Technology Insertion for Acoustic Rapid Action Commercial Off-the Shelf (COTS) Insertion (A-RCI) IDIQ-MAC

This notice is for market research purposes only and does NOT constitute a request for proposal.  This notice shall not be construed as a contract, a promise to contract, or as a commitment of any kind by the Government.  The Government is NOT seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals. Failure to respond to this Request for Information (RFI) does not preclude participation in any future Request for Proposal (RFP), if any is issued. 

This Sources Sought/RFI notice is issued by the Department of the Navy, Director of Submarine Programs (DSP), Undersea Submarine Acoustic Systems Program Office (PMS 401).  DRPM SUBs plans to establish an Indefinite Delivery-Indefinite Quantity Multiple Award Contract (IDIQ-MAC) marketplace for the procurement of supplies and support for the Tech Insertion (TI) Acoustic-Rapid COTS Insertion (A-RCI) program. The purpose of this RFI is to gauge interest in companies to be part of the marketplace for the TI A-RCI IDIQ-MAC.

The AN/BQQ-10 A-RCI supports the global superiority of the U.S Navy by delivering processing and display upgrades to the SONAR sensors of all submarine classes. A-RCI is a subsystem of the Submarine Warfare Federated Tactical System (SWFTS).  SWFTS coordinates a common processing selection, and network architecture with common services across all sub-systems.  SWFTS is transitioning to the concept of Infrastructure Baselines (IBs) in an effort to increase compatibility by reducing variants across the fleet.  IBs start with a baseline TI followed by subsequent obsolescence tech refresh TIs.

The TI A-RCI IDIQ-MAC is intended to solicit under fair competition procedures among the qualified IDIQ-MAC holders for Task and Delivery Orders for a variety of supplies and services in support of developing/continuing hardware and software solutions, and the associated Integrated Logistics Support (technical manuals, training inputs, parts lists, etc.,) in the maritime domain.  The TI A-RCI IDIQ-MAC will have five (5) Functional Areas of which the pool of potential awardees would fall under some or all of the following:

1. Cabinet Design and Production 

Cabinets are set stacks of servers, switches, and other components that are developed to provide the hardware and power infrastructure for the software to be run and the system to be controlled.   The cabinets are constrained by the individual platforms space, weight, power, and cooling (SWAP-C) allocations for each submarine platform class.   Cabinets shall be either air-cooled or water-cooled depending on the final application.  Cabinets shall contain power conditioning, Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) filters, Central Processing Units (CPUs) and Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) based servers, Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAIDS), Array power supplies, Network Switches, array interface and timing hardware, and heat exchangers as some of the installed types of equipment. The contractor shall design an array interface and timing edge hardware that is not satisfied by a common SWFTS component design.  A-RCI has a goal to shrink, push, and standardize array interface edge devices with common parts to prioritize availability of CPU and GPU processing to a Common Compute Environment (CCE). This functional area will require coordination with other developers and the Prime Integrator to understand resource requirements to be implemented.   Coordination within the larger SWFTS community is also required for the development and usage of common processing components to be used among other Submarine systems. The contractor shall perform engineering design development for production hardware, first article testing, environmental testing, and factory acceptance testing of cabinets to be delivered to a certification support lab for full shipset system cabinet sell off.

2. Sensor Processing Software  

Acoustic and non-acoustic sensors are organic to the submarine and are required for safe and effective operation of the submarine.  The sensor processing consists of the sensor interface, any required conditioning of the signal, beamforming, and detection and tracking capabilities, along with array health monitoring and performance fault monitoring.  For active sensors, the capability to produce, control, and synchronize with the active waveform is also required.  It is expected that the developer will identify and provide any array-specific interface hardware needed.  It is expected that the software will be developed in a containerized manner and be capable of running in a Common Computing Environment (CCE).  Coordination across other processing developers and the hardware design team will be required.   Coordination across SWFTS community is required to support common system management and describe the needed Sonar string requirements. Software will be delivered, integrated, and certified at the ARCI sub-system and SWFTS system of systems (SoS) levels in digital pipelines and at physical integration facilities.

 3. Fleet Support

Fleet Support is the coordination of all parties to support resolving issues from in-service platforms, installation issues, hardware repairs, and supply support including a call center with classified SIPR support. The Contractor shall provide qualified electrical/electronic and mechanical technicians and coordinate with the prime integrator, industry partners, and warfare centers for engineering support where required for field maintenance repair to support the fleet. Field maintenance support shall include on-site assistance to submarine platforms for Submarine Acoustic system troubleshooting and repair.  On-site assistance could require waterfront or at sea underway support. The Contractor shall establish a worldwide, 24-hour toll- free telephone hotline when providing fleet support.  Within 24 hours of the receipt of any call, the Contractor shall provide assistance to the caller for corrective action, acknowledge receipt of the call to the Government, maintain a database of the call received (for trend analysis), and request further direction from the Government as needed.

