Sources Sought Notice for Battlefield Connected, Cumulative, and Convergent Support Services (BC3SS)

BATTLEFIELD CONNECTED, CUMULATIVE, AND CONVERGENT SUPPORT SERVICES (BC3SS) AMENDMENT 0003: The purpose of this amendment is to announce; based on current milestone goals, the government is considering the use of exisiting GWAC and various MATOCs to fulfill this requirement. The government is updating this notice informing interested offerors of our strategy to utilize the Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services (RS3) vehicle for Battlefield Connected, Cumulative, and Convergent Support Services (BC3SS). RS3 is a Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Performance Based Service Contract vehicle. AMENDMENT 0002: The purpose of this amendment is to publish Questions and Answers (Q&As) from the BC3SS Industry Day event. See attached Power Point slides. Q&As are contained at the end of the slide deck. AMENDMENT 0001: The purpose of this amendment is to revise the BC3SS Industry Day event registration link. Interested parties should register at https://www.arl.army.mil/bc3ss. There are no other changes taking place as a result of this amendment. Sources Sought Notice for Battlefield Connected, Cumulative, and Convergent Support Services (BC3SS) THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION: No award will be made as a result of this request. This Sources Sought Notice is for informational purposes only. The Government is not obligated to make an award as a result of this request. This is NOT an Invitation for Bid (IFB), a Request for Proposal (RFP), or Request for Quotation (RFQ). No solicitation document exists and a formal solicitation may or may not be issued by the Government as a result of the responses to this Sources Sought Announcement. Not responding to this Sources Sought Notice does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. In accordance with FAR 15.201 (e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government will not reimburse costs incurred by respondents in response to this SS, or for participating in information exchange regarding details of the SS. Only U.S. citizens and U.S. owned firms can respond to this SS. PURPOSE: The Army Research Laboratory is surveying the market to locate/identify interested Small Business Concerns to support the technology development to meet the Army's Research and Technology Requirements. BC3SS is anticipated to be a Multi-Award, Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (MA-IDIQ) type contract that is planned to provide task orders which will primarily be issued on a Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) basis. BC3SS is anticipated to have a five (5) year base ordering period. It is not feasible at this time to describe in detail, each individual task the Contractor will be required to perform. This procurement will enable ARL's ability to perform its mission of research, development and experimentation. The Army Modernization Priorities are the critical needs of the Army to maintain overmatch for the Soldier as we anticipate the demands of future conflict. ARL's Essential Research Programs (ERPs) focus our efforts to pursue the Army's vision of the Multi-Domain Battle with the intent to operate each ERP as a program with well-defined outcomes and decision points. Long-term Science and Technology (S&T) trajectories for the ERPs are focused on outcomes that provide overmatch for the Army with an eye to providing capabilities in the 2050 time frame - without the luxury of time. ARL requires an agile and entrepreneurial mindset and be expeditious in transition of research products to RDEC's, industry, Program Managers (PM)/Program Executive Offices (PEO), and the requirements community as soon as they show promise. ARL and our industry partners must be aligned and ready to support the Cross Functional Teams (CFTs) in the pursuit of mid- and far-term capabilities. BACKGROUND: The Battlefield Connected, Cumulative, and Convergent Support Services (BC3SS) contract is intended to support the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and its customers in the performance of their Research and Development (R&D) mission to organize and deliver critical capabilities to our combat formations. ARL must develop technological advancements that outpace our adversaries and deliver superiority to our forces to fight and win wars. ARL will accomplish this through the alignment of research programs and resources to address the Army's Modernization Command priorities to organize and deliver modern, critical capabilities to our combat forces. The Army Modernization technical outcomes aim to achieve overmatch against our adversaries, whenever and wherever we deploy our forces. The technical outcomes, organized to deliver to the Army Futures Command, Cross Functional Teams, include the development of longer range precision fires; next generation ground combat vehicles; future vertical lift capabilities; advances in soldier lethality; assured, precision position, navigation, and timing, especially in Global Positioning System (GPS) denied environments; advanced networks and command, control, computing and intelligence systems; advanced air and missile defense systems; and synthetic training environments. ARL's R&D mission must be