NATO International Competitive Bidding (ICB): Provide ACCS Software Based Element (ASBE) Voice Communication Equipment (VCE)

The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) intends to issue an Invitation For Bids (IFB) for the provision and the implementation of ACCS Software Based Element (ASBE) Voice Communications Equipment (VCE) at sites in Rinas, Albania; Pleso, Croatia; Zvolen, Slovakia; and Brnik, Slovenia; and integration and remote control of national radio sites in these locations. The VCE at each site will provide the operators with access to G-A-G circuits including HF, VHF, and UHF channels and also voice coordination circuits for tactical data links. G-G circuits provide communication with a wide variety of entities over many different carrier networks. Destinations include radar and other sensor sites; military and civilian Air Traffic Control (ATC) centers; weapons coordination; air defense centers; deployable systems; Command, Control, Communication, and Information (C3I) Centers; and other ACCS entities. Intercom facilities give ASBE operators communication with each other. Potential U.S. prime contractors must 1) maintain a professionally active facility (office, factory, laboratory, etc.) within the United States, 2) be pre-approved for participation in NATO International Competitive Bidding (ICB), and 3) be issued a Declaration of Eligibilty (DOE) by the U.S. Government. Execution of the proposed contract will require unescorted access and work of contractor personnel at NATO Class II security areas. Accordingly, personnel of the winning bidder will be required to hold individual security clearances at the level of Secret or higher. Only companies maintaining appropriate personnel clearances will be allowed to perform the resulting contract. The contract award will not be delayed so that contractor personnel may obtain clearances. The reference for the IFB is IFB-CO-14123-ACCS and all correspondence concerning the IFB should reference this number. The NCI Agency intends to use the standard ICB procedure, i.e. lowest priced technically compliant bid. This will be a single Firm Fixed Price contract with expected duration of approximately 30 months and follow on contract options for In-Service Support and Post Warranty In-Service Support. It is planned to place a single contract with one contractor. No partial bidding will be allowed. SUMMARY OF REQUIREMENTS Background The ACCS Capability Package (CP 5A-0109) authorised projects in order to establish a first Level of Operational Capability (LOC1) through the validation and test of the core software at the ACCS Software & System Test and Validation Facility (STVF) and the follow-on implementation to validation sites and then replication sites. The approved Addendum 2 to CP 5A-0109 refers to the "Extension of the ACCS into Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia". An ACCS Software-Based Element (ASBE) will be provided, using the ACCS software and hardware at ACCS Extension sites. The 1st Stage Authorization of Voice Communication Equipment (VCE) part of the ASBE Type - B Cost Estimate was granted on 23 September 2014 (Reference F). The Authority to Issue the Invitation for Bid (AIIFB) is subject to prior authorization from the Investment Committee, currently envisaged for May 2020. Scope The ASBE VCE includes Voice Communication System (VCS) at each site to provide Air Command and Control (AirC2) operators, as a function of their role, with access to G-A-G radios including HF, VHF and UHF channels and also radios for voice co-ordination of tactical data links (Link 11 and Link 16). The operator work positions will be equipped with a Voice Communication Facility (VCF) as part of the ASBE VCE along with secure and non-secure means to control the ACCS communications at sites. Furthermore, the Ground to Ground (G-G) element provides communications with a wide variety of entities over many different carrier networks. The VCE contains additionally telephone sets, public address system, time reference, communications system manager work position and voice recording / replaying and reproduction (VR/R) installation. During the execution of the contract, the Contractor will be requested to perform the following activities: - Project Management, including reporting to the Purchaser; - System Requirements Review (SRR) based on the initial system requirements included in the Contract; - System Design Review (SDR) as needed to satisfy the system-level requirements with a solution; - Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and Critical Design Review (CDR) shall be conducted i.a.w. MIL-STD-499 and MIL-STD-1521. Activities shall include hardware and firmware design and hardware selection; - ASBE VCE Configuration and Data Management, Quality Assurance; - Progress and technical reviews, where the Contractor shall present and walk through engineering data, specifications, drawings, manuals, schematics, design and test plans, supported by implementation oriented demonstrations and prototypes; - Hardware procurement and delivery, system installation, and integration; - Test & Evaluation (T&E) of the requirements by inspection, analysis or test as defined in the contract and listed in the Verification Cross Reference Index (VCRI) using those methods throughout T&E activities, and following them with required acceptance protocols; - ASBE VCE spare part, training and documentation delivery; - Warranty period, and options for in service support. VCE System Requirements The scope of the contract includes VCE system requirements for generic and site specific ASBE communications. The main generic requirements are given below: - The ASBE VCE is based on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for both the telephone and radio subsystems; - The ASBE VCE provides legacy Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) connectivity for G-G interfaces; - The VCE will support IP version 6 on the VoIP output data stream; - The data and voice communications including radio communications are separated to the Secure (RED) and the Non-secure (BLACK) in the ASBE VCS; - ASBE VCE is capable of communicating over High Frequency (HF), Very High Frequency (VHF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF), Have Quick (HQ)II and Saturn channels and also voice co-ordination circuits for tactical data links (Link 11 and Link 16); - System Management work position is for inter alia user management, system technical management, administration and status monitoring; - The ASBE VCE contains Built-in Test (Online Monitoring and Alarms) capability; - All ASBE work positions will be equipped with the VCF providing the communication control capabilities and call processing features that constitute the operator interface to the VCE; - The VR/R is able to record, replay, and reproduce all communications including intercom via the Voice Communications Facility (VCF), UHF and VHF radio guard channels, and RED and BLACK voice telephone and radio communications; - Replay functionality shall provide stand-alone capability with VCE and remote synchronized replay capability initiated by AirC2 system data part at site. - Notification about the recording all conversation to non-military networks incoming and outgoing calls. - ASBE VCE communications protected by NATO approved Purchaser Furnished Equipment (PFE) crypto equipment that is compatible with the information exchange requirements. Implementation Strategy The bidders will be requested to keep coordinated implementation schedule with the ASBE Command and Control portions installation at sites. BECOMING ELIGIBLE TO BID NATO ICB requires that the U.S. Government issue a DOE for potential U.S. prime contractors interested in this project. Before the U.S. Government can do so, however, the U.S. firm must be approved for participation in NATO ICB. U.S. firms are approved for NATO ICB on a facility-by-facility basis. The U.S. NATO ICB application is a one-time application. The application requires supporting documentation in the form of 1) a company resume indicating contracts completed as a prime contractor and 2) an annual report or set of financial documents indicating compilation, review, or audit by an independent CPA. U.S. firms can download a copy of the U.S. NATO ICB application from the following website: http://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/other-areas/strategic-industries-and-economic-security-sies/nato-related-business-opportunities The Department of Commerce is the U.S. Government agency that approves NATO ICB applications. Please submit to the email address provided your application and supporting documentation (as attachments). If your firm is interested in a specific NATO ICB project at this time, please also include the following in the text of your email: - the title and/or solicitation number of the project - the name/phone/email of the company employee who should receive the bid documents After approval of your one-time NATO ICB application, the Department of Commerce will then know to follow up by issuing a DOE for the project. The Department of Commerce will transmit the DOE to the NATO contracting agency. IMPORTANT DATES: Request from DOC that a DOE be issued (and, for firms new to NATO ICB, submit the completed one-time NATO ICB application): November 25, 2020 NCI Agency issues IFB (planned): January 2021 Bid Closing (target): Q2 2021 Contract Award (target): Q1 2022