SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- Unattended Ground Sensor - Appendix A
- Notice Date
- 6/22/2017
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, Army Contracting Command, ACC - APG (W911QX) Adelphi, 2800 POWDER MILL RD, ADELPHI, Maryland, 20783-1197, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20783-1197
- Solicitation Number
- W911QX-17-R-0017
- Archive Date
- 7/27/2017
- Point of Contact
- Brett E. Bigbee, Phone: (301) 394-3016, Caitlin Marino, Phone: (301) 394-3165
- E-Mail Address
-
brett.e.bigbee.civ@mail.mil, caitlin.p.marino.ctr@mail.mil
(brett.e.bigbee.civ@mail.mil, caitlin.p.marino.ctr@mail.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Appendix A Disclaimer: This is a Sources Sought Notice only. This is not a request for proposal, but a survey to locate potential sources. This Sources Sought does not constitute an Invitation for Bids, Request for Proposals, or a Request for Quotations, and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue an order or otherwise pay for the information solicited, nor is it a guarantee of a forthcoming solicitation or contract. It is for market research purposes only. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation. Purpose: The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice is to gain knowledge of interest, capabilities, and qualifications of various members of industry, to include the Small Business Community: Small Business, Section 8(a), Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUB-Zone), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB). The Government must ensure there is adequate competition among the potential pool of responsible contractors. Small business, Section 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, & EDWOSB businesses are highly encouraged to participate. Objective: To find sources that are qualified to meet the supplies/services contained in this Sources Sought Notice. Note that the specific requirements are subject to change prior to the release of any solicitation if a solicitation is released. Introduction: The Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is interested in the design and implementation of a large scale Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) network (to cover a 50 km x 10 km border and selected crossroads up to 50 Km from the border area) that detects, classifies, localizes and tracks targets of interest, and supports back-end command/control and targeting. System acquisition and integration are intended to commence during FY2018 and 2019. A full scale demonstration of the system is desired to occur in 2020. It is envisioned the remote sensor network would be deployed to detect ground vehicles (wheeled / tracked) in varying environments and terrain for a minimum 6-months operation. The system must also be capable of using existing external infrastructure for communications or power if available. ARL is specifically interested in mature, independent, component solutions for: (i) A family of communication devices (ii) Multi-modal UGS (fixed and relocatable) (iii) Back end software for sensor Data Management and Information Fusion (DMIF) (iv) Remote delivery platforms Background: The objectives of this program are to design, develop, integrate and demonstrate a prototype, large-scale network of UGS with the associated communications architecture, automated reporting, DMIF, to enable targeting support and rapid analysis for situational awareness and Indications and Warnings (I&W) alongside borders and lines of communication (i.e. travel routes). This project is primarily a non-developmental integration program that leverages mature (TRL-6+) Commercial-off-the Shelf (COTS) and Non-Developmental Items (NDI) component technologies into a highly interoperable System-of-Systems (SoS) capability. ARL will manage the integration effort through the identification and application of UGS-centric standards that ensure the selected component solutions provided by industry will properly perform in the integrated SoS. The end-to-end demonstration is intended to inform acquisition activities. Large Scale UGS Demonstration Elements addressed in this Sources Sought: 1) Basic Concept of Operations: The purpose of the remote sensor network is to provide I&W of imminent or actual cross border intrusions along vast (100's of kilometers (km)) land borders. The UGS will be expected to detect, classify, localize, track, and report target activity on a near-real-time basis. In addition, data from the UGS will also aid in the development of information passed to a targeting activity that can engage the detected activity with fires. A layered, multi-modal approach is envisioned to improve the quality of UGS reports and address environmental constraints unique to any specific area. Likewise, UGS communications are anticipated to be multi-faceted to provide effective communications solutions for a wide variety of UGSs applications. The network will be expected to cover national borders and major lines of communications. 2) Deployment and Operation: It is envisioned that the remote sensor network will be emplaced by users employing operational security measures that mitigate the risk of the UGS being easily compromised, avoided, or otherwise countered. It is anticipated that the user will have ready access to the emplacement sites without interference or retaliation by adversaries. 