RFI for Army Standard Family of Rigid Wall Shelters (ASF-RWS) Phase 2 (P2), Vehicle Mounted Shelters

RFI for Army Standard Family of Rigid Wall Shelters (ASF-RWS) Phase 2 (P2), Vehicle Mounted Shelters Title: Vehicle Mounted Shelter Development and Production Synopsis: This is a Sources Sought Notice / Request for Information (RFI) for the U.S. Army Contracting Command - Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) Natick Division, No. W911QY-ENERWS-RFI. on behalf of Product Manager Force Sustainment Systems (PM FSS) located at the Natick Soldier Systems Center, is conducting market research, pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 10, in advance of a potential solicitation, under Authority of FAR Part 15.201 (e), for the Army Standard Family of Rigid Wall Shelters (ASF-RWS) program. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT SHALL BE AWARDED FROM THIS RFI/SOURCES SOUGHT. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this synopsis, any follow-up information requests, or subsequent Requests for Proposals. The purpose of this sources sought notice is to gain knowledge of interest, capabilities, and qualifications of various members of industry. This RFI is part of the market research, which will allow the government to assess industry's current capability to produce vehicle mounted Rigid Wall Shelters (RWS). The ASF-RWS fulfill a multitude of U.S. Army missions including mission command/command post functions, maintenance facilities, medical facilities, and any other functions that can be integrated, either permanently or temporarily, into such a shelter. These shelters are critical enablers to a wide variety of programs and weapon systems, including those comprising the U.S. Army's six modernization priorities. These shelters also enable the U.S. Army to close several critical organizational gaps inhibiting successful multi-domain combat operations. The ASF-RWS Phase 2 (P2), are Vehicle Mounted shelters, and would be developed as a replacement to the existing fleet of S-280 with the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) and S-788 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). ASF-RWS technologies were developed well over 30-years ago and need modernization. Thus, the two (2) goals are to procure modernized vehicle mounted RWS that are more energy efficient, supportable, durable, environmentally resilient, and affordable in both unit price and sustainment cost. Secondly, the new design should promote commonality and land/sea/air transportability across RWS vehicle platforms to support maintenance, repair, special operations, and systems integration companies. Industry should consider new materials/construction methods to reduce costs, increase energy efficiency (reducing heat transfer by 20%), provide electromagnetic interference shielding to 60 decibels (dB) attenuation, reduce the tare weight (unladen) of the shelter between 5% and 10%. The roof assembly of the ASF-RWS P2 shall withstand a snow load of 40 pounds per square foot and a personnel load of 660 lb. static over 2 square feet. The ASF-RWS shall have a floor and outside roof surface with sufficient impact resistance to prevent penetration or damage which negatively affects form, fit, or function by objects weighing 30 pounds from a height of 36 inches over an area of 3 inches in diameter. These modular shelter enhancements would provide for increased interoperability/scalability and Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence(C4I) housing, electronics repair, and environmental protection capabilities for equipment and personnel would be needed. The anticipated ASF-RWS Vehicle Mounted contract efforts would include the design, fabrication, test, and delivery of the ASF-RWS P2, Vehicle Mounted Variants. The following is a list of variants, of shelters that the U.S. Army is interested in procuring: Types of vehicle shelter variants: Type A - HMMWV based platform shelter, (Prime movers consist of M1152A1 and M1152A1 with B2 Armor Kit HMMWV) Type B - a 5-ton Medium Tactical Vehicle (MTV)-and 2 -ton Light Medium Tactical Vehicle (LMTV)-based platform Type C - Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), utility truck base shelter Unique classes of shelters: Class B - Basic standard model Class C - Chemical and biological (CB) hardened Class EN - Expandable Class T - Tunnel All vehicle mounted shelters will meet extreme cold requirements and shall also have Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. Each Type and Class will be come in both tan and green colors. The design of these shelter types will be defined by a government-published performance specification. The responses to this RFI may assist the government in choosing a course of action. In either course of action, these shelters will be subject to the design, performance, environmental, and safety requirements outlined in the P2 performance specification. The government may consider future procurement of a Technical Data Package (TDP). Type A. High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) Mounted (legacy: S-788 shelter) The modernized HMMWV mounted rigid wall shelter shall have the same basic capabilities and dimensions as the legacy S-788 with improvements made to energy efficiency, weight, environmental performance, and lifecycle affordability. Several key design requirements for the modernized HMMWV mounted rigid wall shelter are as follows: Heat transfer