SOURCES SOUGHT
59 -- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FOR COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE BOAT CREW COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (BCCS)
- Notice Date
- 3/1/2017
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 334220
— Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard (USCG), C4IT (C3CEN), Coast Guard Blvd, Portsmouth, Virginia, 23703, United States
- ZIP Code
- 23703
- Solicitation Number
- HSCG44-17-R-RFI0008
- Point of Contact
- Katherine Marie Kearney, Phone: 7572952280
- E-Mail Address
-
katherine.m.kearney@uscg.mil
(katherine.m.kearney@uscg.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FOR COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE BOAT CREW COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (BCCS) HSCG44-17-R-RFI0008 Disclaimer and Important Notes: This posting is a Request for Information (RFI) from interested vendors and is issued solely for informational and planning purposes. This posting is not a Request for Proposals or a Request for Quotations, and it is not considered to be a commitment by the Government to award a contract nor is the Government responsible for any costs incurred in furnishing information provided under this RFI. No basis for claim against the Government shall arise as a result from a response to this RFI or Government use of any information provided. Further, the Coast Guard is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response to this RFI. The Government reserves the right to use any information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate, including using technical information provided by respondents in any resultant solicitation. Responses will assist the Government in determining the availability of potential solutions and commercial products in the market. At this time no solicitation exists; therefore, do Not Request a Copy of the Solicitation. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement. REQUIREMENT: The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Command, Control and Communications Engineering Center (C3CEN) requests information on the availability of Commercial Boat Crew Communications Systems (BCCSs). The BCCS consists of systems that can be used for a standard configuration for a wireless small boat crew communications system which will provide maximum mobility for boat crew members. This will include a system that can be scaled to meet our requirements for small open boats (~18-25ft), mid-sized boats (~20-40ft), mid-sized boats with Over-The-Horizon capabilities (~20-35), and larger boats (~40-64ft). Threshold (T) describes minimum requirement while Objective (O) will be desired. USCG has not standardized a BCCS configuration for our small boats (~64 ft or less). In order to reduce logistic lead time and lessen training for crew members the Coast Guard has determined having one system that can meet all of our requirements would greatly benefit the Small Boat Fleet. These efficiencies will improve safety and operational effectiveness as well as reduce the costs associated with logistics support. REFERENCES: Applicable standards are identified below. Please identify if the offered radios, associated accessories and software will conform to the standards identified in this section. If a commercial product requires modification to meet the standards below please provide details to the level of modification that is required. Those standards include, but are not limited to, the following: a. COMDTINST M10470.10 (series) b. International Electro Technical Commission (IEC) 60529, 60945 c. Antenna unit shall meet IEC 60429 IP67 minimum d. MIL-STD-810C figure 516.2.1 e. MIL-STD-167 Type 1 for vibration f. MIL-STD-810G Environmental g. MIL-STD-461F EMI h. SEBoK v.1.5.1 Verification Techniques CAPABILITIES BRIEF If your company is interested in this RFI, please provide capabilities brief to include the Name of your company, address, phone, Point of Contact (POC) Name, email and phone, DUNS #, NAICS code, size of business, and any other pertinent information. For all items listed below (T) identifies the Threshold minimum required specifications. (O) Identifies Objective capabilities that are preferred. a. Operating Conditions BCCS shall be capable of operating under the following conditions: 1. Any navigable waterway in which the Coast Guard surface assets operate, including open ocean, near shore, intercostal, harbors, lakes, and inland waterways (T) 2. Must operate in up to 30 FT Seas (T) 3. Must operate in water temperatures ranging from 28 (min) to 95(max) degrees F (T) 4. Must operate in air temperatures iaw IEC 60945 (T) 5. Must operate in relative wind speeds up to 50 knots (T) 6. System shall operate with 12VDC input (T) b. Effectiveness Requirements 1. The system shall include a headset to be worn by the user (T). 