Touchscreen Leather Gloves

To promote early exchanges of information with Industry in accordance with FAR 15.2 Naval Air Systems Command, Aircrew Systems (NAVAIR-4.6.7.2) of Patuxent River, Maryland is issuing this Request for Information (RFI). NAVAIR is requesting information to identify qualified sources to provide commercially available gloves that provide touchscreen capability and are similar to the GS/FRP-2 (PD FQ-FD-09-02) Summer Flyer's Glove for dexterity and tactility. The identified gloves will be an alternative to the current flight glove used by Navy and Marine Corps aviators as well as aviators and other personnel throughout the military services. After review and initial physical test evaluation of industry submissions, the most promising product may be down selected and subjected to additional physical testing. Potential offerors are invited to describe their capabilities and provide the product as described herein. The Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) gloves submitted in response to this RFI shall meet the material performance requirements of MIL-DTL-81188 and the leather requirements detailed above, but are not required to be the same design as PD FQ-FD-09-02. The materials are not required to meet electrostatic decay requirements. The gloves shall provide tactility and dexterity to operate applications of touchscreen devices requiring operation of applications through finger touch, inputs through an on-screen keyboard, horizontal and vertical scrolling. The gloves shall also be fire retardant equal to or better than the GS/FRP-2 glove. The gloves shall be available in sizes to fit 5th percentile female through the 95 percentile male. The gloves shall maintain their conductance and capacitance durability through a minimum of 5 cycles when tested in accordance with AATCC 135, cycle 3, II, Drying Procedure A iii. It is desired that submissions meet the performance attributes identified below. The gloves must be capable of demonstrating the ability to provide touchscreen capability by operating tablet devices including but not limited to IPAD, Android, Microsoft Surface Pro and Kindles. The glove must be able to accomplish a multitude of functions on these aforementioned devices including, but limited to: using map features; fingertip tap-to-select, drag, and multi-touch input such as pinch to zoom, turning pages and operating applications, finger writing and tasks necessary for completion of military operations. In response to this RFI, please provide specification sheets and/or samples showing the compliance with the above listed requirements, which will be at no cost to the Government. RFI written responses are limited to 25 pages. Product information and sample products shall be submitted at no expense to the Government and will not be returned. It is also requested that pricing be included with the submitted information and products. Proprietary data MUST be marked on a page-by-page basis, and will be kept confidential and protected in accordance with the Uniform Trades Secret Act. Interested sources shall state whether their product is available commercially, made domestically of domestic textiles (must be Berry compliant - manufacturers must list the origin and place of manufacturing operations of all components). The product submission will be evaluated based on the glove's demonstrated ability to meet performance requirements of PD FQ-FD-09-02 for gloves and MIL-DTL-32067 for leather, the touchscreen capability and ability to withstand laundering. The samples will be verified for conformance to their applicable specification. The samples will be tested for touchscreen capability by operating tablet devices including but not limited to IPAD, Android, Microsoft Surface Pro and Kindles. Testing will include using a map feature; actions will include tap-to-select, drag, and multi-touch input such as pinch to zoom, turning pages and operating applications necessary for military operations. The samples will be washed and tested again for touchscreen performance and durability. The samples will also be evaluated for equipment and aircraft compatibility. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition are 339920 - Sporting Goods, 339999-other misc, 424320 - Men's and Boys Clothing and Furnishings Merchant Wholesalers, 424330 - Women's, Children's, and Infants Clothing and Accessories Merchant Wholesalers, 315210 - Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors, 315211 Men's and Boys Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors, 315990 - Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing, 315999 - General. Interested companies shall send all questions to the Contract Specialist at the following email address michelle.e.johnson@navy.mil. Please address all technical questions to Tara Capecci, Code 4.6.7.2, (610) 746-3599 and submit all RFI responses and submission of Samples to the following physical address: Naval Air Warfare Center, Code 4.6.7.2, Attn: Tara Capecci, 48110 Shaw Road, Bldg 2187, Suite 1240, Patuxent River, MD 20670. All correspondence shall reference the synopsis number N00421-15-R-0021 on the mailing container and all enclosed documents. Proprietary information MUST be marked as such, on a page-by-page basis. The deadline for responses is 05 January 2015. All Companies should indicate whether or not they are a small, small disadvantaged, 8(a), or large business. Respondents must clarify if their firm can provide commercial or non-developmental items that could be modified, or the technology and expertise for development, to meet the Government's needs. This announcement is NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL nor does the Government intend to pay for any information submitted in response to this synopsis. This synopsis does not commit the Government to award a contract. This synopsis is for market research only and any procurement resulting from this announcement will be synopsized separately.