System Technical Support/Sustainment System Technical Support (STS/SSTS) on the M109 Family of Vehicles (FOV)

1. Market Survey Request: This Request for Information (RFI) is being issued to obtain information related to the capability to perform System Technical Support/Sustainment System Technical Support (STS/SSTS) on the M109 Family of Vehicles (FOV).

The M109 FOV 155mm cannon artillery system provides indirect fire support to maneuver elements and is capable of providing massed and precision indirect fires and re-supply of artillery ammunition on the battlefield. 

The M109 FOV includes the following vehicle systems:

            M109A6 Paladin

            M109A7 Paladin Integrated Management (PIM)

            M992A2 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicle (FAASV)

            M992A3 Carrier, Armored Tracked (CAT) Vehicle

All derivatives and variants of the above listed vehicles

  2. Proprietary Information. The United States Government (USG) acknowledges its statutory obligation (18 U.S.C. §1905) to protect confidential information provided to the Government.  Pursuant to this statute, the USG is willing to accept trade secrets or proprietary restrictions placed upon data presented in response to this survey and to protect such information from unauthorized disclosure, subject to the following:

• Data must be clearly marked PROPRIETARY and be accompanied by an explanatory text so that the Government is clearly notified of limitations being placed on the data.
• Mark only data that is truly confidential.
• Do not mark data that is already in the public domain or is already in possession of the USG or third parties on an unclassified basis.  Do not submit classified data in response to this market survey.
• Proprietary data transmitted electronically must have the PROPRIETARY legend on both the cover of the transmittal email as well as at the beginning of the file.  Proprietary information contained within the correspondence shall use the legends: “PROPRIETARY PORTION BEGINS” and “PROPRIETARY PORTION ENDS.”

3. Disclaimer. This RFI is for a market survey.  It is an inquiry intended to measure the product capability, developmental needs, and level of industry interest. This is not a pre-solicitation notice or Request for Proposal (RFP), nor will any contract be awarded from this announcement.  Additionally, this inquiry does not bind the Government to solicit for, or award any contracts.  Participation in this survey from a potential source is solely voluntary; no reimbursements will be made to an offeror for costs associated with participation in this survey.  Data submitted to the Government will not be returned, but will remain archived as part of historic records.  Participation in this market survey, while important to Army acquisition planners, is neither mandatory nor is it requisite for future participation by the potential offeror in forthcoming Government solicitations.

4. Clarification of this Action. The Government is not responsible for the public disclosure of unmarked data received in response to this market survey.  Accordingly, the potential offeror shall ensure that technical data provided in response to this market survey shall be appropriately marked (i.e. proprietary) to ensure proper Government handling of the data.  Should the USG need to reproduce the protected data for distribution purposes between Government offices, all such data will be reproduced with restrictive legends in place.

GENERAL INFORMATION:  There is no risk to you for participating in this survey.  Participation in this effort is strictly voluntary.  The U.S. Government will not reimburse contractors for any cost incurred for its participation in this market survey.  The U.S. government will in no way be bound to this information if any solicitation is issued.  However, this is an important opportunity for Industry to influence the application of requirements and the full range of other elements supporting the acquisition strategy for this program.  This is NOT a pre-solicitation notice.  This notice does not constitute an Invitation to Bid or Request for Proposal and is not to be construed as a solicitation, and no award shall be made on the basis of this notice.  There is no formal solicitation available at this time, no solicitation will be issued against this notice, and this request for information does not obligate the Government to issue a solicitation.

Any requests for clarification should be addressed to Alessandro Padro, Contract Specialist by email at Alessandro.v.padro.civ@army.mil.  The cut-off date for questions is 25 calendar days from Market Survey posting.  Questions that are received by this office after the deadline will be considered late and may not be answered.

5. Questionnaire. The government appreciates those entities who take the time to respond to the questionnaire below.  The Government requests that all responses be returned by 5:00 pm local Detroit Arsenal, MI time, 16 May 2022.

Response Format: Electronic responses are required.  It is requested that electronic responses be provided the following formats: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint or portable document format PDF.  Zip files are not acceptable.  Emails are limited to 10Mb in size. Information that cannot be sent via email can be provided using DOD SAFE (Secure Access File Exchange) by requesting a file drop off at alessandro.v.padro.civ@army.mil and dana.e.efstate.civ@army.mil.

The subject line must read “(Company Name) Response to PIM STS/SSTS Market Survey.”

Note: Be sure to number your responses in accordance with our numbering system so each answer corresponds to the correct question.  Also, spell out acronyms in their first instance and clearly mark proprietary information per the guidance of paragraphs above.  Respondents to this questionnaire may be contacted directly in the future for additional comments and information as potential requirements develop.