2. The interface unit shall connect to an intercom system (or a stand-alone intercom base station with connectivity for users that provides access to the required radio nets) (T). 3. The system shall include Push-to-Talk (PTT) to activate radio transmissions (T). 4. The system shall allow the user to simultaneously hear transmissions from both the intercom and all radio inputs (T). 5. The system shall enable the user the ability to select which radios to monitor (T). 6. The crewman intercom system shall be voice activated (VOX) and have the ability to switch to PTT (O). 7. The system user shall be able to adjust the VOX sensitivity for the microphone (T). 8. The system user shall have the ability to select which radio to transmit on. Users only need to transmit on one channel at a time (T). 9. The system shall not interfere with or be interfered by any other electronic equipment emissions onboard the Coast Guard small boats, other components of the system, or by any other vessel (T). 10. The system shall interface with the installed radios (Tactical VHF, Tactical UHF, Commercial VHF with DSC, HF, and Loudhailer) or other applicable configurations. Current configurations include but are not limited to manufacturers such as Harris, Motorola, Furuno, and Standard-Horizon (T). 11. When receiving communications, users shall be able to distinguish via visual or audible means, which radio is being received (T). 12. The system shall have the capability to conference connected radios internally to allow retransmission of any received signal to any combination of connected radios (O). 13. If conferencing communications, the system shall not allow any protected communications to be retransmitted over unsecure channels (T). 14. Any wireless system must be in accordance with the requirements listed in section 3.d. (Wireless Requirements). c. Suitability Requirements 1. The system shall operate up to 92dB of ambient noise with no loss in communications clarity (T). 2. The system shall provide a speech transmission index (STI) of 0.6 or better for internal communications in the boat ambient noise environment (T). 3. The system shall provide a Noise Reduction Rate (NRR) of at least 20 dBA when ambient noise is 92 dBA or higher (T). 4. The system shall have talk-through capability to allow a crewmember to maintain situational awareness (T). 5. The system shall be able to disconnect headset and plug into a Project 25 handheld radio in order to allow movement from the boat while maintaining communications (O) 6. The headset shall be of a size, shape, and weight such that is compatible with the boat crew helmets as defined in COMDTINST M10470.10 (series) (T). 7. The headset shall comply with MIL-STD-810C, procedure I, figure 516.2.1 for ground equipment for shock protection (T). 8. The Lowest Repairable Unit (LRU) shall have a Logistical Lead Time of no greater than 90 days (T). 9. The LRU shall have a Logistical Lead Time of no greater than 60 days (O). 10. The system shall have a mean time between failures of at least 2500 hours (T). 11. The system shall have an Operational Availability of 99% or better (T). 12. The Lowest Repairable Unit shall be capable of replacement by operational technicians in the field (T). 13. The system shall be waterproof and meet International Electro Technical Commission (IEC) 60529 Ingress Protection (IP) 67 (T) 14. The system shall be waterproof and meet International Electro-Technical Commission (IEC) 60529 Ingress Protection (IP) 68 (O). 15. The system shall comply with Requirement 1 of MIL-STD-167 Type I for vibration (T). 16. The system shall be environmental compliant with MIL-STD-810G and EMI compliant with MIL-STD-461F (T). 17. The System shall operate in accordance with the environmental standards set forth in IEC 60956 (T). 18. Lights and displays shall be compatible with night vision equipment and unaided eye night and day operations with operator controls dimmable 0-100% (T). 19. The Contractor shall demonstrate that the system is capable of basic operations by the crew with minimal training (Selecting radio or crew communications channel, transmitting on a radio or crew communications channel, adjusting volume) (T). 20. The system shall meet current space requirements which allow for maximum 13"x8"x5" for the central processor and 5"x5"x3" for crewman interface points. 21. The system shall have the ability to be field programmable and configurable utilizing vendor provided software (T). 22. Vendor provided software must be capable of running on Windows 10 64 Bit O/S. (T) d. Wireless System Requirements 1. The system shall include a crewmember transceiver unit (T). 2. The system shall operate at a minimum range of 150 feet (T). 3. The Wireless Intercom System shall work independently of installed radios (T). 4. The system shall provide communications on Coast Guard approved unlicensed frequencies (T). 5. The system shall operate in accordance with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256 bit (T). 