coefficient (U): 0.30 BTU/h/ft2/F (O) - 0.40 BTU/h/ft2/F (T) Tare weight: 579 lb (O) - 611 lb (T) Operating temperature: -60'F - 120'F plus solar load Storage temperature: -60'F - 160'F Performance characteristics not less than that of S-788 ASTM E2377 Transportable by conventional ground, rail, sea, and air MIL-STD-1366 Transportable by rotary wing aircraft MIL-STD-913 Transportable by fixed wing aircraft (C-130 and larger), mounted or dismounted MIL-STD-1791 Suitable provisions for lift and tiedown MIL-STD-209 Designed for safety and human factors MIL-STD-1472 Electromagnetic shielding: capable of employing electromagnetic shielding - 60 decibel attenuation across a frequency range of 100 kHz to 10 GHz - by way of direct incorporation into the shelter construction or by way of an add-on kit Mounting: capable of mounting on HMMWV and JLTV with minimal interface hardware, without compromising the structural integrity or performance of the vehicle, and without compromising any shelter requirements Type B. Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) Mounted (legacy: S-280 shelter) The modernized FMTV mounted rigid wall shelter shall have the same basic capabilities and dimensions as the legacy S-280 with improvements made to energy efficiency, weight, environmental performance, and lifecycle affordability. Several key design requirements for the modernized FMTV mounted rigid wall shelter are as follows: Heat transfer coefficient (U): 0.17 BTU/h/ft2/F (O) - 0.22 BTU/h/ft2/F (T) Tare weight: 1,260 lb (O) - 1,330 lb (T) Operating temperature: -60'F - 120'F plus solar load Storage temperature: -60'F - 160'F Performance characteristics not less than that of S-280 ASTM E1975 Transportable by conventional ground, rail, sea, and air MIL-STD-1366 Transportable by rotary wing aircraft MIL-STD-913 Transportable by fixed wing aircraft (C-130 and larger), dismounted. MIL-STD-1791 Suitable provisions for lift and tiedown MIL-STD-209 Designed for safety and human factors MIL-STD-1472 Electromagnetic shielding: capable of employing electromagnetic shielding - 60 decibel attenuation across a frequency range of 100 kHz to 10 GHz - by way of direct incorporation into the shelter construction or by way of an add-on kit Mounting: capable of mounting on FMTV vehicles - particularly the M1078 and M1083 variants - with minimal interface hardware, without compromising the structural integrity or performance of the vehicle, and without compromising any shelter requirements. Type C - Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), utility truck base shelter - new variant. Requirements must align with JLTV utility truck requirements and in line with established ASF-RWS requirements listed within this document. All interested respondents, regardless of size, are encouraged to respond to this RFI. Respondents are encouraged to demonstrate how they can produce these technologically advanced modernized shelters, provide the monthly production rates they can achieve and maintain, any associated production ramp times and show they can incorporate improvements to the designs by way of Engineering Change Proposals (ECPs), and include any relevant details on ECP and configuration management processes. Respondents are encouraged to submit the preceding information for each of the types of shelters listed above. Response submissions should include: currently available product information and illustrations; current unit prices, if applicable, of those products, to include, if applicable, estimated step-ladder pricing for 1, 10, 50,100, 200, 250, and 500+ units; description of experience relevant to vehicle mounted rigid wall shelter development and/or manufacturing; description of experience designing systems to meet government performance requirements (EMI/thermal/durability/weight etc.); description of experience developing level III government Technical Data Packages (TDPs); EMI hardened and chemically hardened shelters; developing a project schedule to manage all aspects of the program, developing government technical manuals using XML, and other Product Support package (PSP) documentation to support Technical Manual (TM) development; description of experience conducting and supporting government testing activities; details on configuration control; details on quality control and quality assurance programs; description of the approach to improving energy efficiency, maintaining affordability, and promoting commonality of components across shelter types; information on the respondent's status as a small business (include number of employees); information regarding past performance with government customers; and any relevant test/engineering data to provide confidence in developing and producing vehicle mounted shelters. All RFI submissions must be received NLT 3:00 p.m. EST on April 14th, 2023. All submissions shall be submitted electronically via Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF. All information supplied will be considered confidential, unless otherwise specified or available from other sources without restriction. This RFI is for information and planning purposes only. This is not an Invitation for Bid (IFB) or a Request for Proposal (RFP) and is not to be taken as a commitment by the U.S. Army. Please email questions and/or submissions to both ethan.p.seal.civ@army.mil and sean.g.auld.civ@army.mil with the subject line: W911QY-24-R-0001 RFI Questions - ADD YOUR COMPANY NAME.