SOLICITATION NOTICE
99 -- VERY LIGHT JET (VLJ) CAPABILITY REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)
- Notice Date
- 1/30/2006
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- ASC/AASS/PK Bldg 28, Rm 219 2145 Monahan Way Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7017
- ZIP Code
- 45433-7017
- Solicitation Number
- PIXS4263
- Response Due
- 3/2/2006
- Archive Date
- 3/30/2006
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- VERY LIGHT JET (VLJ) CAPABILITY REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) 1. This is a special notice requesting information to help the U.S. Air Force examine potential capabilities and military uses of an emerging aircraft class called Very Light Jet (VLJ). This class is generally defined by a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) no greater than 10,000 lb, powered by one or two gas turbine engines (turbofan or turbojet), and a commercial list price of much less than $5M per aircraft. 2. The Air Force is requesting information from appropriate companies or parties currently developing VLJ aircraft on a) the capabilities of their VLJ aircraft and b) the companies? interest in supporting limited qualitative evaluations of their VLJ aircraft by fully qualified Air Force test pilots from the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) to be conducted preferably by the end of CY2006. These qualitative flight evaluations or ?qual evals? will assist the Air Force in examining military missions this class of aircraft may be suited to perform. The Air Force desires to perform these qual evals at either Edwards AFB, CA or at a location of the interested party?s selection. The intent of the qual evals is to investigate VLJ aircraft characteristics for potential AF missions and will not require any permanent modification or change to the aircraft. Broad industry participation in the VLJ RFI is encouraged, and VLJ designs that are not mature enough for qual evals in 2006 are still acceptable. During the initial information gathering of this VLJ RFI, request companies planning to provide a capability response identify, to the Air Force point of contact (POC) named below, the name of your company, address, telephone number, and name and position in the company of the individual to contact for future dialog. 3. The Air Force is interested in assessing military utility for specific missions that the VLJ class may be suited to perform including passenger/cargo transport, navigation training, transition training, Homeland Defense, surveillance, and target tow. Industry responses should rank order the missions their VLJ may be best suited to perform, with strengths and weaknesses of each mission discussed in two pages or less per mission. However, as this is probably not an exhaustive list, the Air Force requests identification of any additional missions that industry believes this class of aircraft could perform. 4. Finally, the Air Force is interested in obtaining current and accurate information for each VLJ vehicle to include the characteristic data noted in the Table below (this table is also posted to the PIXS library located at http://www.pixs.wpafb.af.mil/default.asp). Technical parameters, likely concepts-of-operation, mission performance assessment results, and price will all be considered during this AF VLJ capability assessment. Responses are limited to: a) a cover page, (including a name and telephone number of a technical point of contact (if different from the contact information identified above) having the authority and knowledge to clarify responses to government representatives, a statement indicating if the company would support a qualitative flight evaluation (either at Edwards AFB, CA or at the location of the company?s choice), and a brief discussion of any costs and/or liabilities that need addressed by the parties; b) up to ten pages for aircraft description, including technical and general data summarized in the table below and descriptive text to provide additional detail; and c) up to two pages for each viable mission. Participants will be provided the Air Force assessment of the capability of their respective aircraft. 5. This notice is not to be construed as an acquisition Request For Proposal (RFP), nor is any commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract implied, nor does the Government intend to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this request or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subpart 31.205-18, Independent Research and Development and Bid and Proposal Costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. No responses received will be used as a proposal. 6. Further AF interest in VLJ will be dependent on the results of the RFI capability assessment (including mission performance assessments) and Air Force operational requirements analyses and determinations. Potentially, future leasing or purchasing agreements may be sought to obtain aircraft in order to temporarily or permanently modify them with mission and/or instrumentation equipment for more extensive evaluation. These more comprehensive flight evaluations would most likely be conducted following FAA type certification of the specific aircraft under evaluation; consequently, timing will also be dependent on certification status. 7. Companies are not limited to a single aircraft configuration for this RFI; however, each VLJ aircraft configuration must be clearly identified in a separate narrative summary. Request that the narrative summaries discuss specific aircraft information delineated above in paragraph 2. Submissions are requested within 30 days of this announcement and may be made by e-mail or mailing your response on a floppy disk (or compact disk) to: Ms. Noelle Spalding, (937) 255-7210 ext 3108 Contract Negotiator Noelle.spalding@wpafb.af.mil ASC/AASS/PK (Bldg 28, Rm 219, 2145 Monahan Way) Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7017 With a notice of delivery to: Mrs. Pat Krabacher, (937) 904-4501 Contracting Officer patricia.krabacher@wpafb.af.mil ASC/XRS (Capability Planning Div, 2275 D St., Bldg 16, RM 053) Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7217 Personnel hand-carrying responses should contact the Contract Negotiator to arrange a likely arrival time. 8. This notice is part of Government Market Research, a continuous process for obtaining the latest information on the ?art of the possible? from industry with respect to their current and near-term abilities. The information collected may be used by the Government to explore future strategies for the possible uses of VLJs within the military. Information received as a result of this request will be considered as sensitive and will be protected as such. Any company proprietary information contained in the response shall be separately marked. Any proprietary information received in response to this request will be properly protected from any unauthorized disclosure. The Government will not use proprietary information submitted from any one firm to establish the capability and requirements for any future systems acquisition, so as to not inadvertently restrict competition. 9. U.S. and non-U.S. firms are permitted to respond to this VLJ capability RFI. Responses to questions from interested parties will be promptly answered and provided equally to all interested parties unless some release of proprietary information is involved or the answer addresses a question peculiar to a Company or that Company?s response. Currently one-on-one information gathering sessions with respondents are not contemplated. If one-on-one sessions with interested parties are conducted, they will be offered to all to clarify understanding of the submittal, the capability ramifications, or to discuss the form of agreement to cover any Qual Evals. Information feedback sessions may be offered to respondents after all qualitative assessments are completed. 10. Technical point of contact is Ms.Trixie Brewer, ASC/XRC Bldg 28, (937)-255-7210, ext. 3669, or Mr. Eric Crawford, ASC/XRC Bldg 28, (937)-255-7210, ext. 3568. 11. This notice may be updated as additional information becomes available. Please check the PIXS site http://www.pixs.wpafb.af.mil/default.asp for the announcement under Very Light Jets (VLJ) Request for Information (RFI) and register to receive e-mail notices of any updates to the PIXS announcement. For more information on "VERY LIGHT JET (VLJ) CAPABILITY REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)", please refer to: http://www.pixs.wpafb.af.mil/pixs_solicitation.asp?id=4263
- Web Link
-
VERY LIGHT JET (VLJ) CAPABILITY REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)
(http://www.pixs.wpafb.af.mil/pixs_solicitation.asp?id=4263)
- Record
- SN00975509-W 20060201/060130211846 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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