Sources Sought for Armored Recovery Vehicle FY25-FY28

Sources Sought Notice.  Army Contracting Command-Detroit Arsenal (ACC-DTA), in support of the Program Executive Office for Ground Combat Systems (PEO GCS), the Project Director – Main Battle Tank Systems (PD MBTS), and the Product Director – Combat Recovery Systems (PdD-CRS) is conducting a Sources Sought to identify, as potential sources, companies that may possess the expertise, capabilities, and experience to provide towing, recovery, and maintenance-utility capability.

Clarification of this Action.  This request is a Sources Sought.  It is an inquiry intended to measure the level of industry interest in determining the appropriate acquisition strategy for potential future acquisitions in order to meet the Army’s heavy combat towing, recovery and maintenance-utility needs.  This Sources Sought neither constitutes a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Invitation to Bid, nor does it restrict the Government to an ultimate acquisition approach.  Additionally, as a Sources Sought, this inquiry does not bind the Government to solicit for or award a competitive contract.  Participation in this questionnaire is also wholly voluntary on the part of the contractor, as no reimbursements will be made to any contractor for any costs associated with their participation in the questionnaire.  Data submitted in response to this Sources Sought will not be returned.  Lastly, participation in this Sources Sought, while important to Army acquisition planners, is neither mandatory, nor is it requisite to future participation by a contractor in this or a similar contract RFP.  You may address any part or portion of this Sources Sought.  However, the Government reserves the right to solicit for all or parts of these requirements in the best interest of the Government.

Note:  A multi-vehicle approach to meeting the aforementioned towing, recovery and maintenance-utility needs would also provide valuable input for further consideration.

Key capability requirements sought:

• Towing vehicles of up to 80 ton (T) gross vehicle weight (GVW), up and down paved and unpaved grades of 0-25% grade, adequate braking.
• Capability to overturn a vehicle of up to 80T in GVW.
• Capability to winch a vehicle of up to 80T in GVW from mire.
• Capability to lift/remove secondary vehicle turrets, engine decks and/or Powerpack of up to 32T.
• Provide basic crew, mobility protection.
• Maintain convoy speeds of 25 miles per hour (MPH) (non-towing, on dry, paved, level roads).
• Cruising Range of 200 miles (non-towing, on dry, paved, level roads) between refuel
• Ability to host or integrate on board radios, instrumentation, and other vehicle system operator and maintainer diagnostics/displays.  
• Permanent seating for up to 3 crew (driver, maintainer, commander) and space for up to 4 temporary occupants (recovered crew).

  Assumptions.  The Government may or may not furnish Technical Data Package (TDP) for the vehicle identified.  The Government may or may not provide existing M88A1 or M88A2 recovery vehicles for modification to meet these requirements.  The contractor is expected to tell the Government what information is needed to accomplish each task and whether Government Furnished Material is required. 

  Scenario.  The requirement for this proposed contract is to provide your firm’s capability and experience in vehicle development, production, reliability, cost, delivery and logistics support of military, construction, or other relevant commercial fields.  Below each subpart, please provide a response based on your experience in the area, knowledge of subject matter, and capabilities. 

  Contractors who deem themselves qualified; please take the time to respond to the questionnaire below.  We are interested to see who is capable and experienced in meeting any or all areas of interest.

  QUESTIONNAIRE

  Instructions for Completing the Questionnaire:  Telephone or hard copy inquiries WILL NOT be honored.

  Please submit e-mail responses to:

  Interested sources should respond with COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRE to Mr. Phillip Hickey, e-mail at phillip.j.hickey2.civ@army.mil.  All responses should be received no later than 5 PM EDT on 30 December 2022.

Response Format

Submittal will be in text format only.  Respondents to this Sources Sought are specifically instructed to appropriately mark any document that contains proprietary data, trade secrets, or other business sensitive information.

If desired, responses may address the question number so as not to repeat the question in each response.  Please spell out acronyms in their first instance.  Also, clearly mark any confidential information per the guidance listed on page 4.  Respondents to this questionnaire may be contacted directly in the future for additional comment and information as the requirements develop.

Administrative Information.

