The Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) United States Atomic Energy Detection System (USAEDS) Network Services

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE to determine the availability and technical capability of small businesses (including the following subsets: Small Disadvantaged Businesses, Certified 8(a), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, HUBZone Small Businesses and Woman-Owned Small Businesses) to provide the required products and/or services. The Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) is seeking information from potential sources for: telecommunications and network services capable of providing long haul communications services between austere service point locations and the United States National Data Center (USNDC) located at Patrick AFB, FL. AFTAC requires a communications network that can transmit serial (RS-232) (conversion devices allowed) and Ethernet formatted seismic data, voice over IP, and data files to, from, and between the USNDC and its seismic monitoring locations. AFTAC has an alternate data center (ALTNDC) for operational contingency located at Naval Support Activity Mid-South Millington, TN 30854-5012. The communications network must have the ability to transmit data from the remote service points to the ALTNDC when the primary location at Patrick AFB is inoperable; regardless of reason(s). The anticipated Period of Performance is: Base period of 150 days and four one-year option periods The anticipated Place of Performance is worldwide (Attachment 1). AFTAC is the sole DoD agency responsible for monitoring nuclear treaty compliance, whose mission has grown and developed, spanning more than 70 years of long-range detection. AFTAC has evolved into one of our Nation's most unique resources by monitoring worldwide compliancy of nuclear treaties, supporting our Nation's space programs, and providing information that helps protect everyone during emergencies involving nuclear materials. AFTAC has a network of 3,500 sensors known as the USAEDS network. The USAEDS network consists of a worldwide network of geophysical technologies deployed to detect, identify, and locate nuclear explosions underground, underwater, in the atmosphere, or in space. DISCLAIMER: THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS NOTICE. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS NOTICE. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. CONTRACT/PROGRAM BACKGROUND: Contract Number: HC1013-12-D-0001 Incumbent and their size: UltiSat, Inc. a Speedcast Company, subsidiary of a Large Business Method of previous acquisition: Small Business Set-Aside Period of performance: December 2011 - Present REQUIRED CAPABILITIES: AFTAC requires a communications network that can transmit serial (RS-232) (conversion devices allowed) and Ethernet formatted geophysical data, voice over IP, and data files to, from, and between AFTAC Patrick AFB, FL and its seismic monitoring locations. AFTAC has an alternate data center (ALTNDC) for operational contingency located at Naval Support Activity Mid-South Millington, TN 30854-5012. The communications network must have the ability to communicate with the remote service points at all times, and to transmit data from the remote service points to the ALTNDC when our primary location at Patrick AFB is inoperable. Please describe your ability to provide this type of communications network. Patrick AFB, the ALTNDC, and seismic monitoring locations will be referred to as Service Points (SP) A, B2, and so forth from this point forward. AFTAC (SP-A) at Patrick AFB, FL requires a global, full duplex, full period communications network connecting multiple SPs point-to-point and point-to-multipoint. The government desires a network that will be operationally available 99% of the time to transmit and receive data. At SP locations where data is in a serial format, the contractor must provide a device to convert data into the format required for transmission across the network. Once the data reaches its destination, it must be converted back to its serial form for processing. This conversion only takes place at intra-site SPs. I.E. Indian Mountain, AK data must be converted from serial to digital to be transmitted to Eielson AFB, AK. Once at Eielson, the data will be converted back to serial for processing. Once processed, data being transmitted to SP-A or the ALTNDC (SP-B2) will not require a conversion. Please describe your ability to provide such data conversion. The contractor-provided network must be able to provide the government with 3-5 IP addresses per SP location. AFTAC network personnel will configure government furnished equipment (GFE) with these IP addresses and coordinate with the contractor's network personnel to establish destination routing. Personnel working on the network (Network Eng., Satellite Eng., Network Operations Control Center (NOCC) personnel, etc.) are subject to a security background investigation, and may be required to have a minimum U.S. secret security clearance. The contractor must protect the network against cyber threats. Threats to control systems can come from numerous sources. I.E. rogue actors, hostile governments, terrorist groups, disgruntled employees, and malicious intruders. To protect against these threats, it is necessary to create a secure cyber-barrier that will address denial of service attacks, malicious viruses, intrusion detection, etc. Please describe your ability to protect the network against cyber threats. In addition to the baseline requirements, the government retains the right to add or delete service points, and/or upgrade/change the data rates of the remote sites as required during the life of the contract. Any additions, changes, or