SOURCES SOUGHT
15 -- Small Unmanned Aircraft System for National Security Cutters - RFI
- Notice Date
- 10/17/2013
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 336411
— Aircraft Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard (USCG), Commandant (CG-912), U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters (CG-912), 1900 Half Street, SW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20593-0001, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20593-0001
- Solicitation Number
- HSCG23-14-R-2DAXXX
- Archive Date
- 11/30/2013
- Point of Contact
- Jerry Low, Phone: 2024753298
- E-Mail Address
-
jerry.low@uscg.mil
(jerry.low@uscg.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- RFI for Small Unmanned Aircraft System for National Security Cutters THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) NOTICE RELEASED PURSUANT TO FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (FAR) PART 10: MARKET RESEARCH. This RFI is issued solely for informational, market research, and planning purposes only. 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 United States Coast Guard (USCG) is not at this time seeking proposals, and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondents are advised that the United States (U.S.) Government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the responding party's expense. Please be advised that all material submissions and responses to the RFI will not be returned. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S. Government to form a binding contract. It is the responsibility of the interested parties to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this RFI. SCOPE: The USCG is conducting market research of a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) that will deploy from the USCG's National Security Cutter (NSC). By providing the NSC with a persistent surveillance capability that can remain airborne for twelve hours per day, sUAS is envisioned as extending the "eyes and ears" of the NSC. The sUAS will be used to support surveillance, detection, classification, identification, and prosecution for all of the NSC's missions in all of the NSC's maritime operating areas. Using fully autonomous flight controls, the sUAS should be capable of being operated by one person, including simultaneous use of all payloads (e.g., electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) and other sensors), which will provide real-time information to the NSC. The sUAS should have minimal impact on the ship's crew or operations. The aircraft should be able to be launched, recovered, and stowed in a short time period, with significantly fewer personnel than typically required for cutter-based manned helicopters. Likewise, to minimize impact to potential manned flight operations, the aircraft should be capable of launch and recovery, and the flight deck cleared, while a USCG helicopter is already spotted and tied down on the flight deck with unfolded rotor blades. The USCG is particularly interested in systems that have commonality with existing Department of Homeland Security or Department of Defense programs, and are technologically and production mature. Please provide your capability to satisfy the USCG's requirements, as well as the information immediately below, no later than 3:59 PM EST, Nov 15th, 2013 to Jerry.Low@uscg.mil as a Windows Vista/Microsoft Compatible zip file if over 1MB in size. Questions of a technical nature should be directed in writing to Stephen Kellogg, Program Manager, at Stephen.a.kellogg@uscg.mil. Please provide the following: 1. Prospective Offeror Identification: a. Company name/commercial and government entity (CAGE code if applies) b. Address c. Phone Number d. Fax Number (if applicable) e. Email address f. Point of Contact information 2. Your response should demonstrate a firm understanding of the requirements, addressing the following: a. Provide a brief description of your business, including capability and resources necessary to provide a product to the government or commercial market that meets the stated requirements. b. Describe the degree of commonality your system has with existing DHS or DOD programs. c. Describe the degree to which your system is production-ready and mature. What is your established technological readiness level (TRL) and stage of production, if applicable? Additionally, please address the following system-specific questions: 3. Please provide a description of your system, including: a. Approximate dimensions and weights of aircraft, launch and recovery equipment, cutter-based antennas, control stations, and other essential items or assemblies. b. Whether all aircraft, launch and recovery equipment, spares, and maintenance and support equipment, will fit within the dimensions of a single NSC hangar (approximately 53 feet long, by 18 feet wide, by 16 feet high), while allowing sufficient room for maintenance within the hangar while the NSC is underway. 4. Will your system be capable of complying with Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) issued flight clearances, aviation facilities certifications, and/or military UAS airworthiness certifications that will be necessary for it to operate from the NSC? 5. Is your system capable of meeting TEMPEST requirements (see glossary)? 6. Is your ground control station (GCS) capable of: a. Transferring or exporting flight parameter and payload data from the GCS to the NSC's command and control systems? If so, how would this accomplished? b. Being upgraded when necessary for integration of future capabilities? 7. Is your system capable of: a. Automatic EO/IR target detection to assist the pilot's ability to detect surface targets? b. Surface search radar? c. Radio direction finding (covering at least 406 Mhz EPIRB and marine band VHF-FM frequencies)? d. Airborne Sense and Avoid? 