Long Range Reconnaissance (LRR) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Capabilities
Title: Long Range Reconnaissance (LRR) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Capabilities
1. This Request for Information (RFI) is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations and is open ONLY to U.S. Companies. This RFI is for market research and is issued in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 10.001. Issuance of this notice does NOT constitute any obligation or commitment on the part of the U.S. Government (USG) to issue a solicitation or to award a contract now or in the future. The USG does NOT intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI. Submitting information for this RFI is voluntary. Participants will NOT receive payment for any submittals. Although "proposal" and "vendor" are used in this RFI, responses will be treated as information only.
2. Any information the vendor considers proprietary should be clearly marked as such. Responses to this RFI that indicate the information therein is proprietary or represents confidential business information will be received and secured as such. The Systems Simulation Software & Integration (S3I) Directorate of the U.S. Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command's Aviation & Missile Center (CCDC AvMC)-hereafter known as S3I-will be used to objectively review functional areas and provide comments and recommendations to the Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (TUAS) Product Office. All advisors shall comply with Procurement Integrity Laws and shall sign non-disclosure and rules of conduct/conflict of interest statements. The USG shall take into consideration requirements for avoiding conflicts of interest and ensure advisors comply with safeguarding proprietary data. Submissions in response to this RFI constitute approval to release the submittal to USG support contractors.
To establish Non-Disclosure Agreements with S3I, if required, contact the USG organization directly through the contact information listed below and reference the title of this RFI:
Mr. Mike Cole
FCDD-AMS-HAU
Unmanned Systems Branch
Systems Simulation Software & Integration (S3I) Directorate
Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC)
Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC)
U.S. Army Futures Command
Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898
Office: (256) 876-4355
Cell: (256) 759-3488
Email: james.m.cole88.civ@mail.mil
3. PM Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), in support of the Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS) activities within the TUAS Product Office, is conducting market research which will be used to plan and implement an acquisition strategy to potentially procure a Long Range Reconnaissance (LRR) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). User objectives for LRR capabilities are described in Paragraph 4 of this RFI. Your submission should include cost, schedule, and a technical description on how you intend to meet the objectives and what aircraft would be available for a potential future flight evaluation. For those objectives not met, provide a description of how they would be met. Information of the details of the flight evaluation will be provided at a later date in a separate notice.
4. The USG has particular interest in production-ready systems (i.e., minimum Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 as defined by the Department of Defense (DoD) Acquisition Guidebook (https://www.dau.mil/tools/t/Defense-Acquisition-Guidebook, 26 February 2017) and a minimum Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) of 7 as defined by the DoD MRL Deskbook, Version 2.4 (http://www.dodmrl.com/MRL_Deskbook_V2.4%20August_2015.pdf, August 2015).
The system shall meet and/or exceed the following requirements:
a) The Air Vehicle (AV) shall have an endurance of two hours (threshold), eight hours (objective).
b) The AV shall have a range of ten km (threshold), 30 km (objective) (assuming an out-and-back mission at 500 ft Above Ground Level (AGL).
c) The AV shall have a service ceiling of 10,500 ft Mean Sea Level (MSL) (threshold), 16,000 ft MSL (objective).
d) The AV shall support modular day, night (passive Infrared (IR)), a laser illuminator payload capable of providing Full Motion Video (FMV) and still images (at a greater resolution than the FMV) (threshold).
e) The AV shall have modular FMV payloads containing day, night (passive infrared), laser illuminator, and Laser Target Marker (LTM) [NOTE: An LTM is a device similar to a laser designator emitting 1064nm-coded laser energy; however, the LTM is not qualified for use in guidance of laser guided weapons]. The AV payload shall contain a laser illuminator for nighttime conditions from 0% to 100% moon illumination level with the use of Image Intensification (I2) devices and will illuminate an approximate ten-foot diameter area at a slant range of 600 meters (objective).
f) The AV shall contain a Laser Range Finder (LRF) payload for the LRR with a Target Location Error (TLE) of five meters. The AV shall contain an LTM payload for the LRR capable of designating targets at the maximum slant range that the day/night payload will allow the operator to recognize an object (minimum slant range of 500) meters with sufficient laser energy, laser spot size, and jitter suitable for laser target handovers to personnel, ground vehicles, manned aircraft, and UAS equipped with a laser spot tracker device and targeting and weapons engagement with U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps laser guided munitions with sufficient laser on time to complete the engagement and will be selectable on or off from the H-GCS and will be boresighted to the day/night payload (objective) [NOTE: See also other Payload thresholds and objectives in the Capability Production Document (CPD) For Rucksack Portable Unmanned Aircraft System (RPUAS) Increment 2, Approved 23 November 2013].
g) The AV shall be electrically powered using common military or commercial batteries, or other non-gasoline/non-heavy fuel.
h) The AV, in all configurations, shall be hand launched or by some other means that does not require an improved launch/recovery location, or launch devices, such as a bungee or catapult system.
i) The AV and payload shall interface with and be compatible with the Tactical Open Government-owned Architecture (TOGA) Handheld Ground Control Station (H-GCS) which uses a Linux Operating System (OS).
