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1.0 Purpose
This Request for Solutions (RFS) is issued to locate capable vendors with the ability to deliver a unique solution for the Joint Standard Instrumentation Suite Missile Attitude Subsystem (JMAS) requirement presented below. The Government will evaluate the solutions with the intent of awarding an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) in accordance with 10 U.S. Code § 2371b.
2.0 Summary and Background
The Department of Defense (DoD) seeks to develop a prototype with enhanced capability to provide 6 Degrees of Freedom (DOF) attitude data solution (absolute X,Y,Z position, pitch angle, yaw angle, roll) for man portable air defense systems (MANPADS) or track mounted infrared (IR) guided missile while in flight from launch point (0 meters downrange) to a stationary target point against the natural test area background. This solution will also include the corresponding pitch angle and yaw angle of the missile plume.
MANPADS employing infrared seekers are the single biggest threat facing slow-moving, low-flying rotary wing and fixed wing platforms. To counter the prevalent MANPADS and related track mounted IR guided missile threat, the Services are developing autonomous infrared countermeasure (IRCM) systems for installation on several helicopter platforms as well as large aircraft platforms. Advances in ground truth data collection are needed to improve the modeling and simulation of MANPADS and other threats – missile attitude being the most critical need.
2.1 The characteristics of this system and the Government concept for its development are included in the attached JMAS Technical Supplement.
2.2 Intellectual Property and Rights in Technical Data: Intellectual Property is to be negotiated based on the offeror’s proposed solution.
It is the Government’s desire to receive government purpose rights to all development and deliverables of technical data funded by the Government under the agreement. Government purpose rights means the right to use, modify, reproduce, release, perform, display, or disclose technical data within the Government without restriction; and release or disclose technical data outside the Government and authorize persons to whom release or disclosure has been made to use, modify, reproduce, release, perform, display, or disclose technical data for United States government purposes.
The Government desires to have government purpose rights for at least a five-year period, which would commence upon delivery of the JMAS capability. The Vendor would have the exclusive right, including the right to license others, to use technical data in which the Government has obtained government purpose rights under this contract for any commercial purpose during this five-year period.
Commercial software native to any COTS items used require no distribution statement. All vendors should provide the details of their unique data rights and intellectual property up front in order for the Government to properly weigh long-term risk.
The definitions for rights in technical data and computer software under this effort shall be the same as utilized in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations clause 252.227-7013(a), dated FEB 2014.
2.3 Vendors interested in responding to this Request for Solutions must be members of the Training and Readiness Accelerator (TReX).
3.0 RFS Responses:
3.1 Technical Solution: The Vendor’s proposed technical solution shall describe their approach to achieve the system performance stated in the JMAS Technical Supplement. The solution shall discuss how the Vendor plans to achieve full system performance with specific emphasis addressing the discriminators listed below.
The Vendor shall propose to achieve their full system solution within multiple increments, to be proposed by the Vendor and then will be jointly defined with the Government after selection. These should be logical increments that result in a useable capability at the end of each increment, with each subsequent increment adding new capability to the last. A demonstration of the capability shall be performed at the end of each increment with a full system test conducted to verify performance once all minimum requirements, as defined in the Technical Supplement, are met. A second test is conducted in the last increment to characterize performance capabilities achieved beyond the minimum.
- Discriminator 1: Proposed solution meets or exceeds missile position and attitude accuracy, without modification to the system under test, and in cluttered background typical of DoD free flight live fire events.
- Discriminator 2: Proposed solution contains mature, proven technologies that the offeror has successfully implemented for other customers.
- Discriminator 3: Proposed solution enables timely field setup and calibration with minimal staff.
- Discriminator 4: Proposed solution enables timely generation of missile position and accuracy data.
- Discriminator 5: Proposed solution identifies potential risks with plans for mitigation.
- Discriminator 6: Proposed increments are logical and will result in useable capabilities for field testing.
The Discriminators listed above are not listed in any specific order of priority and responses will be considered as a whole. The Vendor’s response shall include specific example(s) of previous systems developed by their company to demonstrate their ability and expertise in developing this prototype. For each example cited, please state the system or subsystem name developed by the Vendor and where it is deployed or fielded. Also include relevant information about the system, such as, performance parameters currently achieved.
Finally, please ensure any assumptions made are clearly stated in your response.
3.2 Intellectual Property and Rights in Technical Data: As outlined in paragraph 2.2 above, all IP and data rights remain negotiable based on individual vendor solutions. While the Government has expressed their desire, Vendors are not limited to proposing solutions which adhere only to that desire. Your response should clearly outline the appropriate rights in technical data that will be delivered with your solutions, as well as a list of any third-party software/hardware to be delivered; in addition to any required overhead/recurring costs of the use of that software/hardware.
3.3 Anticipated Delivery Schedule: With the technical solution, the Vendor shall include the anticipated delivery dates of all JMAS capabilities and completion dates for all tasks and increments as proposed with your technical solution.
3.4 Proposed Increment Pricing and Milestone Payments: Vendors shall submit fixed amount pricing by increment with their solution. Each increment may be further divided into milestone payments that are tied to clearly defined performance achievements (i.e., performance milestones).
The Government is not dictating a specific price mechanism and Vendors are encouraged to submit increment pricing and milestone payments that fit appropriately with their technical solution.
