SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- Wide Area Motion Imagery (WAMI) / Wide Area Aerial Surveillance (WAAS) Payload for Manned and Unmanned Platforms - WAMI & WAAS Table 1
- Notice Date
- 7/28/2016
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, Army Contracting Command, ACC - APG (W909MY) Belvoir, 2461 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, Virginia, 22331, United States
- ZIP Code
- 22331
- Solicitation Number
- W909MY-16-R-A017
- Point of Contact
- Hanh T. Dinh, , Rosetta Wisdom-Russell,
- E-Mail Address
-
hanh.t.dinh.civ@mail.mil, rosetta.wisdom-russell.civ@mail.mil
(hanh.t.dinh.civ@mail.mil, rosetta.wisdom-russell.civ@mail.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Table 1 REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION: The Government is not obligated to make an award as a result of this request. This Request for Information (RFI) is for informational purposes only; this is not an Invitation for Bids (IFB), a Request for Proposal (RFP), or Request for Quotation (RFQ). No solicitation document exists and a formal solicitation may or may not be issued by the Government as a result of the responses to this RFI. The Government will not be liable for payment of any response preparation expenses and is in no way obligated by the information received. Any costs incurred by interested companies in response to this announcement will NOT be reimbursed. The information provided may be used by the Army in developing a future acquisition strategy, Performance Work Statement, Statement of Objectives and/or Performance Based Specification (s). Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. NOTE: The use of RFI Number W909MY-16-R-A017 is for tracking purposes only. BACKGROUND/DESCRIPTION: The Army Contracting Command - Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) Belvoir is conducting Market Research, on behalf of CERDEC-Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD), in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10, to determine the state-of-the-art in Wide Area Motion Imagery (WAMI) / Wide Area Aerial Surveillance (WAAS) systems, referred to simply as WAMI for the remainder of this document. In addition, this RFI requests respondents' answer specific questions regarding their basic qualifications in developing or upgrading Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) and/or WAMI hardware and software. Responses are requested of those sources that have the existing capability or plans to develop and deliver WAMI payloads with the characteristics meeting or exceeding those detailed below: DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENTS The WAMI system shall consist of multiple Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) including but not limited to an Imaging Sensor Unit (ISU) and Storage and Processing Unit (SPU). The ISU consists of a pointing and stabilization unit (e.g. stabilized turret) that houses the sensor optics, focal planes, and supporting electronics. Essentially everything required to operate the WAMI sensor except for data storage and processing. If the ISU requires an external electronics box the external box must be included in the ISU weight calculations. The SPU refers to the storage and processing computer as well as the processing/exploitation algorithms running on the hardware. The SPU will also host the ISU's command, control and status SW. This RFI is separated into two portions. A vendor may optionally respond to one of the two sections or both sections. The first section requests information on the ISU; responses to this section are limited to 20 pages. The second section requests information on the SPU; responses to this section are limited to 15 pages. The responses to the SPU section should focus on unique processing techniques and algorithms provided by the vendor. A discussion on the target hardware for the PSU is encouraged but not required. The WAMI system shall be a day/night persistent surveillance system that is capable of covering a large area of interest at moderate ground sampled distance (GSD) resolution. The WAMI system shall provide persistent airborne surveillance of an area centered at a geo-designated point while the host aircraft orbits that point. The system shall collect Electro-Optical (EO) and Infrared (IR) imagery and associated metadata. The system shall be capable of tracking and geo-locating targets of interest (vehicles and dismounts). The WAMI system's ISU shall provide gap-free ground coverage at a nominal altitude of 18,000 feet Above Ground Level (AGL) and a ground speed of 100 - 200 knots. Every point in the coverage circle shall be imaged once per frame. The WAMI system should include provisions for Non-Uniformity Correction (NUC) of both the EO and the IR imagery. Calibration sources shall be provided for the IR sensor. The WAMI system's ISU shall include provisions for Forward Motion Compensation (FMC) and Image Rotation Compensation. Additionally, the ISU shall be