Industry Day for Next Generation Flight Line Electronics Warfare and Communication

PURSUANT TO FAR 15.201(e) – THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY.  This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future.  This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever.  Further, the Government is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals.  Responders are advised the U.S. Government will not pay for or reimburse any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense.  

Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response.  The Government will not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information not properly identified.  Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with the applicable Government regulations.  

Failure to respond to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future associated RFP that may be issued.  If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the System for Award Management (SAM) website:  www.sam.gov.  It is the potential vendor’s responsibility to monitor this site fort the release of any follow-on information.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE/TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

The Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Lakehurst, NJ, seeks to host an Industry Day to provide the opportunity for vendors to identify potential sources for a replacement tester for both the AN/USM 670A Joint Services Electronic Countermeasures Systems Tester (JSECST) and the AN/USM-713 Signal Generator Test Set (SGTS).  This RFI supports an industry day as a follow-on event to a previous RFI released in 2020 titled “Next Generation Flight Line Electronics Warfare and Communication Navigation Identification Tester” (Notice ID: N68335-21-RFI-0060).

Naval Aviation (Navy and Marine Corps) currently uses the AN/USM 670A JSECST and the AN/USM-713 SGTS at the flight line for testing and diagnosing Electronic Warfare and Communication Navigation Identification systems.  Both the JSECST and the SGTS flight line testers are at the end of their life exhibiting sustainment, obsolescence, and accuracy repeatability challenges.   Each of these testers has unique hardware and software that interfaces the tester to the aircraft system under test.  These interface components are also at the end of their life and need to be replaced.  In conjunction with this tester replacement program, Navy desires to introduce an “RF Squirt Gun” concept to augment the tester capability and provide more efficient maintenance procedures to the Fleet maintainers.

NAVAIR PEO (CS), PMA260 is seeking industry input to identify potential solutions for replacing JSECST and SGTS as well as the applicable associated interface components. The event is intended to be a “show and tell” opportunity where PMA260 leadership can see physical representations of vendor’s proposed solutions. It is desired that a solution merge the two (2) test capabilities into one (1) tester solution that could be modular – generally the more complex JSECST is used by the fighter aircraft communities and the less complex SGTS is used by the fixed wing and rotary wing communities.  The solution must meet the rugged flight line requirements and fielded with a robust sustainment structure.  Inventory objective for Naval Aviation is expected to be over 200 units with potential additional application to the other DoD Services and Foreign Military Sales.

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SCOPE - CONTRACTOR RESPONSE TO RFI

The Contractor response to this RFI is expected to consist of attending PMA260’s Industry Day for the Next Generation Flight Line Electronics Warfare and Communication Navigation Identification Tester on December 12-13, 2023, at the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland (USMSM) in California, MD.  Vendors will be able to schedule a time slot to show their products one-on-one with PMA260 leadership. All comments or discussions pertaining to improving or enhancing the procurement should be submitted in writing by emailing the Attachment 1 – Question and Answer form to Ms. Darla Kelly at darla.m.kelly2.civ@us.navy.mil and Ms. Shannan Germond at shannan.m.germond.civ@us.navy.mil with the subject line "PMA-260 EW Industry Day December 2023 Question.”  Questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted.  The Government will accept questions concerning this event until 06 December 2023.

PEO (CS), PMA260 is specifically interested in a solution with the following characteristics:
•    Able to replace the flight line functions of JSECST and SGTS to verify operation and troubleshoot the following sample aircraft systems:
o    F/A-18E/F, AN/ALR67(v3)
o    F/A-18E/F, AN/ALQ-165
o    F/A-18E/F, AN/APX-111 
o    EA-18G, AN/ALQ218(V)2
o    CH-53K, AN/APR-39
•    Consider a modular solution that can satisfy the test scenarios of both JSECST and SGTS testers 
•    Use Modular Open System Approach (MOSA) for ease of future modernization
•    Provides all non-commercial off the shelf data rights to facilitate future government economical sustainment decisions
•    Provides a design for optimum maintainability and supportability
•    Establish a sustainment structure that will address future obsolesce and modernization
•    Provides an affordable solution and considers re-use of Navy’s eCASS instrumentation 
•    Provide new Test Program Sets (TPSs) (“rehost” existing TPSs)
o    Provide new antenna coupler hardware merging where practical
o    Use Navy’s Common Development Environment for Test (CDET) for software creation or “Rehost” and tester Test Executive
o    Provide a sustainment strategy for the TPSs
•    Provides DoD Cybersecurity compliance
•    Leverage vertical test concepts among the “O”, “I,” and “D” maintenance levels (e.g. provide O-level maintenance information with the I-Level eCASS shop)
•    Provide an “RF Squirt Gun” for quick check and more efficient maintenance (revised maintenance concept)

•    Provides coverage for millimeter wave technology

REQUESTED INFORMATION

Section 1 of the response shall provide administrative information, and shall include the following as a minimum:

•    Organization name, mailing address, overnight delivery address (if different from mailing address), phone number, fax number, and name and e-mail of designated contractual point of contact.

•    Business type (large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business, HUB Zone small business, woman-owned small business, very small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business). 

Section 2 of the response shall provide technical information, and shall include the following as a minimum:

•    Interested parties shall respond with existing capabilities or products that meet all or a subset of the aforementioned attributes.  Responses that include information detailing potential tradeoffs or alternative solutions is encouraged.

•    Respondents requested to provide catalogs, drawings/illustrations, technical manuals, training descriptions/materials, warranty information, testing documentation, brochures and/or any other documentation that describes their capability to design, develop, manufacture, and support and effort of the type described herein.

•    Respondents may also provide a catalogue pricing and/or a Rough Order Magnitude to outline cost for items they believe meet the need described in this RFI.  Supplying price data does not imply a contractual obligation and must be provided and marked as PRICE DATA.

•    If applicable and able, respondents shall include a list of Government programs or Commercial customers of record that currently employ their solution and logistics support packages.  Please provide a POC for each program, with email address and phone number identified, and a description of the quantities sold.

•    Respondents are requested to provide their estimated time it would take to submit a proposal After Request for Proposal release.

HOW TO RESPOND

Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a PDF Document Format for PMA260 leadership to review in preparation of the Industry Day.  Responses shall be limited to ten (10) pages and submitted via e-mail to emailing Ms. Darla Kelly at darla.m.kelly2.civ@us.navy.mil and Ms. Shannan Germond at shannan.m.germond.civ@us.navy.mil.   Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and must be clearly marked.  Product specifications, sketches, or listings of authorized distributors will not count toward the page limitation.  Responses are due no later than 06 December 2023.
    
Responses to this RFI will not be returned.  Respondents will not be notified of the result of the review.  It is the potential vendor’s responsibility to monitor the SAM (www.sam.gov) site for the release of any follow-on information.