SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- The Operations Support and Sustainment Technology (OSST) Applied Research (6.2) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)
- Notice Date
- 6/19/2007
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541710
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences
- Contracting Office
- Aviation Applied Technology Directorate, ATTN: AMSRD-AMR-AA-C, Building 401, Lee Boulevard, Fort Eustis, VA 23604-5577
- ZIP Code
- 23604-5577
- Solicitation Number
- W911W6-07-C-0034
- Response Due
- 8/21/2007
- Archive Date
- 10/20/2007
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This synopsis is for a noncommercial engineering effort to Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD), U. S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center, ATTN: AMSRD-AMR-AA-C, 401 Lee Blvd., Ft. Eustis, Virginia 23604-5 577. POC Ms Sandra Schuck, Contract Specialist, 757-878-4819. AATD is soliciting technical and cost proposals to conduct a 6.2 Research & Development as described below. Proposals are required to be submitted in accordance with the guidelines set forth herein and the referenced supplemental package. This Broad Agency Announcement constitutes the total solicitation. There will be no other solicitation issued in regard to this requirement. Offerors should be alert for any BAA amendments that may permit extensions to the proposal submission date. INTRODUCTION The Army desires to transition its aviation fleet to Condition Based Maintenance (CBM), as directed by the Aviation Logistics Transformation Strategy and the Army CBM Plus Plan. This BAA is responsi ve to the Armys plan to mature embedded diagnostics and prognostics for CBM. Current maintenance is reactive to faults, not proactive, resulting in an excessive logistics support burden and high O&S costs. Technologies are required to provide aviation pla tforms the ability to accurately assess health and project failure of critical aircraft components, based on actual usage in operational environments. The Armys S&T goal of decreasing O&S cost by reducing maintenance, which was derived from the Rotary Win g Vehicle Technology Development Approach and the Aviation S&T Strategic Planning Workshops, supports this transition to CBM. The OSST 2013 aircraft-level metrics are 50% Reduction in Inspections/ Flight Hour, 12% Reduction in Maintenance Labor/ Flight Ho ur, 15% Increase in Component Mean Time Between Removals and less than 5% False Removal Rates. A 2005 fielded Army rotorcraft serves as the baseline for the OSST metrics. This BAA describes 6.2 Applied Research needed to advance the state-of-the-art and en able a follow-on 6.3 Advanced Technology Development effort, in which the 2013 metrics will be demonstrated. The Operations Support & Sustainment Technologies (OSST) program will develop and demonstrate diagnostic, prognostic, and system health assessment technologies to support the Army goal and enable transition to a CBM based philosophy. Specific OSST objectives are reduction of inspections and preventative maintenance, expansion of serviceability criteria, extension of life or time between overhaul, an d prediction of failure with sufficient fidelity to allow scheduling of maintenance. Many technical opportunities exist to enable implementing condition based maintenance; however there are several key technical challenges. High fault detection accuracy ne eds to be achieved with minimal false alarms. A wide range of aircraft components and failure modes need to be monitored with limited sensor data and a minimal weight penalty. Accurate estimates of remaining useful life for components across varying usage and environment are required. Open systems architecture and use of common data standards are required. Aircraft integration of on-board data collection, processing, and storage shall be considered. Various technologies such as physics of failure modeling, residual strength/life prediction, wear prediction, performance models, system level reasoners and anomaly detection may be used to address these challenges. This program will result in a series of technologies that can be transitioned to support the imple mentation of CBM. For this program transition is defined as the continuation of technology development through a future advanced technology demonstration for potential fielding on current and future Army rotorcraft. This BAA is limited to 6.2 Applied Res earch. Efforts under this BAA will develop and mature promising technologies that enable a real-time assessment of health or integrity obtained from sensors and other data sources to improve diagnostics and prognostics capabilities. Through this effort, technologies are expected to be matured to a TRL 4 (Component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environment). Testing shall be conducted to demonstrate t he accuracy and robustness of developed technologies. A follow-on competitive 6.3 effort to continue development and demonstrate the 2013 OSST metrics is anticipated to start in FY11. REQUIREMENTS. Technical Description: The Government is seeking OSST th at reduce the future maintenance burden, reduce O&S costs, and enable implementation of CBM