NATO Market Survey: Stand-Off Detection Equipment

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 stand-off detection equipment to detect explosives and weapons (generally referred to as anomalies) concealed under clothing on personnel attempting to enter secure compounds via an Entry Control Point (ECP). The purpose of this exercise is to obtain a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) price indication of stand-off detection equipment for future requirements in the forthcoming months. Please note: The due date for industry's response to the market survey has been extended to March 11, 2011. NC3A's point of contact for this exercise is Rebecca Benson, Senior Contracting Officer. Ms. Benson can be reached via email at Rebecca.Benson@nc3a.nato.int OR via phone at +32-(0)-2-707-8328. NC3A is interested primarily in the following sensor technologies: 1) millimeter wave imaging systems and 2) radar based systems. 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 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 stand-off detection equipment at a typical ECP. 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 stand-off detection equipment 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 stand-off detection 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 stand-off detection 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 intending to procure such equipment and not selecting a product. Product selection will be done through the procurement process. Overview NC3A is interested in stand-off detection equipment to detect explosives and weapons (generically referred to as anomalies) concealed under clothing on personnel attempting to enter secure compounds via an Entry Control Point (ECP). NC3A may have requirements for this type of equipment in the upcoming months and is primarily interested in the following sensor technologies: 1) millimeter wave imaging systems and 2) radar based systems. 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 requirements stated below 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 stand-off detection equipment at a typical ECP. A typical operational scenario can be described as follows: - The entry conditions are controlled such that entering personnel can be scanned individually while walking or stopped for scanning if required. - The scanning must take place with a stand-off from own forces and the scanning equipment. - The scanning area will typically be outside (in the open); however, blast protection blocks and light roof cover may be used to partially enclose the scanning area. Technical requirements - Mission time: 24 hours per day continuous use. - Throughput: Six people per minute per entry channel. - Stand-off distance: in excess of 5m, desirably 50m. - Detection Capability: The materials to be detected include explosives, weapons, and ceramics concealed under clothing of the entering personnel. It is desirable that detection occur automatically (without operator intervention) and that the anomalies detected can be discriminated by material type. The automated localization of the position of the anomalies on the body is of significant importance. - Scanning capabilities: For imaging sensors, real time video rate scanning is desirable. - Safety: The system emission levels shall be within safe limits for both operating personnel and personnel being scanned. - Operation & Control: The sensors must be capable of remote operation together with remote display of images, video, and results from sensors. Automatic detection and discrimination results should also be displayed to cue operator action. Recording of sensor data is also required. - Target set: The system shall be able to detect metallic and non-metallic objects hidden under regular clothing. The size and composition of the threats to be detected shall range from coins and cell phones to suicide vests. - Countermeasures: The system must employ countermeasure techniques (e.g., filtering, data processing, etc.) in order to reduce the effect of potential jamming and camouflage. 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 solutions for both sensor types: millimeter wave and radar based. b) Provide details of your products that fulfill part of the requirements, meet the requirements, or exceed the requirements. NC3A is also interested in individual sensors. It would also be beneficial to describe how overall performance can be optimized by using a mixture of sensor types in the deployment of the system. c) Where both sensor types can be offered, indicate how costs are reduced through the use of common operation, 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 5, 10, and 50 sensor systems. The cost breakdown should allow NC3A to estimate the cost of packages of mixes of sensors and support options in various quantities.