Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF OCTOBER 07, 2006 FBO #1776
SOURCES SOUGHT

58 -- The Army is planning its next generation of tactical wheeled vehicles to have information systems integrated within the vehicle as part of the vehicles basic design

Notice Date

10/5/2006
 

Notice Type

Sources Sought
 

Contracting Office

US Army C-E LCMC Acquisition Center - DAAB07, ATTN: AMSEL-AC, Building 1208, Fort Monmouth, NJ 07703-5008
 

ZIP Code

07703-5008
 

Solicitation Number

W15P7T-07-R-PTWV
 

Response Due

10/31/2006
 

Archive Date

12/30/2006
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

*This not a solicitation. This is only a Request for Information (RFI) and will not bind the contrac-tor or the Government in any way or at any time into a contract with any of the specified terms be-low. Introduction The Army is planning its next generation of tactical wheeled vehicles to have information sys-tems integrated within the vehicle as part of the vehicles basic design. The Armys interest tracks with the current automotive in the dash system design that provides a common information backbone, a common display/control system and addresses information needs on a per vehicle platform basis. In the case of normal automotive data like GPS information or engine temperature, the military and commercial automoti ve environments are well matched. However, the military environment has many independent command and control, logistical and sensor systems that are included in a vehicle that have been histori-cally  bolted on to the vehicle. The information needs have progressed faster than the ability to include each new capability as a basic part of the vehicle, a process that will continue unless the vehicle system design anticipates change as part of the normal vehicle evolution. Unfortun ately, the current approach leads to sub-optimal designs that add user displays, increase power consumption, increase weight, reduce reliability, increase costs, etc. In an effort to anticipate future changes, improve systems performance, improve maintenance/training and reduce cost, The Army is approaching the future with an alternative system engineering approach that integrates the automotive, communication, navigat ion, sensor, electronic maintenance, computational and data storage requirements as one integrated design approach. An alternative systems engineering ap-proach would be to integrate the automotive, communication, navigation, sensor, electronic maintenance computational and data storage as one design approach. As such, the Army is interested in finding inno-vative ways to apply emerging commercial standards to the Army vetronics systems. A migration to an integrated vehicular vetronics system has the additional challenge of including DoD specific equipment, such as a radio or chemical sensor, that must be addressed as part of the systems en-gineering approach. The purpose of this Request for Information is to solicit ideas and concepts on integrating the various sys-tems employed in the tactical wheeled vehicle environment and build a system information architecture that can accommodate evolution to meet the cha nging needs and threats. Current Information Systems Tactical wheeled vehicles can have the following systems as part of a vehicle configuration: Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) Movement Tracking System (MTS) Vehicle Integrated Diagnostic Software (VIDS) Standard Army Maintenance System - Enhanced Digitized Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services Digital Log Book Several voice and data radios, e.g., SINCGARS Radio GPS receiver Integrated Electronic Technical Manuals Short range wireless communications (WiFi, Zigbee, others) Vehicle System Prognostic Hardware and Software SAE J1939 compatible vehicle sensors Vehicle electronic self protection systems Integrated Information System Goals As a framework for assessing an integrated vehicle information architecture, the following are a basic set of information system goals: 1. Open System Architecture - The Army wants to capitalize on commercial technology that is open to competition. The information architecture has to be consistent with the use of software and hardware that does not limit the governments ability to improve or modify the vehicle information architecture. 2. Scalable Integrated Modular Architecture - The Army wants an information architecture that is modu-lar at the component (board / subsystem) level vice the current C2 system level. The architecture must be highly scaleable to add ress significant variation in individual vehicular platform processing re-quirements. It is anticipated that information architecture will have to process voice, video and data within the vehicle. The architecture should be resilient to failure and priorit ize resources to support critical system capabilities as required. The vehicle power subsystem must support the information systems within the vehicle as well as battery operated systems that are owned by individual soldiers, e.g., a handheld radio. 3. Reliability, Maintainability and Availability (RAM) - The vehicles crew has many tasks so the inte-grated information system must be highly reliable, easy to maintain and almost always available. The Army is seeking significant RAM improvements over th e current set of individual subsystems. The vehicle should have the capability to quickly isolate a fault and, if possible, compensate for the failed component. 4. Training - The goal is for an integrated information system to be easier to train for the operator and the maintainer than the collection of subsystems that it is replacing. 5. Security  Many of the tactical wheeled vehicle users do not have a security clearance, however, some vehicles contain systems such as FBCB2 that will operate at the Secret level. Hence we are looking for innovative solutions for transmitting informatio n from two security domains over one or more networks. Since some of the vehicles will contain systems operating in one of two security do-mains (Secret and USI), we are interested in the computer/security architecture for processing data for each domain w hile ensuring separation. In these cases, it is desirable to use common storage and dis-play capabilities within the vehicle as part of an integrated architecture. Additionally, current best practice for computer network defense should be considered, e.g., firewalls, intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, etc. 6. Long Term Evolution - Trucks can last decades and the electronics can be obsolete much sooner than the vehicle. The Army needs an information architecture that can change as change is required with very minor vehicle impact. The strategy for system evol ution is an integral part of the vehicle process. 7. Procurement and maintenance costs - The Army is seeking a reduction in information system costs when procured/integrated as an integrated system vice individual subsystems. Information requested The RFI response should be limited to a maximum of 50 pages. The RFI response should address the fol-lowing items: 1. System Strategy - The white paper should provide a system strategy to integrate the various subsys-tems. The Government is interested in the rationale for the system decisions. The strategy should ad-dress if changes are all done at once or over several iterations. As an example, the wiring could be in-stalled during a RECAP process while the electrical components are installed later as part of a vehicle upgrade. The system strategy should also identify what can be accomplished in 18 to 36 months. 2. Notional Information architecture Concept - The white paper should provide a notional concept for implementing the chosen vehicle information system strategy. 3. Logistical concept - The white paper should address improvements that are likely in the vehicle in-formation system RAM and operator/maintainer training. 4. Cost impacts- If any significant cost savings are anticipated as a result of the chosen strategy. The white paper should address the rationale for the likely cost savings. 5. Risk Areas - The white paper should provide a list of the key risk areas and suggested approaches to minimize the identified risk. Submit one electronic copy of the submission by 1 November 2006 to the following: Proprietary information should be clearly marked. All submissions shall be (1) posted to the IBOP at https://abop.monmouth.army.mil/ under BAA W15P7T-07-R-PTWV The electronic format may be in Adobe Acrobat Portab le Document Format (PDF) or compatible with Microsoft Office 2000 suite of software. The white paper response shall not exceed 50 pages, including company information (single sided, single line spaced and utilizing Times New Roman font with 12-dot pitch). *REMINDER: This not a solicitation. This is only a Request for Information (RFI) and will not bind the contractor or the Government in any way or at any time into a contract with any of the specified terms above.
 

Place of Performance

Address: US Army C-E LCMC Acquisition Center - DAAB07 ATTN: AMSEL-AC, Building 1208 Fort Monmouth NJ

Zip Code: 07703-5008

Country: US
 

Record

SN01162133-W 20061007/061005220658 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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