--SUBJECT: High Mobility Engineer Excavator (HMEE) Type I (heavy)

NA DESC: The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) is seeking sources of supply to produce and field the Army's Type I (heavy) High Mobility Engineer Excavator (HMEE). (See explanation of the Type I (heavy) HMEE below.) Tentatively, TACOM plans to award a Research and Development (R&D) contract in FY 2002 and a production contract in FY 2005. The purpose of this announcement is twofold: ? Provide offerors early opportunity to review the critical HMEE draft solicitation documents in draft form ? Provide offerors the opportunity to give feedback to the Government concerning the draft solicitation and its requirements Please note that the schedule, technical requirements, and program strategy are subject to change. This draft solicitation is only for the acquisition of the Type I (heavy) HMEE. The Government is planning to host an Industry Day to receive feedback from industry. This announcement will be posted on the HMEE website in the near future. However, if you have questions and/or comments please feel free to submit them at anytime. The final solicitation will be published after a Milestone B decision by the Program Executive Officer, Combat Support & Combat Service Support. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT: The HMEE will be a self-deployable excavation system with attachments to execute a wide range of mobility, countermobility, survivability, and general engineering missions. U.S. Army forces operate in the full spectrum of envir onments and need a rapid excavator to keep up with today's maneuver forces. It is envisioned that two types of HMEE vehicles will be needed: Type I to meet medium and heavy unit requirements and Type II to meet the specialized needs of airborne and air ass ault units. The Type II will perform similar missions but meet the transportability requirements that will allow it to be used by airborne, air assault, and light units. Both types will have the versatility to maintain convoy speeds, rapidly perform exca vation tasks and then quickly self-deploy to the next mission site. The HMEE will replace the Small Emplacement Excavator (SEE), currently in the Army's inventory. The SEE is reaching the end of its intended life cycle and was not designed to meet the re quirements of medium to heavy forces. The HMEE will be assigned and used by Heavy, BCT (Type I) and Light (Type II) Engineer units as well as selected Ordnance and Quartermaster units. The HMEE will support early entry operations, supporting Force XXI operations, and Brigade Combat Team (BCT ) operations which are characterized by high mobility, rapid tactical and operational movement and distributed operations. The HMEE blends speed and mobility with loading, lifting and excavating capabilities giving it the utility needed early in deploymen ts. Therefore, the HMEE will be one of the first engineer systems in theater. Among the tasks the HMEE will perform are: preparing and filling craters on airfields, filling in pot holes, clearing/repairing drainage, lifting debris, loading aggregate required for construction or repair, digging trenches for culverts, and rapid repair of existing roads. The HMEE will also lift pallet loads for logistical requirements. For Force Protection and Force Sustainment, the HMEE will perform digging, lifting, loading and trenching operations. A focus of the HMEE BCT mission is to construct ind ividual and crew served weapon positions, and perform line of communications, airfield and rapid road repairs. In support of major construction projects, the HMEE will aid construction of protective shelters/bunkers, towers and helipads, bridge site prepa ration, assist with the emplacement of LOC bridges, aid in seaport construction, logistic bases operations, and other structures and facilities. When equipped with various attachments, the HMEE will provide combat deployed units a host of earthmoving and construction support capabilities. There is no requirement, nor is it envisioned for the HMEE to do large area earthmoving blade work, obstacle blade reduction, or assault breaching. TENTATIVE SCHEDULE: TACOM intends on publishing a Request For Proposal in 3QFY2002 with a two-year R&D contract award to up to three contractors in 4QFY2002. Under the R&D contract, test vehicles will be built and then delivered for eight months of testin g starting 3QFY2003. The purpose of this testing is to mitigate risk by proving out technical capabilities and to provide data to aid in the Phase 2 (Production) source selection process. TACOM intends to publish an RFP for the production contract in 4QF Y2004 and award the production contract to a single contractor in 2QFY2005. First Unit Equipped is anticipated in 3QFY2006. We will field the HMEE with Department of the Army Technical Manuals (DATMs), Electronic Technical Manuals (ETMs), and Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals (IETMs). We intend on supporting the vehicle with repair parts through a separate Defense Logistics Agency managed contract with the successful offeror. This includes the use of an Electronic Data Interchange system compatib le with the Army system, and direct vendor delivery of parts directly to the user.