methodologies. Specifically, the Government desires to advance the state-of-the-art by investing in the development of technologies to allow: reduction of inspectio ns and preventative maintenance; expansion of serviceability criteria; extension of life or time between overhaul; prediction of failure with sufficient fidelity to allow scheduling of maintenance. Six rotorcraft technology areas, listed below, are identif ied as investment areas for OSST Applied Research. Technology area investments are expected to contribute to the OSST 2013 aircraft-level metrics; however not required to achieve the metrics in total. Offerors shall describe a clear path for transition and quantifiable operations and support benefits, relative to the 2013 metrics. Propulsion: Efforts in this technical area shall develop prognostic capabilities. Efforts shall develop the ability to determine the remaining useful life of engine mechanical c omponents, controls, sensors and wiring, and provide feedback for mission planning and maintenance scheduling. Drive Systems & Mechanical Components: Efforts shall focus on prognosis of mechanical failures. Much effort has been put into detecting gear and bearing failures through vibration and numerous techniques are documented. Proposed tasks shall extend the current work to develop prognostic methods with improved accuracy. Electrical Power & Wiring: Efforts shall focus on the automated diagnosis and fau lt isolation of wiring and prognosis of electrical components. Aircraft wiring is difficult and time consuming to fault isolate and can also drive component false removals. Intermittent faults or signal degradation due to wiring are challenging maintenance problems. Structures: Structural maintenance labor and cost will be reduced by more accurately calculating service life expended and managing the helicopters structural integrity. Applied Research is needed to develop and mature enabling technologies tha t fuse aircraft usage data, virtual sensor data, and damage sensor data with structural load data to assess local and global structural health and integrity. Included in this need is the capability to detect, locate, and characterize damage (corrosion, fat igue cracking, battle damage, etc.) and predict useful service life, based upon damage severity and growth. Rotors & Dynamic Components: Rotors and their associated dynamic components operate in high-cycle and environmentally challenging conditions. Drivi ng factors that result in rotor system maintenance actions are: fatigue in the rotor hub dynamic components (spherical bearings, bushings, pushrods, root end couplings, etc); operational impact damage (ballistic and FOD) in the rotor blade; and out-of-trac k and/or out-of-balance rotors. Applied Research is needed to develop and mature technologies that manage and mitigate these maintenance drivers through prognostics. The Army desires the capability to predict the onset of rotor system failure based upon di agnosed component level faults, actual usage, and operational environments. Additionally, the Army desires technologies that enable continuous onboard adjustment of rotor track-and-balance, since current procedures require a maintenance action and improper track-and-balance can lead to several severe problems (e.g., blade delaminations, cracking of elastomeric bearings, and failure of mounting bolts). Flight Cont rols & Hydraulics: Current Army rotorcraft procedures require frequent maintenance actions to be performed on flight control and hydraulic system components, such as hydraulic lines, servos, pumps, bell cranks, bearings, electronics, and actuators. Because of these components complexity and inconvenient locations on the aircraft, maintenance actions, such as inspections, become very time consuming. Applied research is needed to develop and mature technologies that take into consideration actual usage, dete cted faults, and performance degradations as a means to predict remaining useful life. This will not only reduce the current maintenance burden associated with flight control and hydraulic systems, but also offer potential to extend the service life of cur rently life-limited components. Deliverable Items: All awards will require delivery of the following data items or deliverables: (1) Program Plan, (2) Bi-Monthly Progress, Cost and Performance Reports, (3) Final Report, (4) Final Briefing at Ft. Eustis an d may require (5) Design Review Briefing Charts, (6) Test Plans (7) Test Reports (8) Software Development Plan, and (9) Software Requirements Specification. (Note: Each of these items shall be delivered in the Offerors format). Security Requirements: Un classified, subject to export controls. Performance will require access to and/or generation of technical data the export of which is restricted by the Arms Export Control Act (Title 22, U.S.C., Sec 2751, et. seq.) or the Export Administration Act of 1979, as amended, Title 50, U.S.C. App. 2401 et. seq. Prior to award, the successful Offeror(s) will be required to (if applicable) provide an Export-Controlled DoD Data Agreement certification number issued in accordance with DoD Directive 5230.25. This certi fication may be requested from the Defense Logistics Services Center, ATTN: DLSC-FBA Federal Center, Battle Creek, MI 49017-3084, Telephone 1-800-352-3572. Anticipated Period of Performance: Not to exceed 33 Months Total (30 technical and 3 for Data/Fin al Report). Other Special Requirements - Data Rights: The Government desires, at a minimum, Government Purpose Rights as defined by the DFARS, to all technical data, deliverables, and computer software to be delivered, and no limitations on the use of de livered and/or residual hardware. It is the Offeror's responsibility to clearly define the proposed Governments rights. Expected Award Date: Staggered awards are possible starting in 2nd quarter FY08. Government Estimate: Available Government funding is approximately $6 million distributed by Government fiscal year as follows: FY08 $2.0M; FY09 $2.0M; FY10 $2.0M. To adequately invest in each technology area and maximize the breadth of technology developed, it is the Governments intent to make an award in each of the technology areas. If no proposal is deemed meritorious within a technology area, the Government reserves the right to make no awards in that technology area. Government Furnished Property and Data: It is the offeror's responsibility to id entify, coordinate, and furnish supporting documentation for use of any Government furnished equipment or property. No government furnished data will be provided. Offerors must have access to or be capable of generating the data required to develop and v alidate the algorithms or systems proposed. Type of Contract: A variety of funding instruments are available pursuant to this announcement depending upon the proposed effort, the entity submitting the successful proposal(s), and statutory and regulatory requirements the Government must satisfy. Such instruments include conventional contracts subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, as supplemented, and Technology Investment Agreements (TIA) (Cooperative Agreement under 10 U.S.C 2358) or Other Trans action (OT) for Research (10 U.S.C. 2371), which are more flexible than traditional Government funding instruments. Under TIAs or OT(s) it is DoD policy to obt ain, to the maximum extent practical, cost sharing of half of the cost of the project to ensure the recipient has a vested interest in the project's success. Cost participation may be in the form of cash or in-kind contributions, where cash is considered of significantly higher quality in demonstrating commitment to the project. Cost participation will be considered in accordance with the DoD Grant and Agreement Regulations, DoD 3210.6-R paragraph 34.13 (Cooperative Agreement) (but also see paragraph 37.5 30 pertaining to Other Transactions for Research) accessible at the following link: http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/32106r_041398/part34.pdf. Award type is a subject for negotiation, but the Offerors desire should be clearly stated in the c ost proposal. Size Status: NAICS Code 541710 and number of employees are 1500. Due to the complexity and technical considerations of this program, this solicitation is not set-aside for small businesses. Notice to Foreign Owned Firms: Participation in this program i s limited to U.S. Firms as Prime Contractors; however, Subcontractors may be foreign owned. PREPARATION & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS. Offerors may submit multiple proposals. Each proposal shall describe the effort for a single technology within one of the s ix technology areas. Each proposal shall consist of two volumes, a technical volume and a cost volume. In presenting the proposal material, prospective Offerors are advised that the quality of the information is significantly more important than quantity. Offerors should confine the submissions to essential matters providing sufficient information to define their offer and establish an adequate basis for the Government to conduct its evaluation. The Government reserves the right to select for award only a portion of an Offerors proposal or the total proposed effort. AATD encourages and promotes teaming arrangements with research organizations to include academia, industry, and small businesses in order to achieve a mix of relevant expertise and capabili ties for executing OSST research and development efforts. A link is provided for a supplemental package that provides specific proposal preparation instructions and additional detail to be included in submitted proposals, and additional instructions to offerors. (http://www.aatd.eustis.army.mil/Business/Divisions/Contracting/Acc_Announ.asp. TECHNICAL VOLUME. The technical volume of the proposal shall provide an analysis that justifies the selection of the technologies proposed, benefits of the proposed technology relative to the 2013 metrics, and a plan to develop and transition the technolo gy. The technical volume shall also include a clear statement of the technical objectives and the specific approach to be pursued and supporting background experience. It shall contain a Statement of Work (SOW), milestones, a biographical section describin g key personnel, a description of the facilities and/or data sources to be employed in the effort, and a program management section. Offerors shall identify and substantiate the beginning and ending Technology Readiness Levels. The technical volume shall not exceed 20 pages (minimum 12-point font). COST VOLUME. The individual tasks proposed must be priced separately in order to facilitate selection and potential award of individual parts of the proposed effort. Cost share or in-kind contributions, if pr oposed, need to be clearly identified. Within the Cost Proposal, offerors shall indicate the proposed funding instrument (e.g., FAR-based contract and type (cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable, etc.) or TIA). For consistency, the offeror shall submit o ther than cost or pricing data in the format suggested by FAR 15.403-5(b)(1), or in contractors format together with supporting breakdowns The cost proposal shall not contain overflow of information suited for the technical proposal. The offeror shall assure any overlap of data, (such as man-hours) do es not conflict between the cost and technical proposal. In the case of any conflict between the two, information in the cost proposal will take precedence. EVALUATION CRITERIA/BASIS FOR AWARD. The selection of sources for award will be based on a scien tific and/or engineering evaluation of proposals (both technical and cost as it relates to technical effort) in accordance with the criteria set forth in this section. Proposals will be evaluated on their own merit without regard to others submitted under this announcement. 1. The extent to which the proposed technologies satisfy the OSST BAA objectives by use of innovative, efficient, and affordable solutions to the technical problem. This will include understanding of the problem, current technical barri ers, and how the proposed solution eliminates those barriers. 2. The merit of the Offerors proposed approach to develop and demonstrate the capabilities of proposed technologies. This includes the reasonableness of the proposed tasks, schedule, and app roach to accomplish the scientific and technical objectives. 3. The benefit of the proposed technologies. This includes a clear and reasonable path to transition the technology, as well as justification of cost or operational readiness benefits relative to the 2013 metrics. The weight efficiency/penalty of the proposed technology will be considered as part of its ability to effectively transition into service. 4. The capability of the Offeror to accomplish the proposed effort. This includes the experien ce and qualifications of the proposed personnel, the suitability of the proposed facilities, and the availability (or the ability to generate) of required technical and test data to validate the technology. 5. The reasonableness of the proposed cost to t he Government. The proposal will be evaluated based on the realism of the proposed man-hours, materials and other costs to accomplish the proposed effort. Any proposed cost share will be evaluated for its benefit in reducing program risk, achieving program objectives, and furthering the state-of-the-art. Proposals should be marked with the solicitation number and shall be submitted in four paper copies and electronic format on disc (PDF or MS Word) to the Aviation Applied Technology Directorate, Attn: AM SRD-AMR-AA-C (Sandra Schuck), Fort Eustis, VA 23604-5577. Facsimile and electronic proposal submission is not authorized under this Announcement. Unless otherwise specified, proposals will be considered valid for Government acceptance through 30 June 20 08. This announcement is an expression of interest only and does not commit the Government to pay any proposal preparation costs. Offerors can contact AATD to ask for solicitation clarification. All questions must be emailed to the OSST Contract Specialist at Sandra.schuck@us.army.mil. Questions received less than 2 weeks prior to the proposal receipt date may not be addressed. Any information given to a prospective Offeror concerning this Announcement, which is necessary in submitting an offer or the lack of which would be prejudicial to any other prospective Offeror(s), will be published as an amendment to this Announcement. Offerors should be alert for any amendments to this Announcement. Oral explanations or instructions given before the award of any a greement / contract will not be binding. Proposals submitted after the due date of 21 August 2007, 3:00 p.m. local time will be handled in accordance with FAR 52.215-1, Instructions to OfferorsCompetitive Acquisition. A copy of this provision may be obta ined from http://farsite/hill.af.mil. This announcement is issued subject to the availability of funds. The Government's obligation is contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds for which payment for program purposes can be made. The Governmen t is not liable for any payment under an Agreement /Contract resulting from this announcement until funds are made available for this program.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Aviation Applied Technology Directorate ATTN: AMSRD-AMR-AA-C, Building 401, Lee Boulevard Fort Eustis VA
- Zip Code: 23604-5577
- Country: US
- Zip Code: 23604-5577
- Record
- SN01322513-W 20070621/070619223437 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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