j) The AV datalink shall operate in the following frequency ranges: 1625-1725 MHz, 1780-1850 MHz, and 2025-2110 MHz.
k) The AV shall launch and land in winds of 20 knots (threshold), 30 knots (objective).
l) While flying at autonomous steady-state cruise speed at 500 ft AGL, the AV shall be acoustically inaudible with a background noise of 65 dBSPL (threshold), 400 ft AGL with a background noise of 35 dBSPL (objective).
m) The AV shall be capable of semi-autonomous flight control using a Global Positioning System (GPS)-aided navigation system and autopilot capable of waypoint navigation utilizing Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM)-compatible GPS (threshold) or M Code-compatible GPS (objective).
n) The AV shall withstand landing in a standing body of water and remaining afloat for 15 minutes without damaging water intrusion at Sea State 1 characterized by up to eight-knot winds and up to one-foot waves (threshold), one hour at Sea State 3 characterized by up to 15-knot winds and up to four-foot waves (objective).
o) The AV shall operate in -36°C to +55°C (-32°F to +130°F) climatic conditions and shall operate after subjected to storage and transit conditions from -46°C to +71°C (-50°F to +160°F) (threshold equals objective).
p) The AV shall operate during snowfall and in up to 0.25 inches of rain per hour (threshold), operate during snowfall and in up to 0.50 inches of rain per hour (threshold).
q) The AV shall comply with MIL-STD-464C and Aeronautical Design Standard (ADS)-37A only for electrostatic charge control (i.e., the AV and other system components are not expected to survive the effects of an Electromagnetic Pulse or lightning strike/near lightning strike). The AV shall also comply with the Electromagnetic Interference/Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMI/EMC) requirements of MIL-STD-461F and ADS-37A that are reasonably applicable to the size/weight/ mission of the AV and system, to minimally include RE101, RE102, RS101, and RS103.
5. The USG requires the following information be provided in your response:
a) Describe the capability your system can provide in relation to the objectives in Paragraph 4 of this RFI. Provide a technical description of the UAS to include details of the modularity, subsystems, open systems architecture, and future growth/technology refresh capability. Also describe your training concept (i.e., number of days required to train and certify) and training equipment required to operate the UAS. Provide your expected logistics concept (i.e., levels of maintenance and ease of repair). Identify the non-Non-Developmental Item (non-NDI) component(s) which would represent the greatest Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) risk to the program.
b) Include a discussion of any USG requirement you believe is incompatible, unachievable, or a significant cost driver (i.e., possibly unaffordable) and the associated rationale.
c) How modifications would/could be accomplished-production line incorporation or as post-production modifications. If the AV does not meet the objective requirements in Paragraph 4, are any pre-planned product improvements documented to incorporate technology for reaching these objectives and performance parameters?
d) Willingness to set up a cost-share contract for the RDT&E portion of this effort.
e) Interest in, if you have a fully developed AV, selling the Technical Data Package (TDP) to the USG so the USG has Government Purpose Rights (GPR) for the TDP? It is acknowledged your organization would still be given the opportunity to build the required parts/spares for the GPR AV through a competitive procurement.
6. The USG is only interested in an AV not the associated hand controller or H-GCS (see also 4.i), above).
7. Narrative/text responses to this RFI shall be limited to five pages in length, using 12-point font, not including the cover page or exhibits. Exhibits, such as photographs, figures, or tables are limited to ten pages and can contain one quad chart which provides an overview of the system (i.e., 16 pages total).
Classified information, if required, shall be provided in a separate annex and shall be handled, labeled, and stored in accordance with the National Industrial Security Program (NISP) Operating Manual.
Responses shall be emailed to the POCs listed below. Paper copies of the paper submittal will also be accepted.
If the response contains proprietary sensitive material, paper copies shall be clearly labeled "Proprietary Sensitive Material". Proprietary Sensitive Material will be protected from disclosure.
8. Responses shall be received no later than 30 calendar days after RFI release. Responses shall be emailed to Mr. Chris Welsh, richard.c.welsh2.civ@mail.mil. Paper copies of the paper submittal will also be accepted. Classified information can be sent via Registered Mail or FEDEX to the Contract Specialist's address listed below. Technical questions shall be directed to Mr. Rick Szcepanski, richard.m.szcepanski.civ@mail.mil.
Contracting Office Address:
Jeremy Deorsey, Contracting Officer
Natick Contracting Division
jeremy.a.deorsey.civ@mail.mil
Chris Welsh, Contract Specialist
Natick Contracting Division
richard.c.welsh2.civ@mail.mil
Place of Performance:
United States
Technical Point of Contact:
Mr. Mike Cole
FCDD-AMS-HAU
Unmanned Systems Branch
Systems Simulation Software & Integration (S3I) Directorate
Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC)
Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC)
U.S. Army Futures Command
Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898
Office: (256) 876-4355
Cell: (256) 759-3488
Email: james.m.cole88.civ@mail.mil
Richard C. Welsh, Contract Specialist, Phone 5082336188, Email richard.c.welsh2.civ@mail.mil - Jeremy Deorsey, Contract Specialist, Phone 5082336192, Email jeremy.a.deorsey.civ@mail.mil
