Polyalfpholefin (PAO) Carts for servicing F-16 aircraft AN/APG-83 systems

Sources Sought Synopsis F-16 Program Office Fighter/Bomber Directorate Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 1.0 Description The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), Fighter/Bomber Directorate (WW), F-16 Program Contracting Office (WAMK), Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio is conducting market research and seeks information on the effort to manufacture, field, and sustain a cart/trailer for flight line operations to dispense Polyalfpholefin (PAO) to F-16 aircraft equipped with AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) systems. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this potential work is believed to be 333914 - Measuring, Dispensing, and Other Pumping Equipment Manufacturing, size standard 750 employees. Specifically, the F-16 Program Office is requesting information to support market research on the availability of suitable PAO carts with the below characteristics. Equipment Purpose. The SABR PAO Fill Cart, (hereafter, the cart) is aircraft maintenance support equipment used to service the aircraft-mounted Environmental Control System (ECS) of the AN/APG-83 SABR system. The cart should have two modes of operation. In FILL MODE, the cart supplies filtered, purified PAO fluid to fill the liquid coolant loop of the SABR ECS system. In FILTERING MODE, the cart can filter PAO fluid through the internal self contained liquid coolant loop of the cart in order to purify all PAO fluid in the cart reservoir and supply/return hoses. The cart should also be able to evacuate PAO fluid from the SABR system. The cart is required to operate safely in a non-explosive atmosphere environment, under the full range of flight-line environmental conditions wherever the F-16 aircraft operates or is expected to operate. It should be air transportable. Equipment Description. The cart should include a control panel, a main control panel for 60-Hz power. A refillable reservoir on the cart should hold 8 gallons of filtered, purified PAO at ambient pressure. The maximum cart pump flow rate should be 1.5 gal/min (40'C coolant). The reservoir should be serviced by a fill port and a desiccant air filter with a drain port below the particulate filter. During both modes of operation, the PAO fluid should flow through a 1 micron particulate filter unit on the cart before returning to the reservoir. The cart should be towable on four wheels, with a push/pull handle which includes a parking brake. The cart should have provisions to be hoisted by a forklift. The cart should include hangers to stow an input power cord attached to the control panel. The cart should have stowage for the two coolant supply/return hoses, and the safety ground cable. The cart should be corrosion resistant to all environmental conditions. The cart should have complete documentation covering routine maintenance, servicing and calibration within fielded units. 2.0 This Is A Sources Sought Synopsis (SSS) Only 2.1 This SSS is issued solely for information and planning purposes - it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This SSS does not commit the U.S. Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. This is a sources sought only, which, as part of market research, is being issued in accordance with (IAW) Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 15.201(e). 2.2 The Air Force is not, at this time, seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondents are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in responding to this SSS. All costs associated with responding to this SSS will be solely at the interested parties expense. Respondents are encouraged to include a budgetary estimate for the work involved. 2.3 Contractors must be either U.S.-owned or a U.S.-owned subsidiary with valid security infrastructure and clearances to accomplish this effort. If another company or small business believes they may have solutions to meet the requirements, please contact the U.S. Government Contract Specialist, Jason Gepperth, at jason.gepperth@us.af.mil and Contracting Officer, 2d Lt Daniel Cary, at daniel.cary@us.af.mil, for contact information to these companies for subcontracting opportunities. Large businesses are encouraged to indicate the extent to which they intend to use small businesses. 2.4 Respondents should recommend small business utilization percentages as a percent of total contract value to be considered. This recommendation should include supporting rationale for the recommended percentage. Additionally, recommend any potential effort(s) that may be broken out of this requirement. 2.5 Not responding to this SSS 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 website. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement. 3.0 Background 3.1 The USAF requires PAO carts to support AN/APG-83 SABR equipped F-16s. 3.2 The threshold requirement for the PAO cart is that it must meet all PAO servicing requirements of the AN/APG-83 system. The PAO cart has to function under the full range of USAF flight-line conditions. 