upgrades that incur additional costs must be jointly agreed upon between the contractor and the government, and approved by the Contracting Officer. SP-A continuously receives data from all other Service Points. SP-B2 is the backup to SP-A and shall have the networking capability to receive data from all Service Points upon network failures, or when requested by the AFTAC Systems Controllers, or the Contracting Officers Technical Representative (COTR). SP-B2 is a hot standby for SP-A. SP-B2 shall be configured to communicate with remote sites at all times, and assume the mission data transport responsibilities of SP-A either instantaneously, or within one hour of being notified by the government. Please describe your ability to transmit data from the remote service points to the alternate data center when the primary location is inoperable. This network requires diversity in routing and network path to ensure redundancy for mission data traffic. Please provide your ability to provide diverse routing. The contractor has the choice of offering the telecommunications transport type (satellite, terrestrial, cellular, etc.) deemed viable to provide reliable, continuous flow of data at a 99% availability rate. All commercial terrestrial circuits must be IP based, not serial. Service points are identified with the type of communications services they are currently operating on. Some locations are extremely remote to civilization and do not have reliable telephone service or commercial power systems. The contractor will furnish all GFE SATCOM and network equipment required to transmit and receive data from one service point to another. The demarcation point will be an interface for GFE off of the contractor managed network device (modem, router, switch, or hub). Where necessary, the government will provide power sources for telecommunications services. Power may be AC or DC; the government will specify. Protocols the government will utilize: TCP/IP Protocols (I.E. TCP, UDP, SSH, Telnet, FTP, SFTP, SMTP, SNMP, DLP, VoIP, GRE Tunneling, NTP, SCP, IPsec, HTTP, HTTPS) Maintenance Support (On call or Onsite): The contractor will be responsible for maintaining equipment and responding to outages. The contractor must be able to both remotely troubleshoot and repair, or report to the outage location to troubleshoot and repair as quickly as possible to meet contractual operational availability rates. 24/7/365 Helpdesk/Network Operations support is required for monitoring status of network, calling up maintenance, and providing notifications and updates to key government personnel. The contractor must have the ability to receive Host Nation Approvals, frequency permits, and other licenses necessary to operate telecommunications networks and equipment within the Host countries. All Host Nation Agreements, frequency permits, and equipment licenses must be in place prior to contract start date. These approvals/permissions/licenses must be verifiable by the government's COTR. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: None SOURCES SOUGHT: The anticipated North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) for this requirement is 517810, with the corresponding size standard of Small Business of $40M. This Sources Sought Synopsis is requesting responses to the following criteria ONLY from small businesses that can provide the required services under the NAICS Code. In order to make a determination for a small business set-aside, two or more qualified and capable small businesses must submit responses that demonstrate their qualifications. Responses must demonstrate the company's ability to perform in accordance with FAR clause 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting. To assist DISA in determining the level of participation by small business in any subsequent procurement that may result from this Sources Sought Notice, provide information regarding any plans to use joint ventures (JVs) or partnering. Please outline the company's areas of expertise and those of any proposed JV/partner who combined can meet the specific requirements contained in this notice. SUBMISSION DETAILS: Responses should include: Business name and address; Name of company representative and their business title; Small Business Socio-economic status (if small); CAGE Code; Prime contract vehicles; to include ENCORE III, SETI, NIH CIO-SP4, NASA SEWP V, General Service Administration (GSA): OASIS, ALLIANT II, VETS II, STARS III, MAS (including applicable SIN(s), groups, or pools), or any other Government Agency contract vehicle that allows for decentralized ordering. (This information is for market research only and businesses with a valid cage that lack prime contract vehicles are still encouraged to respond to this notice.) Businesses who wish to respond must send a response via email NLT 12:00 PM Central Daylight Time (EDT) on March 22, 2030 to Katie Day and Kari Kinzel at katie.s.day.civ@mail and kari.l.kinzel.civ@mail.mil. Interested businesses should submit a brief capabilities statement package addressing the specific questions above (no more than five pages) demonstrating the ability to perform the services listed under Required Capabilities. Proprietary information and trade secrets, if any, must be clearly marked on all materials. All information received that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. All government and contractor personnel reviewing submitted responses will have signed non-disclosure agreements and understand their responsibility for proper use and protection from unauthorized disclosure of proprietary information as pursuant to 41 USC 423. The Government shall not be held liable for any damages incurred if proprietary information is not properly identified.