Advanced Sensor System for 360 degree Local Situational Awareness (LSA) on Ground Vehicles
THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY: THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION: No award will be made as a result of this request. This RFI is for information and planning purposes only; this is not an Invitation for Bid (IFB), a Request for Proposal (RFP), or Request for Quotation (RFQ). No solicitation document exists and a formal solicitation may or may not be issued by the Government as a result of the responses to this RFI. The Government will not be liable for payment of any preparation expenses and information and materials received in response to this RFI and is in no way obligated by the information received. Any costs incurred by interested companies in response to this announcement will NOT be reimbursed. The information provided may be used by the Army in developing a future acquisition strategy, Performance Work Statement, Statement of Objectives and/or Performance Based Specification(s). INTERESTED PARTIES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ADEQUATELY MARKING PROPRIETARY OR COMPETITION SENSITIVE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THEIR RESPONSE. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any improperly identified proprietary information. If a solicitation is issued, it will be synopsized on the Army Single Face to Industry (ASFI). It is the responsibility of the potential interested parties to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement. NOTE: The use of RFI Number W909MY-19-R-A018 is for tracking purposes only and shall be referenced in any responses to this RFI. All interested parties are encouraged to respond by submitting a white paper by the date specified in this RFI.
BACKGROUND DESCRIPTION:
The U.S. Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Grounds Belvoir division, on behalf of the Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Center Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD), in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10. The purpose of this RFI is to request information on interested and capable sources for potential award(s) of a contract or contracts related to affordable and mature uncooled Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) sensors with wide Field of View (FOV), capable of providing high definition video to support driving military vehicles. The desired product must be able to be fully integrated into Ground Combat Vehicles while observing typical space and operational requirements. LWIR sensors play a critical role in the movement of units in the military and have become an integral part of the warfighter's current vehicle capabilities. LWIR sensors allow warfighters to continue their mission, with minimized loss of efficiency during day and night time operations. The current Driver's Vision Enhancer (DVE) has a 640 × 480 sensor format, and narrow 40 degree × 30 degree field of view (FOV), much lower than the pixel count of state-of-the-art uncooled LWIR cameras (up to 1920 × 1200). This RFI seeks to identify an affordable solution to support 360º LSA using high definition LWIR cameras. The proposed sensors should be technologically mature, meeting or exceeding Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6, and must also have a plan for qualification testing within 12 months after receipt of order (ARO).
In addition to UCIR sensors, this RFI seeks to find accompanying color visible and near infrared (NIR) (400 - 700+ nm) cameras with FOV and coverage matching those of the infrared sensors.
1. Objectives:
o Determine technically mature (TRL 6+) wide FOV uncooled long wavelength infrared (LWIR) and color visible/NIR sensors that provide local situational awareness (LSA) for driving military vehicles.
o Determine feasibility of delivering at least one UCIR and one color visible/NIR sensors within 6 months after receipt of order (ARO).
2. Description of Requirements:
Responses are requested for those sources that have the existing capability or plans to develop and deliver the requested information in the RFI with the characteristics meeting or exceeding those below:
2.1 Operational Requirements
The proposed system must provide a capability to allow the vehicle crew (driver, commander, squad), in both open and closed hatch operations, to visualize their immediate surroundings while stationary and on the move, day and night. In addition, it must cover at least 120 degree horizontal and 36 degree vertical, with a 3m ground intercept, have an instantaneous FOV of 1.1 mrad or better, and a 70% probability of detection out to 225m (T) 500m (O) of a NATO man-sized object.
Other operational requirements include:
- Sensor latency 25 msec (T) and 16 msec (O)
- Uncooled LWIR sensor (T) and color visible/NIR camera (O).
- Color visible/NIR sensors should have similar FOV, latency, frame rate, pixel resolution (1920 × 1200) as the UCIR sensors.
2.2 Electrical, Mechanical, and Interface requirements
The interested parties must be able to demonstrate that the proposed system (UCIR and color visible/NIR sensors) is compatible with the specifications of typical ground combat vehicles and video network architecture, including:
- 28 VDC vehicle power input (T) and MIL-STD-1275-E compatible (O).
- High-bandwidth digital video output interface (Camera Link or GigE).
- Raw imagery output capability.
- 30 Hz framerate or faster.
- 1280 × 1024 (T) or 1920 × 1200 (O) pixel resolution.
- Power consumption for each individual sensor in the system must be less than 2 ADC at 28 VDC.
2.3 Environmental requirements
UCIR and Daytime Sensors must:
- Be operable between the temperature range of -40 to +50 degree C.
- Comply with MIL-STD-810 (shock, vibration, humidity, and altitude).
- Be at TRL 6 or above.
2.4 Schedule requirements
Interested parties must be capable of delivering at least one individual sensor within 6 months ARO, for evaluation purposes.
RFI Submission Instructions
PLEASE NOTE THAT IF A CHARACTERISTIC OR CAPABILITY IS NOT ADDRESSED THE GOVERNMENT WILL ASSUME THE RESPONDENT DOES NOT OR CANNOT MEET THE SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS MARKET SURVEY.