4.0 Security requirements will be in accordance with the F-16C/D Security Classification Guide (SCG) and any other applicable classification guides. Please contact F-16 Program Office if a copy of the SCG is required. 5.0 Industry Discussions 5.1 The F-16 Program Office (AFLCMC/WAM) representatives may or may not choose to meet with potential offerors. Such discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements. 6.0 On the following pages is a description of the hardware requirements, and the Contractor Capability Survey which allows you to provide your company's capability. 7.0 If, after reviewing this information, you desire to respond to the SSS, you should provide documentation that supports your company's capability to meet these requirements. Companies may be contacted for further information or clarification; however, failure to provide documentation may result in the U.S. Government being unable to adequately assess your capabilities. If you lack sufficient experience in a particular area, please provide details explaining how your company would overcome the lack of experience/capabilities in order to perform that portion of the requirement (i.e., teaming, subcontracting, etc.). Documentation describing your company's capability should be provided in the form of a white paper. 8.0 Address questions related to this market survey to Senior Acquisition Program Manager, Mark Ashman, mark.ashman.1.ctr@us.af.mil or Contracting Officer, 2d Lt Daniel Cary, daniel.cary@us.af.mil. 9.0 Please include two (2) complete hard copies of the response, no longer than 25 pages each, along with one softcopy on compact disk-read only. In addition, please send one copy by e-mail (no more than 2MB) no later than close of business 30 December 2022 to the Contracting Officer, 2d Lt Daniel Cary, daniel.cary@us.af.mil 9.1 AFLCMC / WAMK Attn: 2d Lt Daniel Cary 2725 C Street Bldg. 553 Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433 10.0 Be advised that all correspondence sent via e-mail shall contain a subject line that reads - F-16 PAO Cart - SSS. Note that e-mail filters at Wright-Patterson AFB are designed to filter e-mails without subject lines or with suspicious subject lines and/or certain attachments (i.e., .exe or .zip files). Therefore, if this subject line is not included, the e-mail may not get through the e-mail filters. Also be advised that .exe or .zip files are not allowable attachments and may be deleted by the e-mail filters at Wright-Patterson AFB. If sending attachments with e-mail, ensure only .PDF, .doc, or .xls documents are sent. The e-mail filter may delete any other form of attachments. REQUIREMENTS DESCRIPTION F-16C/D Remote Interface Panel Devices, Panels and Docking Stations Description The U.S. Government is requesting information in an effort to identify vendors with the expertise, capabilities, and experience to successfully produce aircraft maintenance equipment dispensing PAO fluid for F-16s with AN/APG-83 SABR systems. Participating vendors shall meet the following requirements: 1. United States aircraft maintenance equipment vendor with past experience on USAF aircraft. 2. The manufacturer's development and production facilities are located within the United States. 3. The manufacturer must meet US DoD security protection requirements. 4. The contractor must have a solution that meets the following minimum requirements: a. Has a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 8 or higher that is ready for integration starting in Q3CY22. b. Supports PAO servicing of AN/APG-83 SABR systems. c. Functions in the full range of USAF flight-line conditions. 5. Describe concept of support to enable future U.S. Government sustainment including, but not limited to licenses, technical data, commodity technical orders, and any unique requirements. 6. Provide a list of documentation, Government Furnished Equipment, and Government Furnished Information the contractor requires from the U.S. Government, as well as the dates by which they are needed. CONTRACTOR CAPABILITY SURVEY F-16 AN/APG-83 SABR PAO Cart Part I. Business Information Please provide the following business information for your company/institution and for any teaming or joint venture partners: Company/Institute Name: Address: Point of Contact: CAGE Code: Phone Number: E-mail Address: Web Page URL: Size of business pursuant to NAICS Code 333914, size standard of 750 employees: Based on the above NAICS Code, state whether your company is: Small Business (Yes / No) Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) (Yes / No) Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB) (Yes / No) 8(a) Certified (Yes / No) HUBZone Certified (Yes / No) Veteran Owned Small Business (Yes / No) Service Disabled Veteran Small Business (Yes / No) *NOTE: All prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database to be awarded a DoD contract. The NAICS code for this requirement, if applicable to the company's capabilities, should be included in the company's NAICS code listing in SAM. A statement as to whether your company is domestically or foreign owned (if foreign, please indicate the country of ownership). Part II. Capability Survey Questions Please provide the following business General Capability information for your company/institution