Request for Information (RFI) RQ-20A PUMA AECV Unmanned Aerial System Moving Target Indicator

Title: RQ-20A PUMA All Environment Capable Variant (AECV) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Moving Target Indicator (MTI) 1. This Request for Information (RFI) is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. This RFI is for market research and is issued in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 10.001. Issuance of this notice does not constitute any obligation or commitment on the part of the U.S. Government (USG) to issue a solicitation or to award a contract now or in the future. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this special notice. Submitting information for this RFI is voluntary. Participants will not receive payment any submittals. Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this Request for Information, responses will be treated as information only. 2. Any information that the vendor considers proprietary should be clearly marked as such. Responses to this RFI that indicate that the information therein is proprietary or represents confidential business information will be received and held in confidence for U.S. Government use only. 3. United States Operations Command (USSOCOM) is conducting market research which will be used to plan and implement an acquisition strategy to procure a Moving Target Indicator Tracking (MTI) capability. User objectives for a MTI capability as described in Paragraph 4 of this RFI. Your submission should include cost, schedule, a technical description on how you intend to meet the objectives and what camera would be available for a flight evaluation in mid-2014. For those objectives not met, provide a description of how they would be met. Information of the details of the flight evaluation will be provided at a later date in a separate notice. 4. The USG has particular interest in production ready systems (i.e., minimum Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 as defined by the Department of Defense (DOD) Acquisition Guidebook (August 5, 2010) and a minimum Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) of 7 as defined by the DOD Manufacturing Readiness Assessment Deskbook (May 2, 2009). The system needs to meet and/or exceed the following objectives: a) Sense motion and indicate moving objects against a static background, low contrast background, and high contrast background. Objects of interest range from small animal size (small dog) to large vehicles. Detect and indicate to the operator an object of interest moving, while stationary (e.g. moving arms, a turret or gun in a truck swiveling), slow moving contacts (sniper creeping through high grass), and fast moving contacts (speeding truck off in the distance), in both Electro-optical (EO) and Infra-Red (IR) camera modes (T) b) Sense and indicate moving targets that are camouflaged and / or otherwise visually disrupted to limited naked eye detection against a variety of low contrast tactical background environments to include forest, grasslands, jungle foliage, arctic, desert, blue water maritime, green/brown water maritime, urban/concrete/asphalt, shipboard/industrial c) Provide an identification method for multiple identified contacts, and a methodology/capability to identify multiple targets in the camera's field of view on both land and water (T) d) Retain identification of a target if it returns into the FOV after departing without the requirement to re-assign a new identification (O) e) Identify and maintain identification of an identified moving contact once movement has stopped, then re-started movement. Maintain a reliable indication as the target changes aspect relative to the SUAS. f) Hardware solution weight is not more than 0.5 lbs and power draw of not more than 5 watts continuous (T). If capability is software only solution, it must run on the existing RQ-20A laptop computer/GCS interface and not impede FMV being down liked or displayed. g) Provide a target history trail (operator can vary the history length) to indicate identified tiems)' path, velocity, and predicable direction even through obscured visibility h) Ability to maintain/re-acquire a indentification using predictive analysis when an indentification history is broken due to loss of line of sight when the identified object passes under, behind, or is otherwise momentarily obscured from observation/identification Notes: 1Mission Altitude - Determined by the payload/sensor and aircraft combination to achieve the required visual and acoustic signatures with required NIIRS value. 2Operational Environment - Any environmental conditions in which the aircraft/system may be employed throughout the full spectrum of military operations (dust, rain, snow, winds, etc.) with limited hangar/shelter capacity. 5. In particular, the Government is interested in the following information to be provided in your response: a) Describe the capability your system can provide in relation to the objectives in paragraph 5. Provide a technical description of the UAS MTI to include details of the modularity, subsystems, open systems architecture, and future growth capability. Also describe your training concept and training equipment required to operate the MTI. b) Include a discussion of any USG requirement that you believe are incompatible, unachievable or significant cost drivers (possibly unaffordable) and the rationale. c) Responses should also address vendor requirements/concerns for their participation in a potential future demonstration to include any safety concerns/considerations, facility requirements, frequency requirements, electrical power requirements, fuel requirements, etc. d) A rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost estimate broken down by MTI components and training in quantities showing economies of scale. e) How modifications would/could be accomplished--production line incorporation or as post-production modifications. 6. Responses to this RFI shall be limited to 15 pages in length not including the cover page or exhibits (including pictures within the text). Provide a quad chart, providing an overview of your system does not count toward the page count. Classified information, if required, will be provided in a separate annex and shall be handled, labeled, and stored in accordance with the National Industrial Security Program (NISP) Operating Manual. Responses should be e-mailed to the POCs listed below. Paper copies of the paper submittal will also be accepted. If the response contains proprietary sensitive material, paper copies must be clearly labeled "Proprietary Sensitive Material". Proprietary sensitive material will be protected from disclosure. When appropriate, non-Government advisors may be used to objectively review a particular functional area and provide comments and recommendations to the Government. All advisors shall comply with Procurement Integrity Laws and shall sign non-disclosure and rules of conduct/conflict of interest statements. The Government shall take into consideration requirements for avoiding conflicts of interest and ensure advisors comply with safeguarding proprietary data. Submissions in response to this RFI constitute approval to release the submittal to Government support contractors. 7. Responses must be received no later than 30 calendar days after RFI release. Responses should be emailed to Jennifer Metty at jennifer.metty@socom.mil and Christine Johnson at christine.johnson@socom.milClassified information can be sent via Registered Mail or FEDEX to HQ USSOCOM Attn: Jennifer Metty (if FEDEX include phone number), 7701 Tampa Point Blvd MacDill AFB, FL 33621-5323. Technical questions should be directed to LCDR Jerin James at e-mail: jerin.james@socom.mil.