SOURCES SOUGHT
J -- UAS Operational and Maintenance
- Notice Date
- 10/5/2011
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 488190
— Other Support Activities for Air Transportation
- Contracting Office
- Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Procurement Directorate - DC, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Room 1310 NP, Washington, District of Columbia, 20229, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20229
- Solicitation Number
- 2012RFIUASOPS
- Archive Date
- 10/27/2011
- Point of Contact
- Brenda Mealer,
- E-Mail Address
-
brenda.mealer@dhs.gov
(brenda.mealer@dhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- •5 Request for Information (RFI): Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.215-3, Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Air & Marine (OAM) is conducting market research to identify and determine if there are potential sources which have the capabilities to provide Contractor Maintenance and Repair Services for the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Predator Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). This Request For Information (RFI) is for planning and market research purposes only and should not be considered as a request for proposal or as a solicitation to do business with the Government. There is no solicitation package available at this time. BACKGROUND CBP OAM operates the MQ-9 UAS manufactured by GA-ASI. The MQ-9 UAS consists of one or more UA, a ground control station, a C-band line-of-sight ground data terminal, a Ku-band beyond-line-of-sight broadband satellite system, a backup narrowband satellite communications terminal, and support equipment. Two (2) variants of UA are operated by CBP OAM; the baseline Predator B variant and the maritime-capable Guardian variant. To date, CBP OAM has procured from GA-ASI seven (7) MQ-9 UA, (five (5) Predator B and two (2) Guardians), and associated ground stations and support equipment. Three (3)additional UA (2 Predator Band 1 Guardian) are currently on order for future delivery. This R FI allows potential contractors to submit a non-binding statement of interest and documentation demonstrating their corporate capabilities and suggestions that will allow the Government to refine its potential course of action. This RFI effort is intended to assess industry maintenance and repair service capability for the GA-ASI MQ-9 Unmanned Aircraft (UA) and solicit feedback for acquisition planning purposes. The CBP Contracting Office is requesting responses from qualified business concerns. DESCRIPTION As prescribed in Federal Acquisition Regulation 15.209(c), the Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited herein. Your response to this RFI will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. This solicitation is issued for the purpose of conducting market research which will be used to formulate an acquisition strategy for maintenance and repair service support for the GA-ASI MQ-9 UAS. The qualifying NAICS code for this effort is 488 - Support Activities for Transportation; and/or, 488190 - Other Support Activities for Air Transportation. The Classification Code is J - Maintenance, Repair & Rebuilding of equipment. Responses to this RFI must at a minimum be able to describe your company's capabilities and provide a brief synopsis of your ability to meet either all or a portion of the requirements described herein. Recommendations regarding the potential breakout of this requirement will be considered for preliminary planning and market research purposes. Vendor responses to the RFI shall be limited to fifteen (15) pages and include the following administrative information: 1. Vendor name, address, point of contact, phone number and e-mail address; 2. Vendor interest in proposing on the solicitation when/if issued; 3. Vendor capability to perform a contract of this magnitude and complexity; 4. Vendor ability to phase-in and phase-out services within a period of performance; 5. Vendor type of business size and small business status, as applicable; 6. Vendor joint venture information, as applicable, including existing and potential; 7. Link to the vendor's General Service Administration schedule, or attached file of the same, if applicable; 8. Commercial labor categories and rates used by vendor for similar services; 9. Citation of any current or past customers (i.e., within the past two (2) years) to include contract number, point of contact telephone number or e-mail address; 10. Other material relevant to establishing core competencies of the firm. Potential vendors should have the capability, at a minimum, to: 1. Provide GA-ASI MQ-9 UAS maintenance and repair services (except factory conversion, factory overhaul, factory refurbishing) in accordance with Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) maintenance plans and procedures, as amended by the Government; 2. Provide aircraft line maintenance; 3. Perform launch and recovery services; 4. Perform scheduled and/or unscheduled maintenance; 5. Perform power plant and component repair and inspection; 6. Conduct Aircraft Conditional Inspection; 7. Provide Quality Assurance; 8. Conduct operations in accordance with proscribed safety practices; 9. Perform on-site and off-site/detachment maintenance; 10. Perform Daily/Turnaround inspections during aircraft recovery/rescue; 11. Provide written documentation of all work performed and submit all documentation in both electronic and hard copy format in accordance with applicable requirements from OEM and Government agencies. Responding vendors shall answer the following questions: 1. Will additional data be required in support of MQ-9 maintenance and repair services? If so, what would be the associated cost, if known? 2. Do you currently provide MQ-9 maintenance and repair services? If so, how many locations, number of UAS, and model UA do you support? 3. Has your company had experience (in the last five years) providing MQ-9 maintenance and repair services to a fleet of fifteen (15) or more UA in multiple locations? 4. Has your company had experience (in the past five years) providing MQ-9 maintenance and repair services for Government UAS operators? Did you face any challenges? If so, what challenges did you face and how did you overcome them? 5. Assuming the scope of work does not change how long of a period of performance can you accurately project your costs? 6. How long is your typical contractual arrangement established with vendors and subcontractors? 7. What limitations of maintenance and repair services support would you have? 8. Does your company have previous experience with Government contracts? 9. Is your company familiar with the Government processes of contracting, billing, engineering, etc.? 10. If you have previous contracts with the Government, what types of pricing arrangement were used? 11. What type of pricing arrangements would you recommend for the contract? 12. What does your company specialize in? 13. What recommendations/approaches can you offer that would provide CPB OAM insight that would result in successful Contractor maintenance and repair support for the MQ-9 UAS? The contract support can in no way significantly reduce system availability due to unfamiliarity with the GA-ASI MQ-9 system, including lack of specialized tooling and technical documentation to maintain or repair MQ-9 UAS components, as inability to meet necessary flight hour rates will appreciably impact National Security through decreased interdictions of contraband and increased risk to CBP ground units (e.g., Border Patrol agents), due to lack of overhead reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) support. Additionally, the contract support must be able to surge to support focus operations in land or maritime domains as required to meet National Security and disaster response requirements. CBP OAM MQ-9 operations in the National Airspace System are considered public aircraft operations. As such, UAS operations are currently required to obtain a Federal Aviation Administration Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA). The COA approval process requires a stringent review of UAS systems, procedures for normal and emergency operations, training, maintenance and other factors. To date, the OAM MQ-9 system has been granted multiple COAs for operations in the southwest border region, northern border region, southeast coastal border region, and other areas. The contract support must be in compliance with COA requirements and not jeopardize current CBP OAM COAs. All responses should be received no later than 3:00 PM EST, October 12, 2011. Limited questions and comments will be entertained, and must be in writing via email, no telephone calls. The Government has only limited rights in the data for the MQ-9 UAS from GA-ASI, the OEM, and therefore will not be able to provide data to interested sources. NOTE: THIS IS NOT A FORMAL SOLICITATION. ISSUANCE OF THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE ANY OBLIGATION ON THE PART OF THE GOVERNMENT TO PROCURE THESE SERVICES OR TO ISSUE A SOLICITATION. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME. THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT PAY FOR INFORMATION SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THE RFI AND RESPONSES TO THIS NOTICE CANNOT BE ACCEPTED AS OFFERS. ANY INFORMATION THE CONTRACTOR CONSIDERS PROPRIETARY SHOULD BE CLEARLY MARKED AS SUCH. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS RFI IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. Contracting Office Address: Department of Homeland Security, Office of Air & Marine, Customs & Border Protection, 1330 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20229 Point of Contact: Brenda Mealer Contract Specialist Brenda.Mealer@dhs.gov
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