SOURCES SOUGHT
J -- UAS Operational and Maintenance
- Notice Date
- 3/10/2016
- 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
- 2016RFIUASOPS
- Archive Date
- 4/23/2016
- Point of Contact
- Brenda Mealer, Phone: 2023254156
- E-Mail Address
-
brenda.mealer@dhs.gov
(brenda.mealer@dhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- REQEST FOR INFORMATION OR SOLICITATION FOR PLANNING PURPOSES I. INTRODUCTION Request for Information (RFI) or Solicitation for Planning Purposes in support of market research. The results of this RFI will support acquisition strategy formulation for maintenance and repair services (except factory conversion, factory overhaul, factory refurbishing) to support operation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Air & Marine Operations (AMO), MQ-9 Predator and Guardian Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.215-3, Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes, DHS CBP AMO is conducting market research. A. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this request for information or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. B. Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. C. This RFI notice is issued for the purpose of identifying and determining if there are potential sources that have the capabilities to provide Contractor Maintenance and Repair Services for the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Predator and Guardian UAS. This 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. II. BACKGROUND CBP AMO 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, various radars and sensor systems, and support equipment. CBP AMO operates two variants of UA: the baseline Predator B variant and the maritime-capable Guardian variant. CBP AMO presently operates nine MQ-9 UA: seven Predator B and two Guardians, along with the associated ground stations and support equipment. The historical procurement contract resulted from a Full and Open Competitive Procurement initiated with the release of a Request for Proposal (RFP) on June 21, 2005, for an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity time and material contract for UAS supplies and operational support services. Proposals were received, and a technical evaluation and source selection were conducted between July 22, 2005, and August 5, 2005. On August 26, 2005, CBP awarded a contract to GA-ASI for delivery of up to four Predator B aircraft, command and control systems, communication links, payload sensor packages, and operations and maintenance support services. To date, GA-ASI has delivered 10 aircraft. Under present DHS CBP Acquisition Decision Memorandum guidance, the MQ-9 Program is in sustainment. 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 intends to assess industry maintenance and repair service capability for the GA-ASI MQ-9 UAS, and solicit feedback for acquisition planning purposes. The Contracting Officer, Branch Chief - Air Operations, Aviation, Maritime, and Border Technologies Contracting Division is requesting responses from qualified business concerns. III. 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 except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and Proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulations. Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. This solicitation is issued for the purpose of identifying and determining if there are potential sources that have the capabilities to provide Contractor Maintenance and Repair Services for the GA-ASI MQ-9 Predator and Guardian UAS. The qualifying NAICS code for this effort is 488 - Support Activities for Transportation; and/or, 488190 - Other Support Activities for Air Transportation (Aircraft maintenance and repair services (except factory conversion, factory overhaul, factory rebuilding)). 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 twenty (20) 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. Commercial labor categories and rates used by vendor for similar services; 8. 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; 9. 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, at how many locations, what number of UAS, and which model UA do you support? 3. Has your company had experience (in the last five years) providing UAS maintenance and repair services to a fleet of UAS in excess of ten (10) UA in multiple locations? 4. Has your company had experience (in the past five years) providing UAS 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 (i.e. Time and Materials, Cost Plus Fixed Fee, Cost Plus Award Fee, etc)? 11. What type of pricing arrangements would you recommend for the contract? 12. What is your company specialty? 13. What recommendations/approaches can you offer that would provide CBP AMO insight that would result in successful Contractor maintenance and repair support for the MQ-9 UAS? IV. CONSIDERATIONS 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 to maintain or repair MQ-9 UAS components. Any 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 AMO 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 AMO 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 AMO COAs. All responses should be received no later than April 8, 2016. All questions and comments must be in writing no later than 10 days after the posting of this RFI notice, 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, Air & Marine Operations, Customs & Border Protection, Contracting Officer, Branch Chief - Air Operations, Aviation, Maritime, and Border Technologies Contracting Division, 1250 24 th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037 Point of Contact: Brenda Mealer Contracting Officer brenda.mealer@cbp.dhs.gov
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