This effort is to evaluate an implementation of STANAG 7221.

SYNOPSIS: The Government is conducting market research and identifying, as potential sources, companies that may possess the expertise, capabilities, and experience to meet the requirements as specified in the Program Description below. The Government anticipates awarding a Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) contract. The period of performance will be 12 months for this effort. The purpose of this Sources Sought is to determine if there are any businesses available who are capable of performing the following effort. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) SUBMISSION. This is a market research tool to determine the availability and adequacy of potential sources. Responders are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this sources sought. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. All costs associated with responding to this sources sought will be solely at the responding party's expense. Not responding to this sources sought does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. It is the responsibility of the interested parties to monitor this FedBizOpps website for additional information pertaining to this source sought. INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Below is a document containing a description of the requirements and a Contractor Capability Survey, which allows you to provide your company's capabilities. 2. If, after reviewing these documents, you desire to participate in the market research, you should provide documentation that supports your company's capability in meeting these requirements. Failure to provide documentation may result in the government being unable to adequately assess your capabilities. If you lack sufficient experience in a particular area, please provide details explaining how you would overcome the lack of experience/ capabilities in order to perform that portion of the requirement (i.e., teaming, subcontracting, etc.). 3. Both large and small businesses are encouraged to participate in this Market Research. 4. Questions relative to this market survey should be addressed via email to Cynthia Hale (AFLCMC/WWB), cynthia.hale.4@us.af.mil. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. 5. Firms responding to this announcement should indicate their size, particularly if they are a small disadvantaged business, a socially and economically disadvantaged business, a woman-owned business, a service disabled veteran-owned small business, a HUB zone small business concern, and should also indicate if the firm is foreign-owned. In accordance with AFFARS Clause 5352.201-9101, the Ombudsman for AFLCMC is Lt Col Brian Miller AFLCMC/AQ-AZ Wright-Patterson AFB OH, 45433. Existence of the Ombudsman does not diminish the authority of the program director or the contracting officer. Accordingly, the Ombudsman does not participate in the preparation of solicitations, the evaluation of proposals or the source selection process and, therefore, for routine matters on individual solicitations, please contact the buyer at the telephone number listed herein. When requested, the Ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. Any questions regarding this acquisition should be directed to the Contract Specialist, Cynthia Hale at cynthia.hale.4@us.af.mil. Should you desire to contact the Ombudsman, Lt Col Miller can be reached at (937) 255-5512, e-mail: brian.miller.15@us.af.mil. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND REQUIREMENTS OVERVIEW: MIL-STD-1553B data bus integration into military aircraft was initiated in the early 1970s and has since been employed by nearly all platforms in the DoD inventory. MIL-STD-1553B provides the digital infrastructure backbone for critical real time deterministic digital communications between aircraft subsystems. Today, the low-speed data throughput of MIL-STD-1553B imposes a major impediment to modernizing weapon systems with data-centric capabilities demanding an infrastructure with high data rate throughput (e.g. flowing sensor video between subsystems - sensor to cockpit, signal correlator or off-board communication system). Two distinct approaches to remove this modernization impediment are (1) adding additional aircraft infrastructure (combination of adding Group A wiring provisions for new data bus type via aircraft depot modification and retrofit of Group B) to support a new bus or (2) limiting retrofit to Group B avionics by adding North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Standard AAVSP-02 Broadband Real-Time Data Bus (B-RTDB) Edition A Version 1 12 MAY 2015, herein referred to as STANAG 7221. STANAG 7221 uses the existing Group A MIL-STD-1553B wiring and potentially can be retrofitted into aircraft by only modifying selected Group B avionics requiring the higher data rate provided by STANAG 7221. STANAG 7221 provides data rate of 100 Mbps with Bit Error Rate (BER) of 10-12 while simultaneously maintaining MIL-STD-1553B communication of 1 Mbps with Word Error Rate (WER) of 10-7. STANAG 7221 digital signal/protocol is co-resident with the MIL-STD-1553B bus presenting no interference to MIL-STD-1553 bus traffic. The effort is expected to address: (1) assessing utility of a dual-protocol, MIL-STD-1553B/STANAG 7221, network interface card (NIC), (2) validating MIL-STD-1553B/STANAG 7221 NIC with third party MIL-STD-1553B interface solutions, (3) establishing methodology to transition from MIL-STD-1553B to STANAG 7221, (4) evaluating cybersecurity vulnerabilities and methodologies at the bus protocol level with recommendations for improvement, and (5) developing a handbook to facilitate transitioning the technology to operational systems. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS: 1. See the attached Performance Work Statement. CONTRACTOR CAPABILITY SURVEY: Part I. Business Information Please provide the following business information for your company/institution and for any teaming or joint venture partners 1. Company/Institute Name 2. Address 3. Point of Contact 4. CAGE Code 5. Phone Number 6. E-mail Address 7. Web Page URL All prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database to be awarded a DoD contract. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code for this action is 541715, size standard 1,500. Part II. Capability Survey Questions 1. Discuss the contractor's familiarity and understanding of STANAG 7221. 2. Discuss STANAG 7221 product instantiation(s) and compliance with STANAG 7221 including any deviations from the STANAG 7221. 3. Discuss experience with conducting STANAG 7221 product demonstrations validating: (1) STANAG 7221 implementation exhibits deterministic behavior similar to MIL-STD-1553B and (2) operates co-resident with legacy MIL-STD-1553 messages and are mutually exclusive with respect to each other. 4. Discuss contractor's experience and past efforts involving integration and demonstration of STANAG 7221 on military aircraft and aircraft system integration laboratories where STANAG 7221 implementation(s) and MIL-STD-1553B are operating concurrently. 5. Discuss how STANAG 7221 implementation provides (1) cybersecurity resilience; (2) how cybersecurity is incorporated; and (3) results of any past cybersecurity demonstrations, and (4) any cybersecurity analyses/comparisons of STANAG 7221 to MIL-STD-1553B. RESPONSE FORMAT INSTRUCTIONS: All email correspondence shall contain a subject line that reads "STANAG 7221 RFI" Attachments with files ending in.zip or .exe are not allowable and will be deleted. Ensure only .pdf, .doc, or .xls documents are attached to email. Submit responses electronically to cynthia.hale.4@us.af.mil. Responses must be limited to ten pages (8.5 x 11) in length (Times New Roman 12pt font). The response cover page is not included in the ten page count, but each page after the cover counts. Any pages beyond the cover and ten page limit will not be considered. Response should be submitted no later than (15) fifteen calendar days from the publication date of this notice.