capable of, at a minimum, the threshold requirements in Table 1. However, while achieving threshold requirements is the minimum, vendors are highly encouraged to explore the trade spaces between the threshold and objective requirements. The objective priority parameter can help guild the tradeoffs being considered. Table 1: Requirements Matrix Parameter Threshold Objective Objective Priority Persistent Diameter 8 km T=O N.A. Reflective Band NIR NIR & Color Mid IR NETD 65 mK 50 mK Mid IR GSD 50 cm 25 cm Mid EO GSD 35 cm 15 cm Mid Frame Rate 1.5 Hz 3 Hz High EO/IR Image Formation Asynchronous Synchronous Mid Payload Diameter 21" 18" Low ISU Weight 250 lbs 150 lbs Low *see PDF Attachment for this table 1 The WAMI system's PSU shall store, compress and process the ISU's imagery. Compression should be near loss-less. The current focus of this RFI is to seek information on current and future capabilities to exploit WAMI data (e.g. track vehicles, dismounts, watch boxes, video Moving Target Indicator [vMTI], fusion of EO and IR). A discussion of customer hardware for the PSU to minimize size, weight and power is encouraged but not required. The focus of the RFI should be the processing algorithms with assumed COTS hardware. Please note the following: Foreign participation is excluded. This is a market survey to identify all parties interested in taking part in this entire effort as a prime contractor. Please provide the following information no later than 8 September 2016. Future communications related to this program will be distributed based on interested parties list. 1. Provide a brief summary of the company. 2. Do you plan to prime? If so continue to questions #3 and #4. Request for Information to Item #3 and #4. Interested parties can respond to both or one or the other: 3. Please describe the ISU solution being advocated by your company. In this description discuss the details of your solution; be sure to address each of the requirements for Table 1 in detail. When discussing your system or planned improvements, take into account the objective priority level for each parameter. This priority indicates the parameters that are highly desired to push past threshold (high being most desired and low being less desired, however still desired). Even small improvements past threshold are desired even if not fully reaching the objective value (e.g. every.25 Hz of frame rate is advantageous to the system). Include a detailed discussion on the maturity and estimated TRL of your system and the major subsystems and/or major components (e.g. proposed focal plane arrays (FPAs)). Fully discuss your justification for this TRL rating. Also, estimate the final weight of the ISU. Show your weight estimations broken out by major components or subsystems. A gimbal solution is the preferred approach to the payload's packaging, however, if a non-gimbal solution is available that substantially reduces payload size and/or weight please discuss. Describe the costs and schedule required to develop your solution to TRL 6, provide a brief justification for both. **Additional data is requested in the enclosed Specification Matrix. When populating the matrix, indicate if the measurements are based on field, lab, modeled, or estimated data. 4. Describe your processing solution to this WAMI system. Include a description of your capability, approach, and TRL. For the capability portion, discuss the mission profiles that your processing/ algorithms approach is intended to operate in (e.g. track vehicles of interest). The mission profiles should include the standard WAMI day/night tracking mission, but vendors are encouraged to propose additional mission capabilities such as vMTI for detecting dismounts and EO/IR fusion to improve vehicle identification and tracks in cluttered environments. For each algorithm described in the write-up, include a discussion on the minimum and desired sensor parameters needed (e.g. requires frame-rate of 1.5Hz but optimal at 2.25Hz). In the approach and TRL sections, the vendor should give enough description of the approach and TRL justification for the government to determine how mature and novel the described approach is. If processing hardware is included in the write-up then include weight, size and power parameters. Imagery representative of a WAMI sensor meeting most of the threshold parameters may be available. If you desire to process this data with the intention of reporting your results in your response to this RFI, contact the POC listed in this document. 5. Does your company have experience working with WAMI and ISR systems as part of a Public Private Partnership Work share as described above? For any previous effort, please provide Contract Number, Point of Contact (POC), e-mail address, phone number, and a brief description of your direct support of the effort. 6. Does your company possess the capabilities to provide the entire range of these requirements? If not, please list which requirements your company can provide. If your company needs to acquire or build new capabilities, describe the effort and timeline required. 