3.5 Tailored JMAS Technical Supplement: Vendors will be asked to tailor the JMAS Technical Supplement alongside the solution with tracked changes to reflect the solution and approach proposed. Acceptable tailoring includes modification of characteristics to describe what the proposed solution will deliver, modifications to the staging strategy as described within the technical solution, and reference documents to be provided by the Government as required to provide the solution.
3.6 Provide your nontraditional* business status or your ability to meet the eligibility requirements in 10 U.S. Code § 2371b on the cover page of your response. Within your response, please check the following box which applies – with appropriate justification if applicable.
There is at least one nontraditional defense contractor or nonprofit research institution participating to a significant extent in the project.
All significant participants in the transaction other than the Federal Government are small businesses or nontraditional defense contractors.
At least one third of the total cost of the project is to be provided by sources other than the Federal Government.
*Nontraditional – an entity that is not currently performing and has not performed, for at least the one-year period preceding the solicitation of sources by the Department of Defense (DoD) for the procurement or transaction, any contract or subcontract for the DoD that is subject to full coverage under the cost accounting standards prescribed pursuant to section 1502 of title 41 and the regulations implementing such section.
3.7 In addition to your nontraditional business status, the cover page of the response shall also include the company name, Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code (if available), address, and primary point of contact including phone number and email address. The cover page does not count towards page count.
3.8 All questions related to this RFS should be submitted in writing to [email protected], with “JMAS” used in the subject line. Note: the Government reserves the right to post submitted questions and answers, as necessary (and appropriate) to facilitate vendor solution responses.
3.9 Responses shall be submitted no later than 12:00 PM EST on March 1, 2018. Your response should be submitted electronically to [email protected], with “JMAS” used in the subject line.
3.10 Responses shall not exceed 25 pages in length, utilizing standard 12-point font. Any charts or figures are not bound by the 12-point font requirement.
4.0 Selection Process
4.1 Individual responses will be evaluated with consideration given to the merit of the response, feasibility of implementation, and total risk to produce the JMAS prototype. The proposed solution, price, delivery schedule as well as demonstrated experience in delivering similar capabilities will be considered as aspects of the entire response when weighing risk and reward. The Government will evaluate the degree to which the submission provides a thorough, flexible, and sound approach in response to the discriminators.
4.2 After receipt of submissions from TReX members, the Government will complete their initial assessments. At this point, the Government may conduct a down select to the pool of vendors with the most technically feasible solutions to hold expanded conversation on the proposed solution and/or potential demonstrations, however responses may be accepted without further discussion.
4.3 The Government reserves the right to request demonstrations of commercially proposed solution sets as part of the negotiation and risk assessment portion of the evaluation.
4.4 The Government will issue an OTA to the respondent(s) whose solution substantiates to be most advantageous to the Government, cost, schedule, technical risks and other factors considered. The Government reserves the right to award to a respondent that does not meet all of the mandatory requirements of the Request for Solutions.
4.5 Evaluations will be conducted by a pool of subject matter experts, which will include contracted support personnel from the following companies: QuantiTech, Inc. and Orsa Technologies, LLC. Personnel receiving access to this information will be limited to an as-needed basis and all individuals will be required to sign non-disclosure agreements prior to receiving access – the companies themselves have been restricted from any current or future JMAS opportunities.
5.0 Anticipated Nature of the Agreement
The nature of the agreement will be heavily influenced by individual solutions proposed. However, it is the Government’s intent for the OTA(s) issued to be of a fixed amount, with clearly definable milestones. The agreement will provide a mutually beneficial plan between Government and vendor to complete each task outlined in the JMAS Technical Supplement within the scope of the vendor’s solution.
6.0 Additional Information
6.1 The costs of preparing and submitting a response is not considered an allowable direct charge to any contract or agreement.
6.2 Export controls: research findings and technology developments arising from the resulting White Paper may constitute a significant enhancement to the national defense and to the economic vitality of the United States. As such, in the conduct of all work related to this effort, the recipient will comply strictly with the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (22 C.F.R. §§ 120-130), the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (DoD 5220.22-M) and the Department of Commerce Export Regulation (15 C.F.R. §§ 730-774).
6.3 Interaction and/or Disclosure with Foreign Country/Foreign National Personnel. The contractor should comply with foreign disclosure processes IAW AR 380‐10, Foreign Disclosure and Contacts with Foreign Representatives; DoDD 5230.11, Disclosure of Classified Military Information to Foreign Governments and International Organizations; and DoDD 5230.20, Visits and Assignments of Foreign Nationals.
6.4 All submissions shall be unclassified. Submissions containing data that is not to be disclosed to the public for any purpose or used by the Government except for evaluation purposes shall include the following sentences on the cover page:
“This submission includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the Government, except to non-Government personnel for evaluation purposes, and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed — in whole or in part — for any purpose other than to evaluate this submission. If, however, an agreement is awarded to this Company as a result of — or in connection with – the submission of this data, the Government shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent agreed upon by both parties in the resulting agreement. This restriction does not limit the Government’s right to use information contained in this data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in sheets [insert numbers or other identification of sheets]”
6.5 Each restricted data sheet should be marked as follows:
“Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this submission.”
6.5 The Agreements Officer for this effort is Mr. Brian Serra. He can be reached at [email protected] or 407-208-3357.