3) Physical attributes of the operational area: - Land terrain: Densely wooded and open field with moderate changes in elevations. - Environmental: MIL-STD-810. - Primarily rural population densities with limited (~ 10%) densely populated area. Requested Information: ARL is seeking capabilities statements on material solutions for three separate functional areas: 1) Communication Devices: General : ARL is seeking solutions for five (5) classes of radios that will typically be embedded in all UGSs and UGSs networking devices for this program. Radio solution providers may offer to provide solutions for one, several, or all five (5) of each class of radio. The specific solutions chosen by the government for each of these radio classes will be used to meet all wireless communications requirements for sensors. A detailed list of the radio requirements is provided in Appendix A. Each radio class is briefly defined as follows: - Class A: Short range radio. Typical use cases include local area networking in remote sensor networks, UGSs with short range communications requirements, and trigger UGSs. - Class B: Long range, narrow band terrestrial radio. Typical use cases include exfiltrate data to sensor monitoring / Internet Protocol (IP) network interface locations and wide area networking for remote sensor networks. - Class C: Long range, wide band terrestrial radio. Typical use cases include exfiltrate Full Motion Video (FMV) and similar large sensor payload data to sensor monitoring / IP network interface locations. Wide area networking for remote sensor networks. - Class D: Beyond Line-of-Sight / SATCOM radio. Typical use cases include exfiltrate data to sensor monitor / IP network interface positions. This radio is envisioned to provide interfaces to connected (IP network based) & disconnected (dismounted) users. - Class E: Cellular Radio. Typical use cases include exfiltrate data to sensor monitor / IP network interface positions. This radio is envisioned to provide interfaces to connected (IP network based) & disconnected (dismounted) users. Maturity and Availability: ARL is interested in mature radio solutions that are readily producible without developmental investment by the Government. The vendor's capabilities statement should describe product maturity and the vendor's most likely delivery schedule if tasked to deliver quantities of 10, 100, or 1000 radios of the class offered. Finally, the vendor should describe the maturity of the radio's Interface Control Documentation (ICD) and history of the ICD's use by integration activities external to the vendor's organization. Use Restrictions: The vendor should identify any licenses, royalties, other use restrictions or cost multipliers applicable to the radios offered. This includes any limitations on the Government or sensor providers' ability to fully implement and use the radio in remote sensor applications. Spectrum Compliance: The vendor should identify the radio's spectrum compliance history by providing a list of current and previous spectrum approval for waveform(s) of the devices offered. 2) Unattended Ground Sensors: General : ARL is seeking information on the capabilities of UGS that provide an integrated, multimodal, multi-sensor, networked solution. The solution must be suitable for large scale remote sensor networks that provide area and point coverage in multiple areas across large, diverse geographical regions. Sensor Performance: The vendor's capabilities statement should describe the capability to perform key sensing functions for target detection, classification, identification, and tracking by fusing traditional technologies (seismic, acoustic, magnetic, infrared, and Electro-optical/Infrared (EO/IR) imaging) as well as any other technologies the vendors can provide to improve sensor performance. Specific effective ranges of sensor performance are requested for each modality the vendor can offer as well as geo-localization, classification accuracy, latency, and false alarm rate. The Government is also interested in sensor solutions that perform fusion locally, to provide data suitable to support Call for Fire (CfF), and in the remote sensor network with adaptability to address changing target sets via remote commands. Relocatable Imagers: In addition to conventional UGS which are designed to operate from fixed positions, the Government is also interested in an imaging UGS which can autonomously deploy / redeploy to different areas of the battlespace as the commander's ISR requirements evolve. An example mission includes, 1) deploy from a concealed position, surveil a designated area, capture and transmit near-real-time high-resolution imagery of active ground vehicles), and then return for recharge at the launch site or another designated recovery/launch site. Once launched, all operations including recovery and recharge must be autonomous. Key mission parameters include 1) multiple flights of 10 to 20 minute durations, 2) flight distances up to 8 Km, and 3) high resolution imagery. Communication Integration: The Government realizes that many sensor vendors have already integrated one (1) or more radios into their product baseline. However, the degree of interoperability between various vendor radios is virtually non-existent. To resolve this persistent interoperability issue within the UGS community, the Government envisions requiring sensor vendors to only integrate radios selected from the above described radio solutions. Sensor vendor's will be directed to choose and use one or more of the radio solutions described above to meet all sensor requirements for wireless communications. Therefore, the Government is also seeking information from sensor vendors that describes their capability to integrate customer-designated radios into their sensor products. Finally, the Government is interested from the vendor's past performance as it relates to integrating customer-defined radios into their sensor products. Interoperability: The Government desires UGSs to be capable of providing data for exfiltration or consumption in the Open Standard for Unattended Sensors (OSUS) standard format. Maturity and Availability: ARL is interested in mature sensor solutions that are readily producible without developmental investment by the Government. Vendors should describe product maturity and