7. If your company is planning on business arrangements with other companies, please list the capabilities or services provided by these other companies that would contribute to this effort. Please provide details regarding proposed joint ventures, teaming arrangements, strategic alliances, or other business arrangements to satisfy these requirements. Respondents are encouraged to identify teams, indicating each team member's size based upon the NAICS code of the work that the team member may be doing. 8. Does your company have experience as a prime contractor administering Contracts? If so, please provide as much of the following information as possible: contract number(s), dollar value, and similarity of scope and effort. 9. What are the core competencies of your employees that would support these requirements? Also, provide the total number of individuals currently employed by your company that are capable of supporting the requirements. 10. Does your company have a Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) certification or similar? If not, does your company plan to acquire one? 11. Do all the employees that would support this requirement have a security clearance? If not, what percentage of employees that will be involved in this effort, have a security clearance? 12. Does your firm possess an approved Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) accounting system? 13. Please identify your company's business size standard based on the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code of 541712 for example. For more information, refer to http://www.sba.gov/content/table-small-business-size-standards Large Business Concern Small Business (SB) Concern 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) Woman-Owned Small Business Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Veteran-Owned Small Business Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business In addition to the above, small businesses responding should provide the following information: (questions 14-16 will not count against the 35 page limit). 14. If you are a small business and plan to prime, please inform how you will meet the limitations on subcontracting Clause 52.219-14. 15. Under the current SB size standard, do you anticipate your company remaining a small business, under the stated NAICS code 541712? 16. If you are a small business, can your company sustain if not paid for 90 calendar days? Interested parties with the ability to satisfy the above characteristics and capabilities should submit a white paper, not to exceed 35 pages, discussing your company's ability to meet the above requirements. The response should include a complete discussion of the ability to meet the above stated characteristics and capabilities, contractor's facility availability and staffing capabilities. The supporting documentation must be in sufficient detail to enable the Government to determine if the potential vendor either has the required product, hardware, and data, or the capabilities and production qualifications required for this combined effort. Please also include a discussion of any commercially available solutions which your company can provide. Descriptive literature of the commercial product, if available, should be provided and will not be included in the above page count. Responses should also include a cover letter (not included in the page count) providing: Company: Address: Point of Contact: Phone Number: Fax Numbers: Email Address: CAGE Code and DUNS Number: If your company holds a GSA Schedule contract (874 or other), please provide the Schedule number. Responses are due no later than 4:00 PM EST (local time at Fort Belvoir, VA) on 8 September 2016. Email responses should not exceed 10 Megabytes (MB). Responses received after this date and time may not be reviewed. Send responses electronically to: Hanh Dinh, Contract Specialist, email: hanh.t.dinh.civ@mail.mil Rosetta Wisdom-Russell, Contracting Officer, email: rosetta.wisdom-russell.civ@mail.mil Ryan Close, Contracting Officer Representative, email: ryan.r.close.civ@mail.mil PLEASE NOTE THAT IF A CHARACTERISTIC OR CAPABILITY IS NOT ADDRESSED THE GOVERNMENT WILL ASSUME THE RESPONDENT DOES NOT OR CANNOT MEET THE SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS MARKET SURVEY. Response to this Sources Sought should be received no later than 8 September 2016. All requests for further information must be in writing or via email; telephonic requests for additional information will not be honored. You may forward request for additional information and/or responses to Hanh Dinh, Contract Specialist at hanh.t.dinh.civ@mail.mil, Ms. Rosetta Wisdom-Russell, Contracting Officer at: rosetta.wisdom-russell.civ@mail.mil, and Ryan Close, Contracting Officer Technical Representative at ryan.r.close.civ@mail.mil. Acknowledgement of receipt will be issued.
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