and for any teaming or joint venture partners: 1. General Capability Questions a. Describe briefly the capabilities of your facility and the nature of the goods and/or services you provide. b. Describe your company's past experience on previous projects for the U.S. Government similar in complexity to this requirement. Include contract numbers, a brief description of the work performed, period of performance, agency/organization supported, and individual point of contact (Contracting Officer or Program Manager). c. Provide data to support/prove the required TRL has been achieved (if already at TRL 8 or higher) or is achievable within the aforementioned timeline. d. Briefly describe how your company would use small business to support this potential effort. e. Describe your company's knowledge of and experience in working with the F-16 maintenance support equipment. f. Describe your company's capabilities for generating, handling, processing, and storing classified material and data. g. Does your company have the ability to work up to the extended classified level to support this development? h. Describe your company's capabilities and experience in generating technical data, engineering drawings, and manuals. Identify what software programs are used to generate these data products and what formats are available for delivered items. i. What is your company's current maximum production capacity per month? j. Provide information on any facility reserves you may possess to increase production capacity in the event of an immediate need due to critical operational mission requirements. k. Describe any options that exist to shorten the production timeline (to include long lead parts). l. Are there specific requirements in the documentation that the U.S. Government provided that would currently preclude your product from being a viable solution to our requirement? m. Describe your company's proposed contract type and anticipated period of performance as it relates herein. 2. Hardware Production Questions: a. Describe your capability and experiences in the manufacturing/fabrication of F-16C/D maintenance support equipment. b. What quality assurance processes and test qualification practices does your company employ? Please provide a description of your quality program (ISO 9000, QS-9000, EIA-599, or otherwise). c. Does your product require additional support equipment? d. What peripheral equipment is needed to install, remove, and maintain your product? e. What, if any, type of special handling or considerations are required for your product? f. Has environmental/structural testing to USAF operational and maintenance standards been completed on your product? 3. Repair Questions: a. Describe your capabilities and experience in developing/modifying repair or maintenance procedures. Include associated upgrade of technical orders and preparation of new technical orders. b. Describe your configuration management processes and how you identify and resolve parts obsolescence and diminishing manufacturing sources problems. c. Describe your process for maintaining inventory records and reporting on hand/in work balances and repair status to your customer. 4. Commerciality Questions: a. Are there established catalog or market prices for our requirement? If your company offers this product and/or service to both U.S. Government and commercial sources, is the same workforce used for both the U.S. Government and general public? Is our requirement offered to both under similar terms and conditions? Briefly describe any differences. b. Describe your standard warranty and return process for goods and services furnished to the U.S. Government for items similar in nature to this requirement. PROPRIETARY DATA F-16 AN/APG-83 SABR PAO Cart 1. Proprietary Information (PI) or Intellectual Property (IP) should be minimized and clearly marked: a. Segregate PI and IP information to the maximum extent practical. b. Proprietary Data Protection Agreement should be in place that would permit F-16 program office support contractors to view proprietary information. The following is a list of support contractors, who will review the responses. Company Sumaria Systems 2. The U.S. Government will secure Non-Disclosure Agreements from contractors supporting the F-16 Program Office (AFLCMC/WAM) as identified above. Interested parties, if unwilling for the U.S. Government to release their proprietary data to support contractors, shall provide a statement detailing their position. 3. In the absence of either of the foregoing, the U.S. Government will assume that the respondent does not agree to the release of its submission to U.S. Government support contractors. 4. The respondent must provide a facility security clearance prior to any point-to-point classified discussions. Summary THIS IS AN SSS ONLY to identify sources that can provide PAO carts for AN/APG-83 SABR equipped F-16s. The information provided in the SSS is subject to change and is not binding on the U.S. Government. The Air Force has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this SSS should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become U.S. Government property and will not be returned.