STRATEGIC HIGH TEMPERATURE COMPOSITE MATERIAL CAPACITY EXPANSION

Special Notice N0016421SNB02 Agency: Department of the Navy Office: Naval Sea Systems Command Location: NSWC Crane Division Classification Code: H214;1115 - (Equipment and Materials Testing- Guided Missiles; Nuclear Warheads and Warhead Sections (including case sections, nose cones, flare sections, center sections, and auxiliary structural components of missiles, rockets, and re-entry vehicles.) NAICS Code: 336419 - (Other Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing) Response Due Date: 16 November 2020 Request for Solutions: STRATEGIC HIGH TEMPERATURE COMPOSITE MATERIAL CAPACITY EXPANSION PURPOSE This Request for Solutions (RFS) is issued seeking innovative solutions for the capability to produce and machine Three Dimensional (3D) Carbon/Carbon (C/C) materials to enhance and optimize missile performance per Navy requirements. Additionally, the skills, knowledge, capabilities and facilities (or facilities access) for the specialized high-pressure pitch resin impregnation C/C densification process and/or development of the required localized ceramic regions within Shape Stable Nosetips (SSNT) billets is required. The Government will evaluate the solutions with the intent of awarding an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) in accordance with 10 U.S. Code - 2371b. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY S2MARTS Vendors interested in responding to this RFS must be members of the Strategic & Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trusted Systems (S2MARTS) consortium. Interested parties may visit S2MARTS.org for membership information. This project will be managed by a Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division Project Manager. PROJECT OVERVIEW The evolving requirements of the U.S. strategic missile programs have required the continual development of highly capable advanced composite material such as C/C to deliver differentiated missile and reentry body performance. Currently, there are limitations on the size and manufacturing throughput capacity of large C/C shapes for hypersonic missile nosetip applications. Specifically, the C/C parts are densified using multiple cycles to arrive at the optimal density required to meet missile re-entry stability performance requirements. There are also maximum size manufacturing capability challenges for these specialized parts. Increasing demand for larger hypersonic vehicle nosetip and other ablative material end items necessitates new business processes and associated C/C material manufacturing technologies that enable faster processing times and increased throughput capability. Resolution of the processing time increases reentry vehicle nosetip production throughput and achieves affordable solutions. Part of the challenge is the time required for manufacturing parts and machining the parts into their final, classified configuration as many of the DoD programs are requiring classified facilities for multiple phases of production. The capability to machine large C/C parts in a classified setting rests with a very limited set of vendors and requires shipping classified parts between densification location and machining location. This often results in multiple trips. It is not uncommon for parts to log more than 5000 miles between the material fabricator and machine shop locations. Having the capability of machining these parts residing with a vendor who also fabricates the parts will save time, cost, and reduce risk of damage/spillage of sensitive parts while in transit. Technologies of interest include: 1. Near Net Shaped component and aeroshell scale-up part count reductions, design, simplification, performance enhancement, and risk reduction; 2. Fabrication, densification, and machining of high-density re-entry grade C/C Thermal Protection System (TPS) materials; 3. 3D reinforced fine-weave architectures applied to scaled up TPS applications; and 4. Off the shelf fiber modifications to enable fabrication of tailored textile architectures for TPS components. Please visit the S2MARTS website at https://s2marts.org/ to review the full RFS. Contracting Office Address: 300 Hwy 361 Crane, IN 47522 United States Primary Point of Contact.: ReBecca Poplin-Smith rebecca.poplin@navy.mil Phone: 757-635-0170 Secondary Point of Contact: Michael Allen michael.t.allen1@navy.mil Phone: 812-854-8714