The Government requires two (2) documents; Cover Letter and Technical Narrative in your response. The document formats shall be:
COVER LETTER:
The response shall include a Cover Letter. The Cover Letter should briefly state the interested parties' interest in the Advanced Sensor System for 360 degree LSA on Ground Vehicles project and their technical capabilities. The cover letter shall also include the following information:
Subject: Advanced Sensor System for 360 degree LSA on Ground Vehicles:
- Brief Summary of the company
o Company name
- Company CAGE Code:
o Company DUNS Number. If your Company holds a GSA Schedule contract (541 or other), please provide the Schedule number
o Date of incorporation
o Number of years in business
o Number of employees
o Mailing address
o Company Website address
o The singular point of contact for all information pursuant to this RFI.
o Phone Number
o Email address
o Company email:
o Company Representative and Business Title:
o Company Socioeconomic Classification:
o Please identify your company's business size standard based on the primary North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code of 333314. For more information, refer to http://www.sba.gov/content/tablesmall-businesssize-standards: Small Business (SB), (8) (a), Woman-Owned (WOSB), Economically-Disadvantaged Women-Owned (EDWOSB), Veteran-Owned and Operated (VOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVOSB), or Historically Underutilized Small Business-Zone (HUB Zone), Historically Black College and Universities/ Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI)
In addition to the body of the cover letter, respondents shall provide short concise answers to the following questions.
QUESTIONS:
1. Please identify your company's business size standard based on the primary North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code of 333314. For more information, refer to http://www.sba.gov/content/tablesmall-business-size-standards:
Small Business (SB), (8) (a) Woman-Owned (WOSB), Economically-Disadvantaged Women-Owned (EDWOSB), Veteran-Owned and Operated (VOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVOSB), or Historically Underutilized Small Business-Zone (HUB Zone), Historically Black College and Universities/ Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI)
2. Name/type of technology or model
3. Technology maturity: Existing technology or technology concept
4. Brief overview of company history, limited to 3 paragraphs
5. If you identify your company as a Small Business or any of the SB subcategories above, then is your company interested in a prime contract? If so, does your company possess the capabilities to provide the entire range of these requirements? If not, please list which requirements your company can provide?
6. Under the current SB recertification regulations, do you anticipate your company remaining a small business, under primary stated NAICS code 333314?
7. If you are a small business and plan to be prime contractor on this effort please inform how you will meet the limitations on subcontracting Clause 52.219-14.
8. If you are a small business, can you go without a payment for 90 days?
9. If you are a small business does your company have experience as a prime contractor administering Contracts? If you answered yes, please provide as much of the following information as possible; Contract number(s); Dollar value; and similarity of scope and effort. Have you experience as a prime producing commercial items that may be of similar scope, complexity and nature.
10. Please provide details regarding proposed joint ventures, teaming arrangements, strategic alliances, or other business arrangements to satisfy these requirements. Interested parties are encouraged to identify teams, indicating each team member's size based upon the NAICS code of the work that the team member may be doing.
11. Has your Company performed this type of effort or similar type effort (to include size and complexity) in the past, if so provide Contract Number , Point of Contact (POC), e-mail address, phone number, and a brief description of your direct support of the effort?
B. Technical Narrative Instructions.
The Technical Narrative shall be submitted as two files. The content of each file shall be identical. The primary submission shall be MS Word*.docx format. A copy in Adobe *.PDF is also required.
Page Size: 8.5 x 11.0 inches
Margins: 1 inch all around
Font: Arial or MS Sans Serif
Font Size: 12 point
The technical narrative submitted shall NOT exceed 15 pages. Test data, drawings, model outputs, etc. can be provided as attachments and does not count toward the 15 page limitation.
Question and Answers
Responses shall be e-mailed to the Points of Contact listed below. Paper copies of the submittal will also be accepted. Email responses should not exceed 5 Megabytes (MB). Send responses electronically to (Include "RFI number W909MY-19-R-A018" in the subject line.): Hanh Dinh, Contract Specialist, email: hanh.t.dinh.civ@mail.mil and Rosetta Wisdom-Russell, Contracting Officer, email: rosetta.wisdom-russell.civ@mail.mil. All information marked as proprietary information will be safeguarded to prevent disclosures to non-government personnel and entities.
Responses are due no later than 12:00 PM EST (local time at Fort Belvoir, VA) on 19 July 2019. All requests for information must be in writing or via email; telephonic requests for additional information will not be honored. You may forward request for additional information and/or responses to Hanh Dinh, Contract Specialist at hanh.t.dinh.civ@mail.mil and Rosetta Wisdom-Russell, Contracting Officer, email: rosetta.wisdomrussell.civ@mail.mil
Data Rights
It is desirable that data be received with unlimited rights to the Government. However, it is recognized that proprietary data may be included with the information provided. If so, it is the responsibility of the interested party submitting data to clearly mark such proprietary information and clearly separate it from the unrestricted information as an addendum. No Classified data shall be provided via email.
Disclaimer
Any information submitted by respondents to this sources sought synopsis is voluntary. The Army does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this notice or to otherwise pay for the information solicited. Respondents should not construe this synopsis as a commitment for any purpose. Respondents will not individually be notified of the results of any government assessments. The Government's evaluation of the capability statements received will factor into whether any forthcoming solicitation will be conducted as a full and open competition or as a set-aside for small businesses, or any particular small business designation (e.g. SDVOSB, HUBZone, 8(a), SDB, WOSB, VOSB, etc.).
Respondents shall not be obligated to provide the services described herein and it is understood by the United States Government that the cost estimates provided as a result of this request are "best" estimates only.
Hanh T. Dinh, Contract Specialist, Email hanh.t.dinh.civ@mail.mil - Rosetta Wisdom-Russell, Contracting Officer, Email rosetta.wisdom-russell.civ@mail.mil
