving targets that is minimally influenced by atmospheric conditions that may hinder the effectiveness of optic-based systems. The MTI sensor shall provide 360 degree azimuth coverage. The MTI sensor shall also provide the capability to adjust the scan pattern by both azimuth and elevation to cover a desired Field of Regard (FoR). Scan controllable antennas are preferred to facilitate narrow sector scans and rapid revisit rates if required by the mode offered. Active electronically scanned arrays (AESA) antennas are optional but not required. The RADAR sensor shall provide the capability to adjust detection sensitivity. The Government prefers the ability to support simultaneous mode operation or mode change - on the Fly. For example, Air-to-Air and interleaving GMTI scan and warning for coordinated ground movers. The system shall provide a ground MTI mode capable of providing wide area surveillance for detecting and manually following a standard military target, leveraging the available Line of Sight at 5000 feet above ground level. Minimum 10 Kmslant range for smaller RADAR systems in clear weather. The MTI sensor shall provide the capability to record detections, tracks with associated Meta data to standard NATO file formats. MTI sensor should be capable of producing sending and receiving cursor on target messages. iii. PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS The aerial components of the RADAR system, including cables, framing, gimbals and antennas, shall have an airborne weight of less than 500 pounds for larger systems and less than 150 pounds for smaller systems. The aerial components of the RADAR systems are preferred that can operate with less than 4 kilowatts but it is not a hard limit. Vendors are requested to provide full system power requirements with separate break out for airborne components including AC and DC requirements. The ground component of the MTI system shall be 19 rack mountable in the ground control system (GCS). iv. INTEROPERABILITY The RADAR system should support integration with commercial and military IFF transponders and automated ship location transponders. The RADAR system should output standard NATO data formats and provide tracks and target data to support Fire Control networks. Vendor should state what standards they currently have met. RADAR control workstation will be operational in the Ground Control Station and in the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) with principal operations in the TOC. The RADAR system architecture shall be scalable. The RADAR sensor must be compatible and interoperable with the ability to cross-cue to/from other sensors simultaneously integrated with the system or on the local network. v. INTERFACES The RADAR aerial sensor shall provide sensor control commands and data dissemination through the PSS-T's tethered fiber optic cable. vi. RELIABILITY AND MAINTAINABILITY The RADAR system will maintain an operational availability (Ao) of 85%. The MTI shall have a Mean Time To Repair of less than 60 minutes (T), and less than 30 minutes (O). Provide calibration on operator command, as necessary to meet performance requirements at initial turn-on and throughout the mission. (T) The system must be able to self-calibrate when diagnostics check identifies an appropriate fault. (O) The Government desires a system with minimal maintenance and inspection requirements at the organizational level. The system should also be easily repairable for deployed units. RESPONSES Vendors should respond with their best fit, preferably addressing at least two or more of the desired modes. It is desired that candidate sensors offered should heavily leverage off the shelf capabilities and be suited for integration on a test Aerostat within 12 months ARO with follow on test and mode refinement phase of up to six months. Vendor response should include at a minimum: o Details on the available modes, referenced above, that the sensor meets o TRL maturity estimates for hardware and modes offered and supporting documentation (i.e. a brief description of operational information). o Performance plots for modes offered showing proposed Radar Cross Section vs range (estimates or actual measured data acceptable for this RFI). If available, please provide weather dependent plots as well. o A product overview, block diagrams, ICDs, software description, native software controls and analysis software included, o If already, underwork or obtained, any cyber accreditation. o Reference any test reports available. o Any reliability and maintainability data, operational or theoretical, that supports meeting the operational availability outlined above. o Evidence of MIL-STD-810 environmental compliance o Evidence of MIL-STD-461F compliance o Provide hardware availability for first test unit. o Lead times for productions units, state if capital assets are available for Quick Reaction or early integration and test activity. o If applicable, any interoperability certificates that have been obtained. o Separate ROM cost for Hardware, Software, NRE and Integration & Test support. ROM cost for licensing and ROM for multiple follow on units. o Copies of relevant Vendor Brochures, Spec Sheets, Frequency Ranges, Frequency Authorization Certifications. o Information relative navigation and timing input requirements, does RADAR have embedded GPS/IMU? o Provide any unique Network interoperability requirements for Command, Control and Operation. End use may include US Government only or possible FMS consideration; provide any information available regarding potential exportability if product was selected for Military FMS use. Are components compliant with Trade Agreement Act (TAA) for counties or origin? SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Any resulting contract is anticipated to have a security classification level of Secret. Any resulting contract shall be compliant with the specialty metals restriction of the Berry Amendment (10 U.S.C. 2533a and 2533b) in accordance with DFARS clauses 252.225-7008 and 252.225-7009. SUBMISSION DETAILS Interested businesses should submit a brief capabilities statement package (no more than ten 8.5 X 11 inch pages, font no smaller than 10 point) demonstrating ability to provide the products/systems listed in this Technical Description. Respondents are limited to 25 pages. Feedback from industry will be accepted until 30 days after the posting of this RFI. Documentation should be in bullet format. No phone or email solicitations concerning the status of the RFP will be accepted prior to its release. Responses (including any capabilities statement) and questions concerning this requirement shall be electronically submitted in either Microsoft Word or Portable Document Format (PDF), via email to: Tian Chen, Configuration Manager Lead, tian.chen3.civ@army.mil, and Jennifer Mattessino, Jennifer.L.Mattessino.civ@army.mil, Procuring Contracting Officer. All responses must reference this synopsis number in subject line of e-mail and on all enclosed documents. Information and materials submitted in response to this request WILL NOT be returned. DO NOT SUBMIT CLASSIFIED MATERIAL. If your organization has the potential capacity to provide the required products/systems, please provide the following information: 1) Organization name, address, primary points of contact (POCs) and their email address, FAX, Web site address, telephone number, and type of ownership for the organization; and 2) Tailored capability statements addressing the requirements of this notice, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements. All data received in response to this Request for information that is marked or designated as corporate or proprietary will be fully protected from any release outside the Government.