CONNECTED across the Future Force Modernization Enterprise (FFME), the Army, Department of Defense (DoD) organizations and other customers, transition partners, and to our industrial and academic partners. This will be done through high quality products delivered to the Army and our Soldiers in the shortest time possible. ARL's work must be CUMULATIVE - building upon existing technology and best practices. ARL must make effective use of the Army research enterprise and provide excellent stewardship of resources. This requires our workforce and industry partners to be well-connected to their technical communities and knowledgeable about what currently constitutes the state-of-the-art in their technical fields. It also requires that our efforts build from basic and applied research through development to prototyping of novel capabilities. The goal is that our cumulative efforts are greater than just the sum of their constituent parts and must CONVERGE to deliver results and products that meet the Army Modernization Priorities. The services to be provided by the Contractor, as outlined below will require facilities and personnel with scientific, engineering, analytical, computer programming, manufacturing/pre-production, administrative, management, facilities support and various other technical skills; the ability to fabricate hardware and software prototypes; the ability to purchase specific existing technologies, host platforms and equipment and the ability to integrate that equipment into various hardware and software prototypes; the ability to demonstrate new concepts; the expertise to perform computer modeling and simulation experiments; and the capability for supporting diverse laboratory and field testing. The BC3SS will require scientific, engineering, and business operations support services in the following eight (8) emphasis areas: 1. Advanced Electro-Optic Sensors and Photonics - The emphasis in this area is the development of the next generation of optical sensors from the ultraviolet through the infrared for both active and passive sensing systems. The work also emphasizes advanced materials and the application of integrated photonics technologies for advanced sensors and systems. 2. Advanced Electronics and Radio Frequency (RF) Technologies - The emphasis is in the application of RF technologies to address Army needs in imaging, targeting and detection of targets, Information, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4), electronic warfare and various aspects of intelligence gathering through the use of RF devices and systems. This includes development of antennas, especially conformal antenna technology, Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) and modeling of these devices and systems. It also involves development of micro- and nano-scale devices and fabrication techniques. 3. Power Sources, Systems and Materials - This area addresses power and energy technologies ranging from individual Soldier power to power conversion and conditioning technologies for vehicles. It is driven by the need for more efficient and lightweight power to provide Tactical Unit Energy Independence. 4. Information Science for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) - As sensors and sensor systems proliferate in the operating environment, it is critical to develop methods, algorithms, and systems to convert the data from the sensors into useful, actionable information. This area emphasizes on both the development of sensor systems (acoustic, seismic, electric field, magnetic field and imaging) and the systems required to provide useful, actionable intelligence from them. Ideally, the analysis and information process can be incorporated into the sensor systems, rather than having to transmit the data to a central hub for analysis. 5. Micro-Autonomous Systems and Technology - The challenges involved in developing small-scale robotics, especially micro-scale autonomous systems, are of vital interest to ARL in order to provide these capabilities to the lowest echelons of our forces in the field. This area emphasizes on addressing those challenges in order to develop micro-scale crawling and flying autonomous systems. It involves providing power to these systems and especially addressing challenges in thermal management on micro-scale systems through modeling, the development of design tools, experimentation and analysis. 6. Discovery (Basic Research) - As the Army's corporate laboratory, ARL is concerned with basic and applied research in order to prepare the Army for the challenges of the future. Several areas of interest in the basic research program are the development of non-medical biotechnology, quantum technology and novel materials research. Non-medical biotechnology is being examined for areas such as waste-to-energy conversion and on the spot manufacture of commodity chemicals to reduce the logistics trail of our forces. Quantum technologies can potentially provide advanced sensors for locating buried objects, Assured Position, Navigation and Timing capabilities, and secure networks for communications and data transfer. 