Specialized Computer Hardware, for Portfolio Capability Executive (PAE) Fires

Purpose of Amendment 01:

• Post Question & Answer (Q&A) 
• Submission date remains unchanged of 30 June 2026, 1500 Central Standard Time

SYNOPSIS

The US Army is conducting market research to identify Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) hardware solutions that support requirements for an immediate need of Specialized Computer Hardware (SCH). The desired SCH would have the capacity to serve multiple critical missions. The SCH will host, process, and execute a range of applications which can result in intense workloads. 

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT PROVIDE REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DOCUMENTATION SUBMITTED FOR THIS INFORMATION.

The submitted documentation, upon delivery, becomes the property of the U.S. Government. Submissions will not be returned

Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.2, this notice is being issued as a REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not an offer and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. No contract award is intended to result from this request. The Government will use responses to this RFI to determine industry interest and capability. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal or a promise to issue a Request for Proposal in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. The Government point of contact is Leigh Kellstrom, US Army Contracting Command-Redstone, Attn: CCAM-MSC-B, Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898, and can be contacted via email only, leigh.t.kellstrom.civ@army.mil. 

SPECIALIZED COMPUTER HARDWARE PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

Respondents replying to this RFI will address how their solution meets the following minimum performance requirements for the SCH in their response.

At a minimum, the SCH shall: 

1. Be of 1U form factor system in 19” rack.
2. Have a removable/replaceable power supply with the following minimum available options:
   1. 100/240V VAC (60/50 Hz)
   2. 10-36 VDC, 32 Amp
3. Have 1 or more enterprise-class x86 processors (e.g. Intel Scalable or AMD EPYC) totaling 40 or more cores.
4. Have 128 GB or more of DDR4 (or faster) Error Correcting Code (ECC) memory per socket, for a total of at least 256 GB.  (Note: if the memory is shared between the sockets, the minimum acceptable total is 192 GB.)
5. Have at least 1 Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) 3.0x16 or better interface capable of holding a discrete graphics card.
6. Have at least 1 removable Gen3 SATA or faster solid-state drive (SSD) or PCIe 3.0 or faster NVMe SSD.
7. Acknowledge compliance with the following environmental/shock/power standards and declare all variations from these standards:
   1. MIL-STD-901D Grade A, IEC 60068-2-27 (Shock).
   2. MIL-STD-167-1, MIL-STD-810G, IEC 60068-2-64 (Vibration).
   3. MIL-STD-1474E (Airborne Noise).
   4. MIL-STD-740-2 (Structure Borne Vibration).
   5. MIL-STD-461F, CE102 (EMI/RFI).
   6. IEC 60068-2-2 test Bb, 60068-2-1 test Ab (Temperature).
   7. MIL-STD-461 CE102 and MIL-STD-704F (Power).
   8. Ability to operate at altitudes of 10,000 ASL.
   9. Survivability at altitudes of 40,000 ASL while in non-operating state.
   10. Ability to operate within temperature extremes between 0 degrees to 50 degrees Celsius.
   11. Survivability within temperature extremes between -40 degrees to 80 degrees Celsius while in non-operating state.
   12. Ability to operate within humid environments of 5% to 95% (non-condensing).
   13. Shall survive temperature extremes between -40 degrees to 80 degrees Celsius while in non-operating state.
   14. Survivability within humid environments of 5% to 95% (non-condensing) while in non-operating state.
8. Acknowledge compliance with the following manufacturing standards and declare all variations from these standards:
   1. AS5553.
   2. Gold issue.
   3. Production facilities compliant with AS9100D or better.
   4. Shall contain no Chinese parts as well as other countries parts that are banned including subcomponents on printed circuit boards and onboard software/BIOS.
9. Be Technology Readiness Level 7 or higher, with removable / replaceable solid state media.
10. Provide known and validated reliability and availability data.
11. Support 8.x Red Hat Enterprise Linux or newer versions.
12. Maintain drivers compatibility with declared supported Linux versions for an extended period of time, 5 or more years.
13. Support hypervisors, specifically KVM or equivalent.
14. Integrate discrete Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 or newer.
15. Have security features to protect critical data and infrastructure.
16. Have cyber-resilient and cryptographically verified BIOS composable security features.
17. Include tamper resistant features.
18. Have conformal coated motherboard per IPC-CC 830.
19. Be designed to include the following fully functioning and operational interfaces or features for I/O:
    1. Front Panel (minimal):
       1. Power/Reset Switch.

