REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

The U.S Army Program Executive Office, Control & Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T), Project Manager Tactical Radio (PM TR), Product Manager Waveforms (PdM WF) and the Army Contracting Command (ACC) are seeking information from industry to assist with the development and planning of a potential new requirement.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) NOTICE AND PRE-REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (PRE-RFP). THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP).  NO SOLICITATION IS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME.

1. Overview/Purpose/Description of Procurement

ACC is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) and Pre-Request For Proposals (Pre-RFP) on behalf of PEO C3T, PM TR, PdM WF as part of ongoing market research for information regarding the Combat Net Radio (CNR), which will pursue the requirement for assured voice for Command and Control (C2) and limited data specifically for Fires and Air Defense and generally “where data capabilities are limited” in accordance with (IAW) the Abbreviated – Capability Development Document (A-CDD) for Integrated Tactical Network (ITN) Modernization (Mod) (Draft v 0.95, 05/31/19).

The purpose of this RFI and Pre-RFP is for market research on the CNR capability available in Non-Developmental Item (NDI), Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), and Government off-the-shelf Technologies. CNR solutions under consideration will include Single Purpose/ Single Band and Single Purpose/ Multiband (Software Defined) radio technologies. Submitted technologies can be either radio solutions as a whole, updates/ retrofits, or vendor refurbishing to the RT-1523E/F. Rationale: This procurement is meant to replace the functions of radios based on the RT-1523. The entirety of the cost/effort to put the same capability back into the platform where the old radio is removed will be considered as the offered solution.

Mandatory capabilities are represented in the accompanying DRAFT CNR PRD as Threshold (T) requirements.

The Government has not finalized a formal acquisition strategy. Factors that may be considered include but are not limited to: cost, schedule, performance, form/fit or platform integration, anti-tamper security, logistics, upgradeability, other waveforms, other features, and environmental tolerances.

1.  Scope of Effort
    

The scope of this effort shall require engineering, software development, hardware development, technical support, lab operations, test and evaluation, system demonstrations, certification, integration, technical documentation, sustainment and supportability documentation, initial training, and program management.  Upon the completion of the engineering phase of this requirement, an initial procurement of hardware may be initiated to evaluate radios/ solutions for fielding to operational units to collect feedback and inform future requirements documents and Basis of Issue (BOI). The Government may procure an initial quantity of production kits for early testing/inventory purposes. The scope of this effort shall also include the delivery of the associated technical documentation and software for the upgrade of the radios. 

The CNR solution shall not affect the Form-Fit-Function of the platforms being upgraded.  The radios shall retain the same legacy functionality and capabilities.  The CNR solution shall not cause the need for the update and/or use of new auxiliary devices (cables, antennas, power amplifiers, power supplies, filters etc.).

1. Technical Characteristics

Additional technical data (documentation) desired for responding to this CNR RFI may be available upon request and will be available to contractors who sign applicable Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs).  Interested parties will have to request access to some documents through DoD SAFE after confirming that they have a Joint Certification Program Number.

The CNR is to provide assured voice both via legacy SINCGARS Frequency Hop 2 with Saville encryption (FH2/CT), as a modernized radio running Frequency Hop 2/Cipher Text 2 (FH2/CT2), and Frequency Hop 3/Cipher Text 2 (FH3/CT2)), and limited data for C2, designed primarily around the SINCGARS RT-1523 radio. Therefore, the new radio will have to be capable of having each mode supported. There are many modes of SINCGARS. Detailed requirements are found in the attached PRD.

1. Requested Information
    

Interested sources are encouraged to provide responses/comment following the instructions in the Compliance Matrix and to all statements/questions below:

1. How long will it take to achieve NSA certification?  How does NSA certification affect the start of First Article Test (FAT)?  How many days after contract award would 50 First Article Test units be available to start FAT?  How long will it take to complete FAT?
2. What is the price for a new radio enclosure?  What is the price for a factory reset radio enclosure?  Will the process for using reset equipment be transparent to the Government?
3. Will you require any GFP for this effort? If yes, please provide a list and rationale.
4. From the award date of any delivery order, how soon can you reasonably begin deliveries?  Is there a ramp up rate for production?  If so, what is it?  What are the driving factors for production lead-time?
5. If proposing an approach that requires the reuse of existing Government owned radios (RT-1523E NSN: 5820-01-444-1219 and/or RT-1523F NSN 5820-01-535-3667), the Government will add $2,225 per radio when conducting its evaluation of your proposed price.  This value was developed using the catalog data from AESIP (Army Enterprise Systems Integration Program) and GCSS-A (Global Combat Support System - Army) as a source for cost and AR 735-5 for computing depreciation.  **Note – this value will be included for proposal evaluation only, and will not be included in the price of any resulting contract.**
6. If the Government orders in the below quantities, what production quantities can you deliver per month from date of award (DAO) in the following scheme (place quantities where you see ###, and propose times from date of order in XXX as required:

*****See table in RFI attachment*****

1. What are the minimum and maximum monthly delivery rates you can achieve?
2. If your proposal includes reusing existing Army equipment, what are your plans and assumptions to produce a stockpile of radios which are ready for the first delivery order? What are your plans, assumptions, potential risks and risk mitigation plans to maintain delivery quantities which seem dependent upon the steady influx of recovered equipment from Army units?
3. What is your planned sustainment solution such as but not limited to warranty, Public Private Partnership with organic depot for maintenance/repairs, interim contractor support, etc.?
4. What is your plan to support Government events, examples such as but not limited to, testing, logistics demonstration, verification of technical documents?
5. Does your company have experience producing radios for Foreign Military Sales?
6. How is your solution positioned for future waveform enhancements?  Does your solution have processing and storage overhead for future enhancements?  What is the cost impact for reserving overhead for future improvements?

Additionally, some documents associated with this announcement have or will be provided in Microsoft Word format.  Interested sources are encouraged to provide any associated comments or feedback in a separate document containing tracked changes with your submittal.

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS: Documents listed below are provided as attachments to this CNR RFI to assist contractors in preparation of their response.  Documents that are available for interested sources to request are also noted, with instructions regarding the request included in each:

• DRAFT CNR PRD and Test Plan
• DRAFT Compliance Matrix
• DRAFT CNR RFP
• DRAFT Section B CLIN / CDRL List
• DRAFT CNR Pricing Spreadsheet
• DRAFT Section L & M
• DRAFT Statement of Work (SOW) (Referenced document will be emailed to vetted vendors via DoD SAFE.  To be vetted, interested sources must provide their CAGE Code, DoD contract number, a copy of the DD2345, or their Joint Certification Program (JCP) number to Contracting Officer Bradley Phillips at [email protected] and Contract Specialist Lee Alexis at [email protected].)

Response Guidelines:

Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a white paper and the filled out Compliance Matrix. Submissions cannot exceed 25 pages single spaced, 12-point type with at least one-inch margins on 8 1/2” X 11” page size (excluding the Compliance Matrix pages).  Interested parties are encouraged to provide tracked changes on draft documents provided documenting comments or other feedback.  Submission of a tracked changes documents will not count towards the page count.  The response should not exceed a 10 MB e-mail limit for all items associated with the RFI response.  Responses must specifically describe the contractor’s capability to meet the requirements outlined in this RFI.  Oral communications are not permissible.  Beta.Sam.Gov will be the sole repository for all information related to this RFI.

Interested parties will have to request access to some documents through DoD SAFE after confirming that they have a Joint Certification Program Number.

Companies who wish to respond to this RFI should send responses via email no later than 5:00  PM Eastern Time on 26 April 2021, to [email protected], and [email protected].

Questions:

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to [email protected], and [email protected].  Verbal questions will NOT be accepted.  Answers to questions will be posted to sam.gov.  The Government does not guarantee that questions received after 12:00 PM Eastern Time on 21 April 2021 will be answered.  The Government will not reimburse companies for any costs associated with the submissions of their responses

Disclaimer: 

This RFI and Pre-RFP is not an RFP and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract.  Responses will not be considered as proposals nor will any award be made as a result of this synopsis.

All information contained in the RFI is preliminary as well as subject to modification and is in no way binding on the Government.  The Government does not intend to pay for information received in response to this RFI.  Responders to this invitation are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.  This RFI will be the basis for collecting information on capabilities available.  This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes. Proprietary information and trade secrets, if any, must be clearly marked on all materials. All information received in this RFI that is marked “Proprietary” will be handled accordingly.  Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned nor will receipt be confirmed.  In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.

*Prospective contractors are hereby notified that the Government may utilize Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) support contractor services in the review process of white papers. Non-Disclosure Agreements for SETA contractors have been established.