Unmanned Maritime Autonomy Architecture (UMAA) Architecture Design Description (ADD)

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. This Request for Information (RFI) notice is issued by the Department of the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), on behalf of the Program Executive Office (PEO) Unmanned and Small Combatants (USC), Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office (PMS 406). The Navy is conducting market research in accordance with FAR Part 10 to solicit industry input and feedback regarding development and implementation of the PMS406-led Unmanned Maritime Autonomy Architecture (UMAA. The UMAA is a collection of documents, with the UMAA Architecture Design Description (ADD) providing an overarching description of the autonomy architecture for all classes of Unmanned Maritime Vehicle (UMVs) (surface and undersea). The fundamental purpose of this architecture is to lay out a standard to support the development of common, modular, and scalable autonomy software for UMVs that is independent of a particular mission and vehicle platform. The UMAA contains design guidelines that enable development, evolution, and innovation of autonomy on-board an UMV without requiring re-design of the entire system. The scope of the UMAA is focused on the autonomy that resides on-board the UMV. The UMAA must support varying levels of communication in mission (i.e., constant, intermittent, or none) with its C2 System. The UMAA will lead to a common autonomy architecture and software structure that may be leveraged by multiple programs. The goal of the UMAA is to provide standard interfaces at strategic levels within an UMV to allow development of common core autonomy capabilities, thus enabling programs to leverage these common software capabilities across differing vehicle and mission types. This is critically important to minimize the development and maintenance of duplicate software capabilities and free up resources for development of an increasing array of new UMV capabilities as UMV systems proliferate throughout the Navy. The UMAA and its planned interface definitions are intended to facilitate incremental improvements in autonomy and lower level services across a wide range of UMVs. This includes the ability for parties to leverage the most effective autonomy solution and/or individual service solutions while protecting proprietary vendor solutions and/or intellectual property. The objective of this RFI is to solicit industry feedback on the UMAA as well as assess industry's ability to work with the UMAA as part of their system integration, autonomy development, and vehicle development programs. The Navy is seeking feedback on the fundamental elements of the architecture as defined in the UMAA ADD. The Navy is seeking the following in response to this RFI: - 1. What feedback do you have on the UMAA ADD in terms of content, changes, or missing/unclear information contained in the document? - 2. How would you address alignment of your pre-existing software with the UMAA as it applies to new programs? - 3. The UMAA plans to be able to accommodate proprietary capabilities with software access through government-owned, open interfaces. What complexities do you perceive need to be addressed as part of development, integration, and/or sustainment of UMAA with regard to proprietary capabilities? - 4. A governance process is yet to be developed in support of UMAA. What governance process challenges should the government focus on to make this process effective, what challenges do you anticipate, and what course(s) of action would you recommend to address these challenges? - 5. What critical elements of governance and Configuration Management (CM) control of software design and implementation baselines will aid in UMAA integration into future program developments? - 6. Further details and refinement are forthcoming. Provide initial comments on the feasibility of migrating your existing capabilities into the UMAA framework. Is there anything that would significantly improve feasibility that could be incorporated into UMAA by the government? - 7. What capabilities and autonomy attributes may have been overlooked and need to be considered as part of the UMAA? RECEIVING UMAA DOCUMENTS: In order to be eligible to receive the controlled documents, a company must have a Terms of Use (TOU) agreement in place with NAVSEA. To request a TOU letter a company must complete the following steps: - 1. Email the primary point of contact with the company name and CAGE code. - 2. Once CAGE code is verified by the NAVSEA security office, a TOU letter will be sent. - 3. Fill in, sign, and return the TOU letter. - 4. The TOU letter will be executed and returned to the company. - 5. The documents to be reviewed will be delivered on a CD via secure mail. ANSWERING THIS NOTICE: Interested Contractors shall respond by answering the above questions and providing other information relevant to the UMAA efforts described above. Respondents should provide a company profile to include, at a minimum, the following: Business name DUNS number business address business website business size status (i.e., SB, VOSB, SDVOSB, HUBZone SB, SDB, WOSB, LB) number of employees point of contact name mailing address (if different from business address) phone number email address The desired format for submissions is white paper or similar narrative (contractor's format). The response should be no more than seven (7) single-sided pages (including cover and administrative pages) and no less than 1-inch margins and 12 point font. Submissions shall be in Microsoft Word 2010 or searchable Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). In order to be considered, your response shall contain an electronic version on one (1) hard copy original (paper) copy and one (1) electronic submissions on CD-ROM and be received on or before 13 July 2018. All responses must be sent via mailing agent (e.g. FedEx and UPS) to the Contracting Officer, Kevin Seger, at the following address: Naval Sea Systems Command ATTN: Kevin Seger, Code 0263 1333 Isaac Hull Avenue, SE, Stop 2040 Washington Navy Yard, DC 20376-2040 Responses SHALL NOT be faxed, e-mailed, or hand delivered. 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. DISCLAIMER AND IMPORTANT NOTES: Respondents are advised that the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab and Penn State Applied Research Laboratory may assist the Government in its review of responses received under this notice. Respondents shall provide notification on its cover page if the respondent does not consent to the use of the aforementioned contractors. Unless otherwise stated by the respondent, a submission received to this notice constitutes consent that the abovementioned contractors can have access to all information provided in the respondent's submission. 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 RFI 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. 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. The information obtained from submitted responses may be used in development of an updated Unmanned Maritime Autonomy Architecture Design Description. Submissions will not be returned.