CBD ANNOUNCEMENT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT NATIONAL SMALL ARMS CENTER SIGNING DAY HISTORY In May 2002, NDIA Small Arms Symposium presented a paper on the concept of a National Small Arms Center. In January 2003, there was an Industry Day at The Hilton Hotel. Approximately 100 Industry, government, and academia representatives attended. A draft Other Transaction and Consortium Member Agreement was presented to Contracting and Legal office for review. >From preliminary data it appears as though there is enough interest to have a signing day for those entities interested in being a part of this consortium. PURPOSE Signing day for industry and academia to become provisional members of an industry/academia consortium. The Consortium is the private sector partner of a National Small Arms Center sponsored by the U.S. Army and other Defense and Government organizations. The major goal of this Consortium and Center is to improve the U.S. technology & Production base capabilities as required to sustain U.S. military supremacy in research, development, engineering and production of small arms weapons and ammunition, to include hand guns, shoulder fired weapons, grenade launchers, machine guns, grenade machine guns, and advanced weapons/devices such as lightweight acoustic and directed energy weapons. Also, included are small arms ammunition; gun launched and rocket grenades; fire control; embedded computers; power supplies; fuzing; the soldier/gun/vehicle interface and related materials and processes BACKGROUND The small arms weapons and ammunition technology base and industrial base are in serious jeopardy due to a long period of reduced Defense spending and the restructuring and downsizing of Government, industry and university capabilities. Conventional small arms weapons and ammunition technologies are core capabilities which must be sustained to meet our military needs around the world. The National Small Arms Center is under the management of the Program Manager for the Joint Services Small Arms Program and is cosponsored by the PEO Soldier; PEO Ammunition; U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command - Rock Island (TACOM-RI), the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the Armaments Research and Development Engineering Center(ARDEC). The other Services and other Government agencies are invited to join the Center by this announcement and separate correspondence. The management of the Center will be located at ARDEC although in operation the center is a virtual center that will leverage the assets and capabilities of its Government sponsors and industry and academia partners. ARDEC serves as the Army's focal point and authority for research, development, test and evaluation of small arms weapons system designs, optimization of lethality, durability, reliability and ease of use; and development and application of computer models and simulations to all aspects of weapons system design. ARDEC is also the Department of the Army and the Army Materiel Command's lead laboratory for energetic materials and for transitioning small arms weapons and ammunition to production. The sponsors have partnered and continue to partner with a number of universities and private sector companies on many diverse activities in the areas of Small Arms Weapons Systems. The Army would like to build upon this partnering activity with academia, industry and other profit and non-profit organizations to address the Army's long range goals in the area of small arms weapons systems. DESCRIPTION The partnership/consortium will perform research, development and engineering activities which address the Army's long range goals in the areas indicated above. The role of this consortium is to define collaborative efforts that advance the technology and scientific and engineering skills in the areas that are required to develop, upgrade and produce weapons and ammunition which support the Army's current and future requirements. The role of the Government will be to directly participate in these collaborative efforts, to provide partial or full funding, and share expertise and facilities. It is expected that the non-Government collaborators will share in the funding of projects for the National Small Arms Center on a case-by-case basis, contribute their own personnel resources in planning and organizing collaborative efforts and under special instances provide materials, facilities, equipment or instrumentation. It is envisioned that these objectives will be accomplished through the use of an - Other Transaction Agreement (OTA)" for prototyping (Section 845 of the 1994 Defense Appropriations Act and amendments) between the Army and the consortium, where each consortium member participates in accordance with a Consortium Management Agreement (CMA). The CMA will define the purpose, goals and responsibilities of the members including how the members will address intellectual property. The consortium will consist of industry (large and small businesses), universities, and non-profit organizations working with PM JSSAP (Joint Service and Small Arms Program) personnel and other Government sponsors utilizing their own facilities or ARDEC laboratories and facilities on a fee for service basis. The level of funding from the Government is estimated to be $1.5M - $3.0M the first year. The term of the agreement is expected to be for a least 5 years with provisions for renewal. Inasmuch as this consortium is to improve and sustain U.S. military supremacy in the research, development, engineering and production of small arms weapons and ammunition, the Consortium will be open to qualified U.S. and foreign-owned organizations to foster the largest technical impact. The members may need a Secret clearance, and will need to comply with U.S. Army Security, safety and environmental requirements and export laws. There is a preference for the work to be performed in the U.S. whether by U.S. or foreign-owned organizations. The Center will engage in broad areas of research and development leading to prototypes to include weapon systems, subassemblies such as fire control, fuzing and power supplies, materials and material behavior, coatings, manufacturing science and technology, modeling and simulation and failure analyses. The Center will also foster specialized education and training as necessary consistent with the goals of the Center. Status A request to use the Other Transactions Authority has been submitted to the Department of the Army for approval. The draft CMA will be available NLT January 2, 2004 for review by perspective members on the NDIA web site (www.ndia.org, click on divisions, click on armaments, click on small arms, scroll down to find documents and news about the center). Comments, questions or suggestions on the CMA should be e-mailed to Barbara Byrnes,
contact@example.gov. ADMINISTRATION Please respond to this announcement if you plan to attend the Signing Day scheduled for 5 February 2004 at the Hilton Garden Inn, Rockaway Town Square Mall, Rockaway, NJ NLT 19 January 2004. Please advise Barbara J. Byrnes,
contact@example.gov,
+1 (555) 000-0000 or Dr. Stephen C. Small,
contact@example.gov +1 (555) 000-0000 of your intent to attend Signing Day. Security: The meeting is unclassified. The Government will not pay for attendance (approx. $25 for lunch) nor award a contract based on your submission or attendance. The purpose of the meeting is to sign the charter, standup the Center, and obtain provisional signatures of those organizations intending to join the Consortium. IMPORTANT All foreign nationals must submit an embassy request no later than January 21, 2004. Canadians may apply by way of the Joint Certification Program. In either case the security POC is Kevin Perry
+1 (555) 000-0000. The Government will not pay for this information nor award a contract based on your submission. This notice will be used by the Army to have interested parties sign up for membership.