8. Please briefly address the following human systems integration/human factors: a. What types of training systems (e.g., instructors, curriculum, manuals, desktop trainers, interactive courseware, maintenance mock-ups) are available to support your system? b. Were published military and civil human performance and safety standards applied during development of your system? c. Can your system be operated and maintained by personnel ranging anthropometrically from the 5th percentile of females to the 95% percentile of males, as defined in DoD Handbook 743, Anthropometry of U.S. Military Personnel? U.S. Coast Guard SMALL UAS FOR NSC REQUIREMENTS Basic System Requirements 1. The sUAS shall operate from the NSC. 2. The sUAS shall provide fully autonomous flight operations, including launch and recovery. 3. The sUAS shall be operated by a single pilot seated at a single-person GCS, who will control the unmanned aircraft (UA) and its payload. 4. The sUAS shall be an unclassified system. Basic Aircraft Capabilities 5. The UA shall launch from and be recovered aboard the NSC. 6. The UA shall operate with radio frequency line of sight out to 75 nautical miles (NM) (100 NM Objective) from, and 360 degrees around the host cutter in light rain up to 0.1 inch per hour. 7. The UA shall remain airborne for sortie durations of at least twelve hours. 8. In standard day conditions at all operational altitudes, the UA shall have a cruise speed of no less than 60 knots true air speed for the duration of a full twelve hour sortie that includes a dash speed of no less than 70 knots true air speed for at least 1.25 hours. 9. The UA shall have the following independently controlled external lights: a. Day/night visible anti-collision light(s) (e.g., strobe light(s)) and position lights b. Night Vision Device compliant anti-collision light(s) (e.g., strobe light(s)), and position lights. 10. All sUAS electromagnetic equipment shall conform to technical parameters identified in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA), Manual of Regulations & Procedures for Federal Frequency Management (Red Book) and be designed to operate in spectrum authorized for use by federal agencies. Operational Environmental Conditions 11. The sUAS shall conduct ground and continuous flight operations in the following environmental conditions: a. During both day and night b. Within a temperature range from (-) 40 to (+) 125 degrees F. c. Within a relative humidity range of 0 to 100%. d. In precipitation consisting of light rain up to 0.1 inch per hour, in other than known icing conditions (atmospheric conditions in which the formation of ice is observed or detected in flight. This applies to the sUAS airframe only, not to the NSC's structures). e. In light turbulence that momentarily causes slight, erratic changes in altitude and/or attitude (pitch, roll, yaw). 12. The UA shall be capable of launch and recovery during the following conditions: a. Up to and including +/- 3 pitch and +/- 5 roll b. With a headwind component range of at least -2 (tail wind) to +25 knots, and up to at least 10 knots crosswind component. GCS Capabilities 13. The sUAS flight parameters (altitude, direction, airspeed, navigation route) shall be controllable during flight. 14. The GCS shall control the UA's payloads (sensors, voice communications and transponder(s)). 15. The GCS shall operate all payloads simultaneously and independently, based on pilot selection. 16. The GCS shall display the following data simultaneously on a geographic map/chart display: a. UA's position, b. Navigation route, c. Automatic identification system (AIS) data, d. Surface detection data (Objective) e. Radio direction finding data (Objective). 17. The GCS EO and IR displays shall include metadata of no less than: a. UA tail number, b. UA position, c. UA altitude, d. UA heading, e. North seeking arrow, f. Calculated target position, g. Range to target, h. Date/time, i. Sensor heading and orientation relative to UA. 18. The sUAS shall provide the capability of "GCS-to-GCS" handoff of the airborne UA to another compatible GCS. 19. The GCS shall record and store no less than twelve hours of flight parameters (at least position, altitude, direction, airspeed, navigation route), EO/IR sensor data (including associated meta-data), and AIS data. 20. The GCS shall control the UA's direction by selecting: a. A heading to fly, b. A single leg or multiple leg track to fly (including search patterns: Ladder, expanding square, sector, track line), c. An orbit over fixed location, d. A go-to point. 21. The GCS shall provide the ability to create, store, select, and modify routes and waypoints. 22. The GCS shall provide simulation capabilities for mission rehearsal, and normal and emergency procedures. 23. The GCS footprint shall not exceed 4.5 feet deep by 6 feet wide. 24. The GCS shall have an independent, uninterrupted back-up power supply to allow full operations for a minimum of 10 minutes (Threshold) or 30 minutes (Objective). 25. Recorded and stored horizontal position accuracy shall be within 20 meters of actual UA position (Threshold), and within 10 meters of actual position (Objective). Payload Requirements 26. The UA payload shall consist concurrently of: a. EO moving video sensor, b. IR moving video sensor, c. VHF/UHF communications relay, d. Aeronautical transponder, e. Non-visible IR marker or illuminator, f. 50% space, weight, and power growth margin. 27. The UA shall provide secure and non-secure radio relay on VHF (118-136 MHz) (Threshold), military UHF (225-400 MHz) (Threshold), and VHF-FM (155-162.55 Mhz) (Objective) frequency bands. Internal and external radio communications will be managed from the NSC's systems and not from the sUAS GCS. 28. The UA shall provide real time day/night video imagery to remote video terminal(s) out to a range of at least five miles from the UA. 29. The UA shall provide a non-visible, near-IR marker or illuminator to aid manned assets using NVDs for target acquisition at night. 30. The sUAS shall have a real time EO moving video sensor to provide video imaging of maritime surface targets, with a 360-degree field of regard from no less than the horizon to directly below the UA. 31. The sUAS shall have a real time IR moving video sensor to provide video imaging of maritime surface targets, with a 360-degree field of regard from no less than the horizon to directly below the UA. 32. The EO sensor shall display a National Image Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS) image quality rating of seven or better from altitude 3,000 feet and slant range 4,242 feet during daylight with no visible moisture or particulates. 