Terrestrial Wideband Tactical Systems

***Update 9/19/2025: The due date for questions and the planned date to release the answers have been moved up one week. See below bolded dates in Section 4 for more information. *** Request for Information (RFI) M67854-25-I-2009 for Terrestrial Wideband Tactical Systems Sources Sought: All Businesses - Under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 517810 Closing Date: Friday, October 17, 2025 at 11:59 pm, EST NOTE: THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is for planning and informational purposes only and shall NOT be considered as a Request for Proposal (RFP) or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred in responding to this RFI or furnishing the requested information. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of a contractor's submission of responses to this RFI or the Government's use of such information. The Government reserves the right to reject, in whole or in part, any contractor's input resulting from this RFI. No contract will be awarded from this announcement. Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 15.201(e), responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. 1. General Information Program Manager, Tactical Communications and Electromagnetic Warfare (PM TCE) fields and sustains tactical communications systems that enable secure, reliable, and interoperable communications across the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF). Troposcatter technology enables high-capacity beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) communications by scattering microwave radio signals in the troposphere. Modern systems offer reduced size, weight, and power (SWaP) and can be deployed rapidly in expeditionary environments. 2. Purpose For the purposes of this RFI, SFF troposcatter systems are those designed for rapid deployment by small teams in expeditionary environments, with reduced size, weight, and power (SWaP) requirements compared to legacy troposcatter terminals. SFF systems typically: Are man-portable or transportable in airline-checkable or small transit cases without specialized lifting equipment. Have a total system weight that can be handled by two or fewer personnel per major component. Can be set up and struck within 60 minutes by a small team ( ? 3 personnel). Operate from standard AC power sources or tactical DC power supplies. Provide comparable link performance to larger systems over operationally relevant ranges for USMC tactical missions. The Government recognizes that SFF is relative to mission needs and may include systems that are vehicle-mounted but still meet reduced SWaP and rapid deployment goals. The Government seeks to evaluate emerging SFF solutions for potential integration with existing capabilities such as the AN/TRC-245 Next Generation Troposcatter (NGT) 3. Technical Information Responses should contain the following information: Technical Capabilities Supported frequency bands and interoperability with AN/TRC-245 NGT. Vendors may respond using publicly available specifications for the AN/TRC-245 NGT, including C- and X-band ranges, rapid setup/low SWaP design, and should demonstrate alignment to these parameters while outlining their planned approach for integration and testing once additional information is provided. Data rates and link ranges (point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, over-the-move if applicable) SWaP characteristics: total system weight, number of transit cases, power requirements, environmental compliance Setup/tear-down times and manpower requirements Network interfaces, Quality of Service, security features (e.g., Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-3 validated encryption, Risk Management Framework compliance) Diversity features (frequency, polarization, spatial) Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) Operational Considerations Integration with USMC/Joint/Coalition Command, Control, Communications, Computers, & Intelligence architectures Resilience in Denied, Disrupted, Intermittent, and Limited environments Transportability options Training and sustainment support requirements Business and Contracting Information Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) pricing Available contract vehicles Estimated production lead times Intellectual property/licensing considerations 4. Administration Questions and requests for clarifications on this RFI may be submitted to hyung.lee@usmc.mil no later than Monday, September 29, 2025 at 4:00 pm, EST. Answers will be provided to all interested parties no later than Friday, October 3, 2025. 5. RFI Responses a. Proprietary Information. PM TCE acknowledges its obligation under the Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. - 1905) to protect confidential information provided to the Government. Pursuant to this statute, PM TCE is willing to protect trade secrets and observe valid proprietary restrictions placed upon data presented in response to this survey and to protect such information from unauthorized disclosure, subject to the following: All data must be clearly marked PROPRIETARY and be accompanied by an explanatory text so that the Government is clearly notified as to what data is considered proprietary. Mark only portions of data that are truly proprietary. Do not mark data that are already in the public domain or is already in possession of PM TCE, other U.S. Government activities, or third parties on an unprotected basis. Do not submit any classified data in response to this market survey. All proprietary data transmitted electronically must have the PROPRIETARY legend on both the cover of the transmittal email as well as at the beginning of the file. Proprietary information contained within the correspondence shall use the legends: "PROPRIETARY PORTION BEGINS" and "PROPRIETARY PORTION ENDS." The Government does not assume any duty to contact a respondent and inquire whether any unmarked information submitted in response to this RFI is proprietary. b. Disclaimer. This RFI is an inquiry intended to measure the capability of commercial products, development needs, and level of industry interest. Responses to this RFI may affect the Government's decision to issue any contracts or other transaction agreements for full and open competition. This is not a pre-solicitation notice or RFP, nor will any contracts or agreements be awarded from this announcement. Information provided regarding the potential contracts or agreements, as presented in this RFI, is subject to change. Additionally, this inquiry does not bind the Government to solicit for, or award any contracts or agreements. Participation in this RFI from a potential offeror is strictly voluntary; no reimbursements will be made to any vendor for costs associated with participation. Data submitted to the Government will not be returned, but will remain archived as part of historic records. Participation in this RFI, while important to Marine Corps acquisition planners, is neither mandatory nor is it a requisite for future participation by the potential offeror in forthcoming government solicitations. Please direct questions or comments regarding this RFI in writing to the POC listed in this announcement. Vendors are advised, the Government may use non-government personnel to assist in collecting and reviewing market information and in providing technical advice to the High-Capacity Communications team. Proprietary information submitted in response to this RFI will be protected from unauthorized disclosure as required by Subsection 27 of the Office of Procurement Policy Act, as amended (41 U.S.C. 423) (hereinafter referred to as - the Procurement Integrity Act, or - the Act), and as implemented in the FAR. Supporting personnel are procurement officials within the meaning of the Act and will take all necessary action to preclude unauthorized use or disclosure of vendor's proprietary data. By submitting a response, a company will be deemed to understand that, and agree to, the Government allowing its support contractor, with the appropriate Non-Disclosure Agreement in place, to access any information submitted in relation to this RFI. 6. Submission Instructions Interested parties are requested to provide responses meeting the requirements described in Section 3 and provide a completed copy of Attachment 1 before sending the requested information via Department of Defense (DoD) SAFE (http://safe.apps.mil) to tracy.canty@usmc.mil, william.g.drew1@usmc.mil, leigh.a.romo.civ@usmc.mil, and hyung.lee@usmc.mil. Information packages and all inquiries shall be encrypted on DoD SAFE with encryption key - DueDate101720251159PM. Responses should be prepared in accordance with the following guidelines: Utilizing either Word (.docx, 2013 or newer) or Adobe (.pdf) software Times New Roman 12 (or larger) font, single-spaced, single-sided pages, including tables, on 8.5 by 11 inches paper. A font size smaller than 12 may be used in figures and drawings, but type shall be clearly legible. Margins on all sides (top, bottom, left, and right) shall be at least 1 inch. The page limit is 10 pages, and does not include the cover page or attachments A cover sheet that includes: Project title; Company name; Product name(s) Primary point of contact, including name, address, phone and e-mail contact information; and Date of submission. Completed Attachment 1