4. Certification Support Lab

The Certification Support lab provides space and resources to populate test bays and execute the final integration and certification testing prior to software and hardware delivery to the platforms for the A-RCI system as well as the SWFTS certification events.   Multiples test bays will be required to support simultaneous integration and certification preparations for each platform type. Sufficient power and cooling must be available and sized to support all SWFTS subsystems. The contractor shall provide setup and support services and infrastructure to populate and maintain test bays.

5. Logistics Support 

Logistics and Sustainment Activities consist of providing services that are required for optimal performance of the SONAR systems delivered and related components throughout the program lifecycle. Coordination across all hardware and software developers, training community, and supply system to provide a full and complete Interactive Electronic Technical Manual (IETM) and training products. The Contractor shall develop, update and maintain an IETM to support operation, maintenance, training and curriculum development. The IETM shall address all aspects of operations and maintenance as identified by supportability analyses and as required by the support strategy. The Contractor shall establish and/or maintain a technical manual quality assurance program, including validation planning, and validation certification.

TI A-RCI IDIQ-MAC’s Period of Performance would be a five (5) year base period, with an additional five (5) year ordering period option. The Navy will periodically evaluate the need to offer on-ramps for additional Industry partners over the base and option period.   

The Navy is requesting Industry feedback from companies that may be interested in responding to a competitive solicitation.  Specific information of interest to the Navy includes short and concise responses to the following questions: 

• Would you be interested in submitting a competitive proposal in response to a TI ARCI IDIQ-MAC solicitation, if one were offered? 

• If so, which Functional Area or Areas would you most likely propose to?  NOTE: Offerors, if a solicitation is released, would be permitted to propose to as many Functional Areas as desired. 

• Do you have recommendations on other functional areas of system development, design, and delivery for A-RCI you would propose if they were considered under the TI ARCI IDIQ-MAC?
• Are you a current prime contractor or subcontractor on a DOW contract, or more specifically on a contract with DSP?  Are you performing in support of any platform, payload or other related technology or system areas? 

• Do you qualify as a small business? 

• Do you have a current Facility Clearance at the SECRET level?  

For those interested, submit responses to the TSUB Contracting Points of Contact (POC) listed below: 

Respondents should provide the following information with their response: 

• Company name, address, and ZIP code 

• Company CAGE, UEI

• Cognizant Defense Security Service (DSS) Security Office name, address, and ZIP code 

• Business Website 

• Business size status (i.e., SB, VOSB, SDVOSB, HUBZone SB, SDB, WOSB, LB) 

• Number of employees 

• Employee classification level 

• Facility classification level 

• Two POCs with Name, Title, Phone Number, Email Address 

 Only one response is necessary for this announcement.   

The desired format for submissions is white paper or similar narrative (company’s format). Submissions shall be in Microsoft Word and/or searchable Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) to include all tables, charts, and diagrams. In order to be considered in this market survey, your response shall be submitted electronically and must be received on or before [date].   RFI responses shall be sent via electronic mail to the following addresses:  

TO: Ms.  Candace Magelitz, contact@example.gov

CC: Ms. Thanh Nguyen, contact@example.gov

SUBJECT LINE: Tech Insertion (TI) Acoustic-Rapid COTS Insertion (A-RCI) IDIQ-MAC RFI Response (insert name of company) 

Companies are encouraged to submit prior to the closing date. Inclusion of a delivery receipt with an email submission will be the only indication of successful receipt of RFI Response. File size is limited to 12MB per email and companies are solely responsible for ensuring their email size does not exceed the 12MB limitation. File sizes larger than 12MB and .zip file extensions will be stripped by the Navy email system. Modifications, amendments, or withdrawal of RFI Response should be made to the above email addresses. One email is acceptable as long as it does not exceed 12MB. If it exceeds 12MB, companies may separate their submission among multiple emails and should number them email 1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3, etc. Links to online share drives such as google drive, dropbox, etc. will not be accepted.

Responses SHALL NOT be faxed or hand de-livered. NO CLASSIFIED MATERIAL SHALL BE SUBMITTED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. 

Proprietary information, if any, must be clearly marked. To aid the Government in its review and evaluation, please segregate proprietary information.  Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.  Respondents shall mark any data included in its submissions that they do not want disclosed to the public for any purpose. 

This notice is not a request for proposals and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. Sources choosing to respond to this notice are wholly responsible for any costs/expenses associated with submitting a response. Therefore, any cost associated with the market survey submission is solely at the interested vendor's expense. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this notice. The information obtained from submitted responses may be used in development of an acquisition strategy and a future solicitation. Submissions will not be returned.