33. In The IR sensor shall display a NIIRS image quality rating of seven or better from altitude 3,000 feet and slant range 4,242 feet at night with no visible moisture or particulates. 34. During daylight with no visible moisture or particulates, the EO sensor shall auto-track the following surface targets from altitude 3,000 feet and slant range 4,242 feet: A 20 foot white and blue motor boat traveling at 55 knots; and a 25 foot white sailboat with sails deployed and traveling at 5 knots. 35. During night with no visible moisture or particulates, the IR sensor shall track the following surface targets from altitude 3,000 feet and slant rage 4,242 feet: a 20 foot motor boat with 3 persons on board, traveling at 25 knots; and a 25 foot sailboat with sails deployed, 20 persons on board, and traveling at 5 knots. 36. The EO and IR sensors shall have multiple fields of view or zoom feature to include a wide area mode for searching. 37. The sUAS shall receive real-time AIS data 360 degrees around the UA from the horizon to directly below the UA. Basic System Design 38. The UA's engine and payloads shall be modular in design to allow for ease of maintenance and change-out at the field level, using common hand tools, within a reasonable time period (e.g., 60 minutes), and to accommodate future payloads. 39. If the UA uses petroleum-based fuel, the UA shall use fuel from the host cutter's aviation fuel system (i.e, JP-5). 40. All flight-deck operated launch and recovery equipment shall be capable of traverse and setup within 30 minutes in sea conditions of up to and including +/- 3 degrees pitch / +/- 5 degrees roll. 41. All flight-deck operated launch and recovery equipment shall be capable of clearing the flight deck within fifteen minutes in conditions up to and including +/- 3 degrees pitch / +/- 5 degrees roll. 42. The UA, sUAS support kit, and launch/recovery system(s) shall be land transportable via non-customized, commercial or military vehicle. 43. The sUAS shall launch and recover while a static HH-65 helicopter is spotted with blades unfolded on the flight deck. Survivability 44. In the case of a loss of all control links, the sUAS shall have lost-link capability to enable the UA to fly a pre-programmed route until control is regained by the GCS or terminate the flight as established during preflight planning or as modified during flight operations. 45. If the primary link for UA control becomes unavailable or degraded to the point of no longer controlling the UA, there shall be an alternate means of controlling the UA to return to the host cutter for recovery. 46. The sUAS shall have a pilot-actuated flight termination mode. 47. The sUAS shall have a pre-flight programmable flight termination routine that will be executed if UA flight control cannot be regained. The pre-flight programmable flight termination routine shall include (1) parameters to initiate the routine and (2) the flight termination routine to subsequently implement. 48. When using a digital data link, the system shall enable National Security Agency (NSA)-approved encryption. 49. The digital data links (e.g. flight/navigation control & payload control) shall have the option of being encrypted or non-encrypted at the pilot's discretion. 50. The UA shall zeroize, erase, wipe, or destroy all sensitive onboard data upon pilot command, or autonomously upon activation of a flight termination routine. Human Systems Integration 51. Every individual part or component of the system (excluding wheeled/towed and permanently-mounted components) shall have provisions which require no more than two (2) personnel to lift the item as necessary for launch, recovery, maintenance, traverse, and stowage. 52. Every individual wheeled/towed component of the system (if any) shall have provisions which require no more than four (4) personnel to traverse/maneuver that component to/from the NSC hangar to its operating position. ACRONYMS AIS Automatic identification system EO Electro-optical GCS Ground control station IR Infrared KPP Key performance parameter NIIRS National image interpretability rating scale NM Nautical miles NSA National Security Agency NSC National security cutter NTIA National Telecommunications and Information Administration NVD Night vision device RT Real-time sUAS Small unmanned aircraft system UA Unmanned aircraft UHF Ultra-high frequency VHF Very-high frequency GLOSSARY Autonomous [Flight]: The sUAS pilot does not directly control the UA's engine or flight control surfaces. The UA's engine and flight control surfaces are controlled by on-board computers via the direction of pre-programmed operations (e.g., flight plan route / altitude / speed) or the pilot's GCS inputs to navigation parameters (e.g., fly heading X or track Y, climb to altitude of Z feet, orbit position, perform recovery, etc.). Autonomous launch may be manually actuated by the sUAS aircrew, but the UA's engine and flight controls will be manipulated by the on-board computers.. Real Time: Pertaining to the delay introduced by automated data processing between the occurrence of an event and the use of the processed data. As applied within this document, the term real time depicts an event or situation as it existed at the current time less the processing time where this delay is not perceived by the operator - e.g., for sensor display, cursor control, etc. TEMPEST: Tempest (often spelled TEMPEST) is an unclassified term or codename referring to investigations and studies of compromising emanations (CE) from electrically operated information processing equipment. Compromising emanations are defined as unintentional intelligence-bearing signals which, if intercepted and analyzed, may disclose the information transmitted, received, handled, or otherwise processed by any information-processing equipment.
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- SN03218001-W 20131019/131018085634-7d355c17545eb01941c28b92c86a6a9d (fbodaily.com)
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