the vendor's most likely delivery schedule if tasked to deliver quantities of 10, 100, or 1000 sensors. Maturity may be described in the context of quantitative test results (Government test results preferred), specification sheets, photographs, production history, user feedback, or other documentation that substantiates the product maturity. Operational Suitability: Although the majority of the applications will require concealment of the UGS, the Government anticipates that both overt and concealed UGS will be applicable solutions. In addition the Government is seeking information on how the mission life of the vendor's UGS is defined. For example, the number of detections per day, messages per day, data sample size, message payload size, etc.) 3) Data Management and Information Fusion: General : ARL is seeking information on Data Management & Information Fusion (DMIF) solutions that standardize, fuse, automate, and disseminate situational awareness and I&W information from the remote sensor network. This functionality envisioned to be hosted on computing platforms that reside in secure Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) workspaces like Mission Command Centers and Intelligence Analysis Centers. The DMIF component is typically connected to assets in the remote sensor network via UGS-embedded radios that terminate at the IP network interface of the C4ISR environment. ARL is seeking information on DMIF solutions that can be delivered in functional modules as defined in the below subsections: - DMIF Gateway: The DMIF Gateway module ensures that all UGS observations and UGS command and control messages to and from the remote sensor network are transformed into OSUS-complaint format. The DMIF Gateway provides a standardized data model to report UGS observations, command, and control devices in the remote sensor network. Information on OSUS is available at https://www.di2e.net/display/DI2E/DI2E+DevTools. - Sensor Fusion and Automation: The sensor fusion and automation module fuses near-real-time UGS observations with other available data in UGS data stores to generate high-confidence, low false alarm reports. This module recognizes user-defined priorities and utilizes automation techniques to minimize the operator burden and staffing levels for monitoring UGS data. - Dissemination: The dissemination module should exfiltrate UGS data and metadata to adjacent DMIF systems and other C4ISR systems such as Mission Command (Fire Support Command and Control (FSC2)) and Distributed Common Ground Station (DCGS) via accepted standards for interoperability such as the Integrated Sensor Architecture (ISA). The specific data content and format will be driven by the needs of the receiving system. - Sensor Control and Management (SCM): The SCM component enables DMIF instances to command assets in the remote sensor network and maintain awareness of the assets operational readiness status and configuration. - Display: The government is interested in displaying the system's UGS-derived data and UGS controls on systems which already exist in the government C4ISR infrastructure such as those available in the Mission Command portfolio. - Use Restrictions: Vendors should identify any licenses, royalties, other use restrictions or cost multipliers applicable to the products offered. This includes any limitations on the Government or third party selected by Government to integrate, reuse, redistribute, or modify the applications. - Maturity and Availability: ARL is interested in mature DMIF solutions that are readily available and capable of being adapted by the Government with minimal developmental investment by the Government. Vendors should describe product maturity and the degree to with its modularity is consistent with the above definitions of functional modularity. Maturity may be described in the context of quantitative test results (Government test results preferred), completed system engineering milestones, history of product use by the Government, specification sheets, photographs, user feedback, or other documentation that substantiates the product maturity. Finally, the vendor should describe the vendor's history integrating data from UGS sources into the product line being offered. Additional Area of Interest: Remote Emplacement : The Government is also seeking information on mature capabilities to remotely emplace UGSs (with any type sensor). Remotely emplaced UGS will be hand-tossed from rotary-winged aircraft onto rural roadsides from altitudes of 250-5000 feet AGL and use beyond LOS communications to report nearby target activity. Sources Sought capabilities statements must also include the following: 1) Name of the primary point of contact for the response 2) Organization affiliation and Business title 3) Email address and phone 4) Facility Clearance & Safeguarding Clearance Levels 5) Estimated cost to produce one (1) of each type of technology you are providing a capabilities statement in response to (radio/UGS/DMIF) 6) Identification of other key individuals who collaborated on the RFI response 7) A brief summary (500 word limit) description of previous relevant experience in UGS and/or communications. 8) The extent to which each specification can be met. 9) Business Type: Commercial, Academia, etc. Business size under NAICS code 541712 (1,000 employees size standard). If small, any socioeconimc categories (i.e. HUBZone, 8(a), Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Women Owned Small Business (WOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB), etc.) 10) Any relevant past experience / past performance through the description of work completed.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/3cef9cadead83016d955148084d822c2)
- Record
- SN04554995-W 20170624/170622235527-3cef9cadead83016d955148084d822c2 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |