QF-16 Radar Cross Section (RCS) Measurement

The Department of Defense, United States Air Force (USAF), Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), Armament Directorate, is currently conducting market research seeking capabilities statement from potential sources, including small businesses (SB), 8(a), HUBZone, Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned (EDWOSB), Woman-Owned (WOSB), Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVOSB) small business that are capable of performing QF-16 Radar Cross Section (RCS) Measurement to further advance existing USAF RCS models. Under Title X of the US Code, Section 2366, air-to-air and surface-to-air weapons are required to be live fired at threat representative targets as part of a weapons lethality verification process prior to entering full-rate production. In order for the QF-16 Full Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) to support this weapons lethality assessment, its Radio Frequency (RF) signature (commonly referred to as Radar Cross Section) must be known with significant confidence. Data collected and deemed as "sufficient confidence" regarding a full-scale aerial target's RCS can only be obtained through measurement. RCS measurement methods require the presence of all the target's spatially distributed radar scattering centers in order to provide accurate results. Requirements: 1. The Contractor shall be responsible for conducting the RCS measurement at a Contractor-provided test facility certified under the National RCS Measurement Facilities Certification Program. 2. QF-16 Radar Cross Section measurement must yield data suitable for supporting the QF-16 RCS model verification and weapons lethality verification process referenced above. Diagnostic analysis is fundamental to the effectiveness of this process and requires the following specific data "quality" or "suitability" features: - a. Repeatability - The test conditions and collection techniques must be capable of being controlled and reproduced. - b. Granularity - The angular measurement increment for all pitch attitudes shall be optimized for the sampling theorem used to ensure highest overall data accuracy and support one degree azimuth plots. Measured pitch attitudes shall range from +10/- 30 degrees (threshold) through +10/- 45 degrees (objective) relative to the local ground-plane in 5 degree increments. Discrete frequency and wide band data supporting high resolution target imagery shall be collected. - c. Accuracy - RCS measurement sources of error shall be identified, characterized, and shown to be mitigated effectively through rigorous calibration processes, precise control of test environment, and proven data processing techniques. 3. Up to four different configurations of a C-Model QF-16 shall be measured. 4. The Contractor shall deliver a test plan and test report in accordance with Data Item Descriptions (DIDs) DI-NDTI-80566A and DI-NDTI-80809B, respectively. 5. The Government will provide as Government Furnished Property (GFP) a flightworthy C-Model QF-16 aircraft with mission representative payloads to the Contractor for use as the RCS measurement article. The airworthiness of this aircraft must not be compromised as it is an active program test asset. No unapproved modification to the internal or external structure is permitted. 6. The period of performance for this entire effort is approximately six months after contract award. 7. The Contractor will have to be able to perform the configuration changes. 8. Contractor must be capable to perform normal aircraft maintenance upon receipt of aircraft until completion of measurement effort. The Contractor will have to be able to perform necessary maintenance to make the test aircraft safe to store in the test facility (fuel, oil, hydrazine, CAD/PAD), and will also be responsible to restore the test asset to flight worthy condition All interested vendors shall submit a response demonstrating their capability to perform QF-16 Radar Cross Section (RCS) Measurement to the Primary Point of Contact listed below. Proposals are not being requested or accepted at this time. As stipulated in FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. No solicitation (Request for Proposal) exists at this time; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. The decision to solicit for a contract shall be solely within the Government's discretion. The NAICS Code assigned to this acquisition is 488190, Other Support Activities for Air Transportation, with a size standard of $32.5M. Respondents should indicate their size in relation to this size standard and indicate socio-economic status (i.e. SB, 8(a), HUBZone, EDWOSB, WOSB, or SDVOSB). Respondents are further requested to indicate their status as a Foreign-owned/Foreign-controlled firm and any contemplated use of foreign national employees on this effort. The Government reserves the right to consider a small business set-aside based upon responses hereto for any subsequent action. All prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database to be awarded a DoD contract. No set-aside decision has been made. Note that a key factor in determining an acquisition to be a Small Business Set Aside is that small business prime contractors must perform at least 50% of the effort, as defined in FAR Clause 52.219-14. Any information submitted by respondents to this sources sought is voluntary. This sources sought notice is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government reimburse any costs associated with the submission of information in response to this notice. Respondents will not be individually notified of the results of any government assessments. The Government's assessment of the capability statements received will factor into whether any forthcoming solicitation will be conducted as a full and open competition or as a set-aside for small business, or any particular small business program. CAPABILITIES STATEMENT: All interested vendors shall submit a capabilities statement that explicitly demonstrates their capability to provide/perform the requirement stated in this notice. The capabilities statement should be brief and concise, yet clearly demonstrate an ability to meet the stated requirement. The response must not exceed 10 pages. Small businesses with only partial capabilities of this requirement are encouraged to submit their capabilities statement demonstrating the portion of the requirement they are capable of providing/performing. This information will allow the Government to identify areas of possible breakout or possible subcontracting opportunities. Responses may be submitted electronically to the following e-mail address: Ms. Patricia Hicks, Contract Specialist, (850) 883-0873, email: patricia.hicks@us.af.mil or Mr. Joseph O'Gallagher, Contracting Officer, (850) 883-3476, email: joseph.ogallagher@us.af.mil. All correspondence sent via email shall contain a subject line that reads "FA8678-17-R-0007, QF-16 RCS Measurement." If this subject line is not included, the e-mail may not get through e-mail filters at Eglin AFB. Filters are designed to delete emails without a subject or with a suspicious subject or attachment. Attachments with files ending in .zip or .exe are not allowable and will be deleted. Ensure only .pdf, .doc, .docx, .xsls, or .xls documents are attached to your email. All other attachments may be deleted. All responsible sources may submit information that shall be considered by the agency. If late information is received, it may be considered, depending on agency time constraints. All routine communications regarding the announcement should be directed to the contractual point of contact listed in this posting. The Government may or may not use any responses to this sources sought as a basis for a subsequent project/requirement. Any project/requirement developed from the sources sought responses may be the subject of a subsequent acquisition; any such subsequent acquisition will be posted in FedBizOpps.gov separately. Responses to this sources sought will not be returned. The Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received, or provide feedback to the respondents with respect to any of the information submitted under this sources sought. No requests for a bid package or solicitation will be accepted; a bid package or solicitation does not exist at this time. In order to protect the integrity of any possible future acquisition, no additional information will be provided and no appointments for presentations will be made in reference to this sources sought. Only government employees will review submitted responses to this sources sought. Respondents are advised that employees of commercial firms under contract with the Government may be used to administratively process submissions and perform other administrative duties requiring access to other contractor's proprietary information. These administrative support contractors include nondisclosure agreements prohibiting their contractor employees from disclosing any information submitted by other contractors or using such information for any purpose other than that for which it was furnished. RESPONSES ARE DUE NO LATER THAN 3:00 P.M. (CST) ON 26 May 2017. Direct all questions concerning this requirement to Ms. Patricia Hicks, Contract Specialist, (850) 883-0873, email: patricia.hicks@us.af.mil.