Request for Information for U.S. Army Vessel Bridging Systems (VBS)

The U.S. Army Product Manager, Army Watercraft Systems (PdM AWS) is seeking industry input to develop its acquisition strategy for a new vessel to shore enabler, Vessel Bridging Systems (VBS). The VBS is intended to be a - family of solutions with potentially multiple materiel solutions to satisfy multiple mission scenarios. The capabilities for the VBS are outlined in Section IV below. The Government seeks input from vendors that have Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) solutions, or vendors that could serve as an integrator to assemble various subsystems into a final product and provide services required to mature the product. The Government intends to take an iterative approach and will seek to achieve as many capabilities as feasible and affordable through incremental modifications to a baseline design. The Government currently has a legacy prototype which meets some of the capabilities. This design is provided in the attached drawing titled - LMCS-drawings 10-02-07. The Government design is not intended to be prescriptive but may be used as a basis for iteration. After the Government has developed its acquisition strategy, it intends to obtain prototypes and ancillary equipment sufficient to conduct a limited operational assessment. The goal is to attain a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 7 no later than Q4 FY26 for initial prototype testing or no later than FY28 for fielding final improved solution. This RFI is for planning purposes only; it is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for the information solicited. No contract shall be awarded from this announcement. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) or an announcement of a forthcoming solicitation nor does it imply or guarantee one will be issued in the future. Also, it is not a request seeking contractors interested in being placed on a solicitation mailing list. Response to this questionnaire is voluntary and no reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to the market survey and any follow-on information requests. Not responding to this Request for Information (RFI) does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any are issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the System for Award Management (SAM) website: https://beta.sam.gov. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding to the Government.