Submarine Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence (C3I) Systems Engineering & Integration (SE&I)

The competitive procurement described in this pre-solicitation notice N00024-14-R-6221, originally posted on 22 May 2014 and changed on 23 May 2014, 4 Jun 2014, and 23 Oct 2014, is hereby updated to apprise industry of the Navy's intentions for procuring System Engineering & Integration (SE&I) services. A competitive procurement of SE&I services was planned for award in FY16; however, the award was scheduled to occur during an unusually high dynamic period from FY16 through FY18 with significant aggregate risk created by the breadth, scale, and complexity of interface design changes that span across multiple submarine classes, including VIRGINIA Class Submarine construction. These changes also include migration of the underlying inter-communication middleware from CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) to AMQP/GPB (Advanced Message Queuing Protocol / Google Protocol Buffers) and a major redesign of the critical navigation architecture spanning several Submarine Warfare Federated Tactical Systems (SWFTS) subsystems across all submarine ship classes. Moreover, the initial modernizations of SSBN combat systems from legacy to SWFTS (a top Commander, Submarine Force [COMSUBFOR] priority) occur during the same period, further increasing the aggregate risk. This situation has made it necessary to pursue a sole-source procurement with the incumbent contractor Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training (LM MST) to integrate combat systems on new construction and in-service submarines. The contract is intended to be awarded as a base year plus two option years. Award of a sole source contract to LM MST will mitigate significant and untenable program risk that would be caused by a failure to successfully deliver the requisite SE&I interface baselines and successfully complete testing in support of SWFTS deliveries to VIRGINIA Class submarine construction and SSN/SSBN modernizations. The competitive procurement of SE&I services is projected for award in Q2FY18. In conjunction with timing of fiscal year budget authorization and to support an orderly transition between the expiration of the planned sole-source contract and award of the follow-on competitive contract, the sole-source contract will be planned for award in Q4FY15 and extend through Q4FY18 to provide a 6 month overlap between contracts. This competitive procurement will be separately synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities website having a different announcement number. Prior to issuing an RFP for the competitive procurement, NAVSEA will release a draft RFP, including Section L, for industry review and comment. This requirement will be negotiated on a sole-source basis in accordance with the statutory authority 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 (a)(2)(iii). No solicitation documents exist, but parties who believe they are capable of meeting this requirement are encouraged to submit a statement of capabilities to contract specialist Lisa Sherman by email at lisa.sherman@navy.mil. The Government is not responsible for any cost incurred by industry in responding to this notice and the information received will only be used by the Government in considering whether or not to conduct a competitive acquisition. No comments, questions, or inquiries shall be made to any Government person other than the points of contact identified below.