7. Advanced Concepts and Technical Prototyping - As ARL emphasis's on developing novel technologies, opportunities will arise to rapidly spin some of those technologies out as proof of concepts or novel prototypes for testing in relevant environments. ARL requires partners to assist in the modeling, design, fabrication, and testing of these concepts and prototypes in short time frames to meet our requirements. 8. Computer modeling and simulation - Underpinning all of the work described above is physics-based modeling and simulation. The effort involves both the development of the models and their use in guiding experimental efforts. These efforts run the gamut from biological systems models to semiconductor materials modeling to simulations of RF systems. HISTORTICAL EFFORTS: Please reference "Historical Efforts" attachment for additional background information pertaining to the current efforts in place at ARL. Please note that the referenced attachment is solely a representation of existing Contractor support requirements, however, it is does not encompass all anticipated requirements of ARL under the new BC3SS effort, which are clearly captured in the eight (8) emphasis areas listed above. INDUSTRY DAY DETAILS: Tentative Date: Friday, 19 October 2018 Time: 10:00 AM Eastern Location: Tommy Douglas Conference Center 1000 New Hampshire Avenue Silver Spring, MD 20903 Event Registration: https://www.arl.army.mil/bc3ss Capabilities Briefing Documents: Industry Day attendees may submit their capabilities briefing documents the day of the event via disk or hard copy. Capabilities briefing documents may also be submitted via email no later than Friday, 26 October 2018 at the email submission address listed below. The capabilities briefing documents submission deadline of Friday, 26 October 2018 is for both Industry Day attendees and non-attendees that are interested in the BC3SS effort. Capabilities Briefing Documents Submission Email: BC3SS@arl.army.mil Please be advised that .zip and .exe files cannot be accepted. INFORMATION REQUESTED: Interested parties with the capabilities to satisfy the above technology development objectives and support services should submit a capability brief not to exceed 15 pages, describing the contractor's experience in conducting DoD and/or commercial research and development programs including fabricating and prototyping products to meet Government technology requirements. Additionally, your company's response should include a complete discussion of your ability to meet the above stated requirements and capabilities, facility availability and staffing capabilities. The supporting documentation must be in sufficient detail to enable the Government to determine if the potential vendor has the required corporate capacity and relevant past performance to meet the basic requirements or through effective teaming with other small business concerns and/or joint ventures, all of which are encouraged. Responses should also include a cover letter (not included in the page count) providing: 1. Point of contact information to include: company name, contact name, company address, website (if available), contact phone number, and contact email address. 2. Statement as to whether or not your company is considered a small or large business. Please also indicate any socioeconomic classification (8(a), Woman-Owned, Veteran-Owned and Operated, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, Operated business, or HUB-Zone) that applies. The small business size standard is 1000 employees for the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 541712. 3. Are you planning on being a Prime or a Subcontractor? 4. If you are a small business and plan to be a prime, please indicate how you will comply with the limitations on subcontracting Clause 52.219-14? 5. If you are a small business and plan to be a prime, do you anticipate your company remaining a small business under the stated NAICS code above? 6. If you are a small business and plan to be a prime, does your company possess the capabilities to provide the entire range of these requirements? If not, list which requirements your company can provide. 7. If you are a small business and plan to be a prime, can your company sustain the effort if not paid for 90 calendar days? Explain how your company would maintain adequate financial resources for a contract of this magnitude and length. 8. The Government understands that teaming is an intricate part of contracting. Please briefly describe how you would approach selecting team members for this requirement if you are not performing this action 100% (percent) in house? Provide details regarding proposed joint ventures, teaming arrangements, strategic alliances, etc. to satisfy the Government's requirements. Vendors are encouraged to identify teams, indicating each team member's size based upon the NAICS code of the work that the team member may be doing. 9. Has your Company performed this type of effort or similar type effort (to include size and complexity) before? If so, please provide Contract number, Point of Contact (POC) name, e-mail address, phone number, and a brief description of your direct support of the effort. 10. Statement as to whether or not your company has an adequate accounting system. Please include a copy of your most recent Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) Accounting System Audit. 11. Cage Code and Duns Number: If your company holds a GSA Schedule contract, please provide the Schedule number.