1.  Company Name

2.  Mailing Address and Website

3.  Location of facilities

4.  CAGE Code (if applicable)

5.  North America Industry Classification System (NAICS) number

6.  Business size and eligibility under Government socio-economic programs and preference

7.  Does your company use a cost system that has been certified by the Defense

     Contract Audit Agency (DCAA)?

Person Responding to Questionnaire.

8.    Name

9.    Title

10.  Company Responsibility

11.  Telephone Number/Fax Number

12.  E-mail Address

PRODUCTION/DEVELOPMENT

• Describe your experience with, and approach to meeting the following capability needs.

• Towing vehicles of up to 80T GVW, up and down paved and unpaved grades of 0-25% grade, adequate braking.
• Capability to overturn a vehicle of up to 80T in GVW.
• Capability to winch a vehicle of up to 80T in GVW from mire.
• Capability to lift/remove secondary vehicle turrets, engine decks and/or Powerpack of up to 32T.
• Provide basic crew, mobility protection.
• Maintain convoy speeds of 25 MPH (non-towing, on dry, paved, level roads).
• Cruising Range of 200 miles (non-towing, on dry, paved, level roads) between refuel.
• Ability to host or integrate on board radios, instrumentation, and other system operator and maintainer displays. 
• Permanent seating for up to 3 crew (driver, maintainer, commander) and space for up to 4 temporary occupants (recovered crew).
• Describe the commercial or novel technologies within your companies proposed solutions?

RELIABILITY:

• Describe any known or predicted reliability relating to your proposed solution/s for either the system or sub-systems?

COST:

• Describe what initial investments and nonrecurring setup (i.e. tooling, facilities, etc.) your ‎company would need to produce your companies proposed solution/s?
• Provide a rough order of magnitude (ROM) production cost (per unit) for your companies proposed solution/s?

SCHEDULE:

• What is the development time required to produce a vehicle/s to meet the desired capability needs?

• What is the manufacturing lead times needed to produce and deliver your proposed solution/s?
• What is the assessed manufacturing readiness level of your proposed solution/s per Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) – AcqNotes?

LOGISTICS:

• Describe your company’s experience planning and executing a logistics, maintenance and sustainment program relevant to your companies proposed solution/s?

GENERAL INFORMATION:  The Government appreciates the time and effort taken to respond to this questionnaire.  The Government acknowledges its obligations under 18 U.S.C. 1905 to protect information qualifying as “confidential” under this statute.  [To avoid possible confusion with the meaning of the term “confidential” in the context of Classified Information, we will use the term “PROPRIETARY.”]  Pursuant to this statute, the Government is willing to accept any PROPRIETARY (e.g., trade secret) restrictions placed on qualifying data forwarded in response to the questionnaire and to protect it from unauthorized disclosure, subject to the following:

1. Clearly and conspicuously mark qualifying data with the restrictive legend (all caps) “PROPRIETARY” with any explanatory test, so that the Government is clearly notified of what data needs to be appropriately protected.

2. In marking such data, please take care to mark only those portions of the data or materials that are truly proprietary (over breadth in marking inappropriate data as “PROPRIETARY” may diminish or eliminate the usefulness of your response – see Item 6 below).  Use circling, underscoring, highlighting or any other appropriate means to indicate those portions of a single page which are to be protected.

3. The Government is not obligated to protect unmarked data.  Additionally, marked data that is already in the public domain or in the possession of the Government or third parties, or is afterward placed into the public domain by the owner or another party through no fault of the Government will not be protected once in the public domain.  Data already in the possession of the Government will be protected in accordance with the Government’s rights in the data.

4. Proprietary data transmitted electronically, whether by physical media or not, whether by respondent or by the Government, shall contain the) “PROPRIETARY” legend, with any explanatory text, on both the cover of the transmittal e-mail and at the beginning of the file itself.  Where appropriate for only portions of an electronic file, use the restrictive legends “PROPRIETARY PORTION BEGINS” and “PROPRIETARY PORTION ENDS.”

5. In any reproduction of technical data or any portions thereof subject to asserted restrictions, the Government shall also reproduce the asserted restriction legend and any explanatory text.

6.  The Government sometimes uses support contractors in evaluating responses. Marking of data as “PROPRIETARY” will preclude disclosure to those support contractors assisting the evaluation effort.  The Government will use its best efforts to evaluate those responses that contain proprietary information without using support contractors, consistent with the resources available.