The United States Coast Guard's New Hull Acquisition for MH-60T Sustainment Program
THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE (SSN). IT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR A PROPOSAL NOR IS THE UNITED STATES COAST GUARD (USCG) SEEKING PROPOSALS FROM INDUSTRY AT THIS TIME.
1. INTRODUCTION:
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is seeking capability statements from all vendors interested in the production of new rotary-wing aircraft hulls in the Coast Guard's MH-60T configuration. USCG will require that the hulls are certified by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and meet the requirements stated in Section #4, "REQUIRED CAPABILITY", below. USCG intends to purchase up to forty five (45) hulls in the aforementioned configuration.
USCG will use the results of this Sources Sought Notice (SSN), along with other market research, to assess the state of the market for the MH-60T hulls sought.
The quantity of new MH-60T hulls ultimately procured by USCG will depend on the program need and funding availability. USCG recognizes the need for Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) as a part of the new hull acquisition and the need for potential vendors to qualify their MH-60T hulls prior to full-rate production. Therefore, USCG will initially procure NRE and up to three (3) hulls to ensure integration with the existing MH-60T configuration.
2. DISCLAIMER:
This Sources Sought Notice is for informational purposes only. This is not a Request for Proposal. It does not constitute a solicitation and shall not be construed as a commitment by USCG to purchase any specific products or services. Responses in any form are not offers and USCG is under no obligation to award a contract as a result of this announcement. No funds are available to pay for preparation of responses to this announcement. Any information submitted by respondents to this technical description is strictly voluntary.
3. CONTRACT / PROGRAM BACKGROUND:
The USCG MH-60T configuration has evolved from the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation's (SAC's) H-60J aircraft. SAC is now a Lockheed Martin company, which is the OEM for the H-60J and MH-60T. Beginning in the early 2000s, USCG worked closely with SAC to provide structural enhancement to the aircraft to extend the hull's life from 10,000 to 20,000 flight hours. In addition, USCG integrated new avionics and electro-optical /infrared (EO/IR) sensors, which caused additional modifications to the hull. The aircraft's current configuration was given the designation of the MH-60T.
USCG intends to induct its current MH-60T hulls into the MH-60T quadrennial program depot maintenance (PDM) program. During PDM, all of the MH-60T components are removed from the aircraft hull and replaced or overhauled, per predetermined maintenance criteria. USCG intends to replace certain old hulls with the new aircraft hulls. Therefore, it is imperative that the new hulls are in exactly the same configuration as the existing hulls and that current maintenance and repair manuals are minimally altered, if at all.
4. REQUIRED CAPABILITY:
To ensure compatibility with existing aircraft components and USCG's mission parameters, the MH-60T aircraft hulls are required to meet stringent performance criteria. This criteria includes, but is not limited to, the following:
a. New condition hulls with zero (0) flight hours accrued. Reconditioned or used items are not acceptable.
b. Hulls that are fully compatible with all existing CG MH-60T components. Thus, during PDM, the Coast Guard shall not be required to make modifications to the hull during reinstallation of components.
c. Hulls certified by the OEM as airworthy to provide no less than 20,000 flight hours performing the Coast Guard's maritime mission portfolio.
d. Hulls whose weight, mass, and vibration parameters, are within a safe tolerance for the MH-60T.
Technical data for the H-60J are proprietary Lockheed Martin documents. NO DRAWINGS, SPECIFICATIONS, OR SCHEMATICS, ARE AVAILABLE FROM USCG. Interested vendors should submit technical data requests for the H-60J to the OEM itself via Mr. Dave Murano (david.m.murano@lmco.com).
USCG expects potential vendors to a have a USCG-qualified design by Fiscal Year 2023, in the 1st Quarter (i.e., October through December 2022), and able to produce hulls by Fiscal Year 2024, 1st Quarter (i.e., October through December 2023). A qualified design is defined as a design that has been approved by the USCG Aviation Configuration Control Board and has the following certifications and/or events:
a. A successful Preliminary Design Review (PDR) in accordance with USCG Commandant Instruction Manual 5000.10E.
b. A successful Critical Design Review (CDR) in accordance with USCG Commandant Instruction Manual 5000.10E.
c. Air Vehicle Certification from the OEM that the hull is airworthy.
d. Certification from the OEM that the new hull is not life limited below 20,000 flight hours performing USCG maritime missions.
After an approved qualified design and prior to production, the vendor shall conduct the following:
a. A successful Production Readiness Review (PRR) in accordance with USCG Commandant Instruction Manual 5000.10E.
The first article (i.e., the first hull) will be used to ensure compatibility with the Coast Guard Aviation Logistic Centers (ALC) PDM process. Prior to the second article being delivered, the first article shall be made available to the Coast Guard for three (3) months for aircraft reassembly and end of line verification.
5. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
Any contracted efforts will require, at a minimum, the ability to handle and store proprietary information, subject to the Arms Export Control Act, that is treated as Unclassified / For Official Use Only (FOUO).
At the time of any contract award, potential vendors shall have the following certification:
a. A Quality Management System (QMS) in accordance with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001.
6. SUBMITTAL INFORMATION:
Interested vendors shall submit a detailed capabilities statement to the contracting officer,
Mr. Nathan Dolezal (nate.dolezal@uscg.mil), and to the contract specialist, Ms. Pavi Tumbapura (Pavithra.S.Tumbapura@uscg.mil).
Such statements shall be ten (10) pages or less, written in single-spaced, twelve (12) point font (eight (8) point font is acceptable for legends, charts, and graphs). This statement shall include the following:
a. The company name,
b. The company's physical address,
c. The company's point-of-contact with a current phone number and email address, and
d. A statement as to whether the company is small or large under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code of 336411, "Aircraft Manufacturing", with a small business size standard of 1,500 employees. The relevant Product Service Code (PSC) is 1520, "Aircraft, Rotary Wing".
Submitted statements shall demonstrate the ability to meet the performance parameters for the engineering design and helicopter hull production. Vendor capability statements shall address the following:
a. Prior / current relevant corporate experience performing efforts of similar size and scope, including:
1. The associated contract numbers and contract values,
2. The organizations supported,
3. An indication of whether the vendor was a prime or a subcontractor,
4. A current customer point-of-contact with his or her phone number and email address and
5. A brief description of how the contract referenced relates to the requirement described herein.
b. A qualification plan and estimated schedule for performing any required non-recurring engineering (NRE) to develop plans, specifications, and a production line, along with the ability to obtain OEM certification in timely fashion.
c. A company profile, to include the number of employees, annual revenue history, office locations, and Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number.
d. Capability to store and safeguard unclassified/FOUO information.
To receive consideration from USCG, vendors shall submit the capabilities statement to the contracting officer and contract specialist by 3 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, 21 August 2019. Any capabilities statements submitted after this date and time may or may not be considered by USCG.
USCG thanks you for your interest in this work.
Pavithra S. Tumbapura, Contract Specialist, Phone 2024753276, Email Pavithra.S.Tumbapura@uscg.mil - Nathan K. Dolezal, Contracting Officer, Phone 2024753706, Email nate.dolezal@uscg.mil
