Personnel Air Mobility System (PAMS)

SYNOPSIS: This Sources Sought Announcement is to assist the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command - Soldier Center (DEVCOM-SC) to identify potential sources to provide solutions for Personnel Air Mobility to ensure freedom of movement in Contested Environments. The Government requests responders submit a Broad Other Transaction Authority Announcement (BOTAA) preproposal as outlined in the DEVCOM Soldier Center BOTAA DEVCOM-SC BOTAA 22-01 located at: - https://sam.gov/opp/126eaf3a78d847f69b7c94b606877f92/view Please refer to Topic Area of Interest - A. SOLDIER SUSTAINMENT DIRECTORATE (SSD) starting on page 19. Submit the BOTAA preproposal to: Brian Huffman brian.g.huffman3.civ@army.mil and Jean Trumpis jean.m.trumpis.civ@army.mil no later than 23 August 2024 by 3:00 p.m. EDT. Objective: This Request for Project Proposals (RPP) is issued to request preproposals (white papers) in accordance with Section III, B.1 of the DEVCOM-SC BOTAA 22-01 competitive announcement and is being issued for planning purposes only. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to award an agreement, nor will the Government pay for the information solicited. DEVCOM-SC SSD is seeking information on technologies or capabilities of private entities (non-profit and commercial) to develop a preliminary Personnel Air Mobility system design that will support a prototype project, as defined on page five of the BOTAA. Background: The Personnel Air Mobility System (PAMS) is planned to be developed to support the U.S. Army's Airborne forces by addressing a capability gap to provide unit organic personnel air mobility to support freedom of movement in contested environments. Future battlefield threats are expected to require disbursed operations by small units in complex, contested environments. Traditional air assets, including fixed wing and rotary wing transport aircraft, will likely be unavailable for the movement of small teams due to supporting other missions and the difficulty of operating these vehicles in anti-access/area denial threat areas. To overcome the challenges of conducting operations in this space, a concept of expanded maneuver in all domains calls for new platforms that can provide low-cost mobility solutions over extended ranges which are available at the individual unit/warfighter level. Development of a PAMS will provide an additional option to the unit commander, supporting freedom of action in remote and austere locations. This new system will be capable of transporting individual warfighters hundreds of kilometers, reducing dependency on traditional aircraft platforms and extending the range available through traditional parachute infiltration systems. A militarized powered paraglider platform is envisioned to provide both low-altitude (nap-of-the-earth and/or contour-level flight) infiltration and exfiltration capability to increase survivability and avoid detection by the enemy as well as higher-altitude (up to approximately 10,000 feet mean sea level) transit where possible given appropriate threat profile and mission parameters. The PAMS will support multiple mission types including reconnaissance, surveillance, troop movement, infiltration and exfiltration. This new PAMS will also significantly reduce the cost to deliver/transport warfighters over traditional means. Requirements: The purpose of the RPP is to request preproposals to conduct system development, testing and evaluation of a preliminary design for a PAMS. The preliminary design may be based on reusing, modifying or enhancing existing system designs. The preproposals shall address the full requirements of this RPP. Proposed solutions shall be compliant with the Berry Amendment, Defense Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.225-7012, and the Buy American Act, DFARS 252.225-7001. The objective of the initial system development (Phase 1) is for the vendor to generate a preliminary design and prototypes for textile components of the PAMS that will be ready for detailed design, prototype fabrication and Government Design Validation (DV) of a complete PAMS solution (paraglider wing, paraglider harness, paramotor and associated components) in a potential follow-on Phase 2. Phase 1 will consist of initial preliminary design development and prototyping, with a desired duration of twelve (12) months. Execution and funding of Phase 2 will depend on successful completion of Phase 1, availability of funds and response to a follow-on Phase 2 RPP. PAMS Requirements The system performance requirements are given in Table 1 below. Threshold (minimum acceptable performance) and Objective (performance goal) levels are given. DEVCOM-SC strongly prefers a solution that can meet objective levels of the PAMS performance requirements. Table 1: System Performance Parameters System Performance Parameter Threshold Objective Range 100 kilometers 300 kilometers Total System Weight (dry) 75 pounds 60 pounds Weight Capacity 200 to 350 pounds 150 to 400 pounds Maximum Altitude 10,000 feet mean sea level 20,000 feet mean sea level DEVCOM-SC, and Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) personnel will be available to provide clarification and explanation behind performance requirements as needed during development. Deliverables Planned deliverables for the PAMS Phase 1 preliminary design development are listed below. Meetings Participation in a virtual kick-off meeting scheduled approximately 5 days after OTA award Participation in monthly Interim Project Reviews (via virtual meeting) to discuss status updates and other topics relevant to the development effort Participation in a virtual meeting to conduct a final culminating Phase 1 Preliminary Design Review approximately 360 days after OTA award Prototypes - deliver sample materials and prototypes for a paraglider (paraglider wing, paraglider harness) and/or parachute canopy: Berry Amendment compliant samples of raw/unfinished and finished/coated fabrics Berry Amendment compliant samples of paraglider wings, paraglider harnesses, parachute canopies or sub-assemblies to demonstrate final design and production techniques Reports Bi-monthly status reports documenting overall status updates, project schedule, work accomplished in the prior period, work planned for the following period, risks and other topics relevant to development effort Final design report summarizing the proposed system to include: Operational concept to include usage by operators and maintainers Breakdown of hardware and software components Anticipated scope of development needed for Phase 2 Risks associated with Phase 2 Performance Objectives Preproposals should be limited to three pages and include a description of the relevant technology including supporting data, the scope of the proposed effort including a high-level Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), and a description of the proposer's research, development, manufacturing, past performance, or other special qualifications. The preproposal should indicate the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the proposed design per the TRL definitions found in the Technology Readiness Assessment Guidebook available at: https://www.cto.mil/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TRA-Guide-Jun2023.pdf. The preproposal shall also include an anticipated cost for the efforts described in the preproposal. Brochures or other descriptions of general organizational or individual capabilities will not be accepted as a preproposal. All preproposals will be assigned an identification number, and an email will acknowledge receipt of a preproposal. Usually, the Project Manager of the submitting organization should receive a decision letter or email regarding the preproposal within 60-90 days of submission. Vendor(s) that receive a Request for Full Proposal (RFFP) shall provide supporting information within the full proposal on the following topics in addition to what is specified in DEVCOM-SC BOTAA Section III, B, 2: Technical Section Test data or performance model data associated with the hardware and software being proposed to meet PAMS requirements Production, quality assurance, and quality control plans for manufacturing test assets Vendor's processes associated with configuration management, validation and verification of safety critical software, and cybersecurity Project Management Analysis of any opportunities and/or benefits associated with the vendor's proposal that would reduce cost, schedule, and performance risks in a Phase 2 effort Pricing Firm fixed pricing for each deliverable, in the vendor's own format/template Substantiating information on costs for each deliverable Interested parties are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought Announcement. THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT ONLY This Sources Sought Announcement is issued solely for information and planning purposes and to identify interested sources. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. No contract will be awarded from this announcement. This Sources Sought does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. It is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. Further, unsolicited proposals will not be accepted. Funding is not available at this time. The United States Army has not made a commitment to procure any of the items/services discussed, and release of this Sources Sought Announcement should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. Response to this Sources Sought Announcement is voluntary and no reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this and any follow-on information requests. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. Not responding to this Sources Sought Announcement does not preclude participation in any future RFP if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the beta.SAM.gov website. It is the responsibility of the potential responders to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this subject. RESPONSES: Interested parties may identify their interest and capability by sending BOTAA preproposals regarding this requirement to DEVCOM-SC via e-mail ONLY to Brian Huffman brian.g.huffman3.civ@army.mil and Jean Trumpis jean.m.trumpis.civ@army.mil no later than 23 August 2024 by 3:00 p.m. EDT. The U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this Notice. All costs associated with responding to this Notice will be solely at the expense of the interested party. Please provide business size (indicate your socioeconomic status), applicable NAICS code, and CAGE code if available. QUESTIONS: Any questions for clarification may be emailed to Brian Huffman brian.g.huffman3.civ@army.mil and Jean Trumpis jean.m.trumpis.civ@army.mil no later than 23 August 2024 by 12:00 p.m. EDT. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information. An unattributed list of questions and answers will be published at the same web location of this Sources Sought Announcement. ** Amendment 1 ** Q: Do you have interests in people responding for providing enabling technologies rather than a complete system? A: For this specific RPP announcement, our interest is for responses for the preliminary design and prototypes for textile components of the PAMS as detailed in the announcement/deliverables. Q: Would you be interested in personnel mobility system capabilities for a CONOPS that requires shorter range capabilities? A: We are interested in much further ranges for a different CONOPS.