NATO Market Survey: Electronic Counter Measures (ECMs)

The NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A) is performing a market survey for the purpose of gathering information pertaining to industry's capability in the field of Electronic Counter Measure (ECM) equipment to counter Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) triggered via Radio Frequency (RF) links. The purpose of this exercise is to obtain a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) price indication of ECM equipment for future requirements in the forthcoming months. Please note: The due date for industry's response to the market survery has been extended to March 11, 2011. NC3A's point of contact for this exercise is Rebecca Benson, Senior Contracting Officer. Ms. Benson may be reached via email at Rebecca.Benson@nc3a.nato.int or via phone at +32-(0)-2-707-8328. There are three application areas in which NC3A may have requirements in the upcoming months: 1) Manpack/handheld, 2) Vehicle-borne, and 3) Static infrastructure protection (e.g., Entry Control Points (ECPs), High Value Assets, and Checkpoints). The equipment will be used by military staff from the NATO nations during operations in peace and wartime, under a broad range of climatic conditions. The equipment shall protect the operating forces by jamming the RF link between the triggerman and the receiving device at the IED. The technical requirements are fairly wide, with the intention of guiding the company's choice of products to offer so as to provide NC3A with a set of options for RF jammers for use against IEDs in the application areas of interest. Such acquisition, which is envisioned to be conducted on the basis of a competitive exercise, remains subject to the formal approval of the competent NATO authorities, which at this junction has not been granted. At this stage, therefore, NC3A cannot guarantee that such a competitive exercise will be carried out, and it reserves the right to pursue other acquisition avenues at its disposal. Should a competitive exercise be pursued for the purpose of the procurement of the ECM equipment, it shall be conducted in such a way as to not limit or otherwise render unfeasible the adoptions or specific solutions to the disadvantage of companies that have not participated in this market survey. Any response to this request is to be provided purely on a voluntary basis, and the determination not to provide feedback shall not constitute grounds for the exclusion of companies from any form of competitive exercise to be conducted in the future. Furthermore, NC3A shall not recognize any compensation, regardless of its nature, for activities performed in conjunction with the present request. The present request and any information provided, including but not limited to pricing, quantities, capabilities, functionalities, and requirements are not to be construed as binding for NATO for future acquisitions of any ECM equipment. Similarly, any information provided by the company in response to the present request shall be kept confidential, shall be disseminated to NATO personnel only and solely for purposes of the present exercise, and shall not be considered binding with regards to the future potential acquisition of the ECM equipment in question. ROM Pricing and Data Submission Methodology Methodology Companies are requested to provide per unit price information. A number of questions must also be answered. The responses provided by companies will be treated as commercial-in-confidence, and will only be used for the purpose of defining a funding envelope for projects intended to procure such equipment and not for selecting a product. Product selection will be done through the procurement process. Overview NC3A is interested in ECM equipment to counter IEDs triggered via RF links. There are threee main application areas where NC3A may have requirements in the upcoming months: 1) Manpack/handheld, 2) Vehicle borne, and 3) Static infrastructure protection (e.g., ECPs, High Value Assets, Checkpoints). The equipment will be used by military staff from the NATO nations during operations in peace and wartime, under a broad range of climatic conditions. The equipment shall protect the operating forces by jamming the RF link between the triggerman and the receiving device at the IED. The technical requirements are fairly wide, with the intention of guiding the company's choice of products to offer so as to provide NC3A with a set of options for RF jammers against IEDs in the application areas of interest. Technical requirements For all 3 application areas: - Operating frequency band: 20 MHz - 3 GHz (instantaneous operation within sub-bands is acceptable) - Jamming techniques: Active and/or Reactive (alternatively referred to as Fixed and/or Responsive). The jamming shall be effective against a range of device types and trigger link modulation schemes. Example trigger links to defeat are to include, but not be limited to, mobile telephones, PMR radio, remote control electronics, and Wi-Fi links. - Programmable: Flexible capability to program jamming frequencies, typically at the base location, including the ability to exclude specific frequencies from jamming. A tool to predict spurious emissions outside of the jamming mask is also required. - Interoperability: Interoperability issues shall be addressed, both with nearby deployments of the same equipment and with friendly communications systems. For Manpack/handheld: o Physical format: Man-portable or handheld by one solder including batteries for the whole mission o Mission time: Typically four hours For Vehicle-borne: o Physical format: Suitable for permanent mounting in an SUV-sized vehicle. o Power Supply: Suitable for input from a typical vehicle 12V dc supply. Provide details if a secondary alternator is typically required to power the equipment. o Antenna: Suitable for permanent mounting on an SUV-sized vehicle, Omni directional. o Vehicle fit kit: Complete kit required to fit equipment into a vehicle. For Static Infrastructure Protection: o Physical format: Same as the vehicle-borne equipment. o Power Supply: Suitable for connection to 110-240 ac 50-60 Hz plus option to run on batteries. o Operational Equipment: a) Air-conditioned cabinet, b) Wall mounted outside. o Antenna: Omni directional a) Remote connection via 10m cable, b) Directly connected to equipment. Information Required 1) The scope of the solution: Please provide the following information based upon the requirements described above: a) Indicate whether you would be able to provide a complete solution for all three application are as: Manpack, vehicle-borne, and static infrastructure protection. b) Provide details of your products that fulfill part of the requirements, meet the requirements, or exceed the requirements. NC3A is also interested in solutions applicable to only one of the application areas. c) Where the equipment offered does have a capability across the three applications areas, indicate how costs are reduced through the use of common programming, training, maintenance, and test equipment. d) Provide the technical details of the capability of the equipment with respect to the requirements above, including an approximate indication of the effectiveness of the systems and providing test results where possible. e) Provide information to illustrate your envisaged concept of operations for the equipment - e.g., operation, interoperability, training, programming, maintenance, and testing. 2) Further options: a) Provide technical details of any options or further services you could offer that you believe could be of benefit to NATO in this application area. 3) Integrated Logistics Support options: a) Provide details of the support equipment and services required (e.g., accessories, batteries, spares, calibration, testing, etc.) 4) ROM costs: a) Provide a ROM cost estimate for the equipment, services, options, and support you offer in the answers above. The costs should be broken down by item and based on quantities of 10, 50, and 100 jammers. The cost breakdown should allow NC3A to estimate the cost of packages of mixes of jammers, programming workstations, and support options in various quantities.