5.1 Administrative Information:

1. Company Name
2. Address (Corporate offices & research and development facilities)
3. Website
4. CAGE Code
5. Please provide a description of your company to include history, years in cannon system development, significant events, facilities and locations, and partnerships/affiliates
6. Small Business classification if applicable

5.2 Person Responding to Questionnaire:

1. Name
2. Title
3. Company Responsibility/Position
4. Telephone Number
5. Email Address

GOAL:  The Government is seeking contractors capable of providing complete STS and SSTS support for modifications, changes, and improvements to the M109 FOV vehicle systems and the derivative vehicle systems and subsystems. Efforts will include program management, logistics support, engineering, product assurance, testing, and field service support for the M109 FOV.

Examples of work directives to be performed under this requirement include the following:

            Sustainment

            Configuration Management

            Engineering Change Proposals

            Engineering Design

Environmental Issues

            Facility Vehicle Support

            Failure Analysis

            Fielding

            Field Service Representatives

            Human System Integration

            Logistics Support

            Modification Work Order (MWO) Development and Application

            Product Improvements

            Program, Engineering, and Quality Management

            Reliability and Maintainability Support

            Safety

            Software Engineering

            System Assessment

            Systems and Equipment Training

            System Validation

            System and Vehicle Integration

System Design Technical Support of Vehicle Survivability Enhancements

            Systems Engineering

            Technical Reports

            Technical Support to Production Engineering and Design Change

            Testing

            Training Plans and Technical Manuals

DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED:  M109A7 PIM-SPH Performance Specification and M992A3 PIM-CAT Performance Specification.  Although these documents are subject to change, please study these documents carefully, as any significant deviation from the existing interface requirements would likely render a product unsuitable. 
 

In order for your company to receive this information, you must have an approved and current DD 2345 Military Critical Technical Data Agreement.  The United States - Canada Joint Certification Program Office is the approver of these forms.  For more information, please visit its website https://www.dlis.dla.mil/jcp/Default.aspx.  We will only be providing the Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) to the custodian listed on the DD 2345 form. 

If your company would like to receive the CUI information, please send your email request to Alessandro.v.padro.civ@army.mil.  The request should contain the following:

• Your Company's name and address
• Your Name, Title, Office phone number and email address
• Copy of the approved DD2345

The USG will respond to requests within three business days.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING SURVEY: 

Please respond to every question.  Respond with “Not Applicable” to any questions that do not apply.

1. Number each response with the appropriate question number.

2. You do not have to repeat the question in your response.

3. If you cannot answer the question, please indicate “No Response.”

4. If a response will satisfy another question, state: “See response to question XX.”

5. Include relevant sales media and product manuals. If providing an ACROBAT formatted manual, annotate the manual to indicate which material is applicable to the questions. If preferred, include Internet Web links to locations where animations/videos may be viewed.

6. If your sales media and/or manuals contain a restricted distribution statement, issue a release statement indicating that the restricted material may be distributed to Army personnel involved with this Market Survey.

7. Spell out any acronyms in their first instance.

ENGINEERING SERVICES/SYSTEM TECHNICAL SUPPORT

1. What STS and SSTS for Tracked Vehicle Combat Systems have you provided for the U.S. Government?

1. Program Management:

1. Describe your company’s experience and tools to manage project cost, schedule, and performance.  

1. Configuration Management (CM):

1. Describe your company’s CM Process, tools to perform Configuration Management of the Technical Data Package, and experience in Configuration Management.

1. Systems Engineering:

1. Describe your company’s experience and tools to manage requirements, develop specifications, assess and track risk, and address parts obsolescence.

1. Software Engineering:

1. Describe your company’s level of certification, processes, and experience in managing software requirements, development, test, fielding and sustainment support.  Describe your experience developing and verifying embedded diagnostics software on vehicles with an electronic architecture.

1. System Validation/Testing:

1. Describe your company’s experience performing subsystem and vehicle level integration, assembly, test, and checkout.  What is your experience performing hardware/software integration and troubleshooting?

1. Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) Management:

1. Describe your company’s experience in developing and updating logistics support products for integrated vehicle systems.  What is your experience with obsolescence and continuing support for vehicles in light of these issues?  What is your process to ensure the vehicle system remains supportable through spare parts, maintenance, and logistics documents as the configuration changes?  

1. Classified documentation:

1. Describe your company’s capability to securely handle classified documentation.     

Additional Documentation

1. Brochures
2. Manuals
3. Reports/test reports
4. Demo videos
5. Other technical specifications/data