6. The system shall support operation of at least five users (T). 7. The Contractor shall demonstrate that the System accommodates, at a minimum, crewman transceiver units that will attach to the crewmember while allowing the full range of motion and mobility (T). 8. The crewman transceiver units will be able to toggle between VOX and Push-To-Talk (PTT) activation (T). 9. The crewman transceiver units shall use rechargeable batteries to provide a minimum of 10 hours operation with duty cycle of 5-5-90 (where 5% Transmit, 5% Receive, 90% Standby during an 8 hour period) and shall be resistant to memory effects. The manufacturer shall ensure proper operation of the radio as well as the accessories and chargers with these batteries (T). RESPONSES: 1. Respondents are asked to reply with the ability to meet the above requirements. Respondents are also asked to provide demonstrations of equipment that meet the above requirements. Wired crew connection points, if available, are encouraged to be part of this demonstration. 2. If Respondents are currently unable to provide AES 256 Bit equivalent encryption on their wireless crew transceiver units the Coast Guard requests the following be answered: a. Can you provide a methodology and timeline to include the level of modification required to meet the capabilities requested? What is required in order to upgrade to an AES 256 bit equivalent? Can the upgrade be done to crew transceivers via a unit level firmware/software upgrade? How would an upgrade be executed? 3. In addition to requirement d.9 the Coast Guard requests information on methods of recharging Crew Transceiver Unit batteries onboard deployed units in case minimum time is exceeded. 4. Respondents are requested to provide earliest date of availability for demonstration of proposed equipment at a government determined location. ADDITIONAL SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION Interested parties are encouraged to submit a response which supports the company's claim that it presently has the products that provide the technology, performance, functionality and form fit required to satisfy the requirements or submit a response which identifies areas in the system requirements that are technologically unachievable. The Coast Guard's requirement may be refined based on knowledge gained from RFI submissions. Specifically, any interested parties are requested to provide the following information: 1. Positive statement of your interest in this procurement. 2. Description of product that will fulfill this requirement. 3. Do you offer a commercial product that meets the requirement as stated? 4. Do you offer a commercial product that could be modified to meet this requirement? 5. Are the items/services available on a commercial price list? If so, please provide applicable price list(s). 6. What is your average delivery lead time for this type of product? 7. Do you provide operation and maintenance manuals? System administration manuals? 8. Do you provide operator training? Maintenance training? System administration training? 9. A list of any proprietary data/components or embedded components for this product or data associated with this item. 10. A definitive statement on the willingness to enter into third party non-disclosures for the purpose of integrating the BCCS with standards-compliant transceivers and loudhailers. 11. Existing technical documentation and brochures are welcome as attachments as well as product catalogs and price lists. 12. Information on prior Government and commercial purchases of the same type (pricing, performance, and customer satisfaction data). 13. Do you offer quantity or other discounts to your customers? 14. What are your warranty terms, if any? What is your standard warranty practice? Can you offer an innovative warranty approach that would cover the lag time from delivery to actual installation of the components? 15. Information for any additional charges for special packing and packaging and marking. Comments/questions/concerns are encouraged and should be sent in writing to the Contract Specialist, Katherine Kearney at Katherine.M.Kearney@uscg.mil. Upon receiving feedback, the Coast Guard will assess all input and its impact on the development of the final specifications. The NAICS Code for this solicitation is 334220 (marine radio communications equipment manufacturing). Contractors doing business with the Government are required to register in the System for Award Management (SAM) database before they can be awarded a contract. A template containing the information for registration can be found at: https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/ Responses must be no longer than fifteen pages in length. Technical documentation and brochures, if included, do not count in the fifteen page maximum. Submit your response by 2:00 PM EST on April 3, 2017 to the Contract Specialist, Katherine.M.Kearney@uscg.mil.
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