1. 1. 1. 1x Quick Change CMOS Battery.
      2. 1x Battery Access.
      3. Power On LED Indicator.
      4. 2x USB 3.0 or better Ports (One to each CPU, if separated).
   2. Rear Panel (minimal):
      1. 4x 5 Gb or faster Ethernet Ports (minimum one to each CPU, if separated).

1. 1. 1. Power Supply.
      2. Power Supply LED Indicator.
2. Ensure maintenance of hardware, BIOS, and firmware yielding same configuration over a 3-year period.
3. Include volume protection and/or signal instrumentation protection.
4. X86 memory encryption.
5. Preferred Options:  
   1. Intermediate or higher tamper resistance features.
   2. Filtering of particulates, i.e. fan filters.
   3. Side rails.
   4. Built-in security features.
   5. Secure hypervisor options.
   6. Cyber resistant baseboard management controller options.
   7. Board Support Package (BSP) support (For example: Enterprise Linux for                    Xeon-D subsystems, Linux Yocto BSP for Versal subsystems), tools and

                    tool suites to include Vivado, etc.

1. 1. Display Port.
   2. Within 25 lbs in weight.
   3. Replaceable power supply, 10-36 VDC, 32 Amps.
   4. Replaceable power supply, 36-72 VDC, 18 Amps.
   5. Support for Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) v2.0, Redfish

Options.

1. 1. Support for Windows 11.
   2. Composable security features.
   3. Front panel Quick Change CMOS Battery or other ease of access for

                    battery changes, if applicable.

RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS

Part A.  Business Information:
Please provide the following information for your company and for any teaming or joint venture partners:

Company/Institute name

Address

Point of Contact

Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code

Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)

Phone Number

Email Address

Web page URL

Size of business pursuant to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 423430; Computer and Computer Peripheral Equipment and Software Merchant Wholesalers. 

Based on the above NAICS Code, state (Yes/No) whether your company qualifies as a Small Business, Woman Owned Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, 8(a) Certified, HUB Zone Certified, Veteran Owned Small Business, Service-Disabled Small Business, or Central Contractor Registration.  Provide a statement describing your company as domestically or foreign owned (if foreign owned, please indicate country of ownership).

Part B.  Company Capability (3-page maximum):

Briefly describe the capabilities of your company and the nature of the goods and/or services you provide. Describe your company's experience on previous projects similar in complexity to this requirement. Include contract numbers, a brief description of the work performed, period of performance, and agency or organization supported.

If you plan to use subcontractors for this effort, include anticipated subcontractors and the associated estimated percentage of work. 

Part C.  Technical Submission:

At a minimum, the white paper shall provide a description of the solution and a statement on how the solution meets these key attributes:

1. Technical Overview: Describe how the hardware solution meets or exceeds the SCH requirements as defined above.
2. Affordability: Provide estimated SCH costs for budgeting purposes.
3. Testing: Identify and summarize all previous testing completed at either the component level or at the system of system level by either USG agencies or other test agencies.
4. Architecture: Describe conformance with the USG open systems architecture initiative such as Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA). Under the MOSA umbrella comes a myriad of other open standards that align with the MOSA strategy.

The response should include a detailed description of the solution at the system and subsystem level. The response should identify if the solution requires development or is an existing solution. The submission should outline key performance capabilities of the solution. The response should include the current and projected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) at the system and subsystem levels and provide supporting information to justify the ratings. The respond should include a projected schedule for the integration, test, qualification, and transition to production include long lead times. The response should address the data rights assertions for the solution. The response should address technical and programmatic risks associated with the solution including any significant supply chain concerns and resulting schedule impacts.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

All responses must be submitted in writing, and must include the following: company name, CAGE code, and appropriate point of contact information.  The Government will consider marketing material as an insufficient response to this RFI. Respondents should indicate which portions of their responses are proprietary and should mark them accordingly. The Government will honor appropriate proprietary claims to prevent improper disclosure. 

The response must include a white paper of no more than 20 pages (text 12-point font, figures 9-point) describing the SCH solution. A fold-out page counts as one page.   Responses are due not later than 30 June 2026, 1500 Central Standard Time. Submit  unclassified, electronic responses via email to:

• Leigh Kellstrom, leigh.t.kellstrom.civ@army.mil,
• Jeremiah Duncan, jeremiah.c.duncan.civ@army.mil
• William Anderson, william.m.anderson.ctr@army.mil
• or via (DoD) Secure Access File Exchange (SAFE), https://safe.apps.mil/.  All submissions must reference the Announcement Number in the email subject line. 

*Questions must be submitted no later than 22 May 2026, 1500 Central Standard Time to all personnel listed above.

*If any submissions contain classified information, please contact Leigh Kellstrom, leigh.t.kellstrom.civ@army.mil for classified submission instructions.