SOURCES SOUGHT
16 -- Lightweight Plank System
- Notice Date
- 2/12/2021 11:45:36 AM
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 336413
— Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- USSOCOM TAKO CONTRACTING OFFICE FORT EUSTIS VA 23604 USA
- ZIP Code
- 23604
- Solicitation Number
- H9224119R0007
- Response Due
- 5/15/2020 9:00:00 AM
- Archive Date
- 12/31/2021
- Point of Contact
- Michael J. Wastella, Phone: 7578784661
- E-Mail Address
-
michael.j.wastella.civ@mail.mil
(michael.j.wastella.civ@mail.mil)
- Description
- THIS IS NOT A NOTICE OF SOLICITATION ISSUANCE, BUT RATHER A SOURCES SOUGHT that will allow the Government to identify interested sources capable of meeting the requirement. The information sought herein is for planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a request for quote (RFQ), Request for proposal (RFP), Invitation for Bid (IFB), or as an obligation or commitment on the part of the Government to acquire any product or service. There shall be no basis for claims against the Government as a result of information submitted in response to the Sources Sought. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Sources Sought, or otherwise pay for any information submitted by respondents to this request. This notice is for market research purposes only and is not indicative of a full requirement. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. 1. DESCRIPTION / GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 1.1. The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), Technology Application Contracting Office (TAKO) is seeking to identify potential vendors who can provide new Light Weight Plank Systems (LWPS) for use on the A/MH-6M US Special Operations Aircraft. The plank system shall be a line repairable, line replaceable unit (LRU) (on condition basis) and is required to interface with existing aircraft and suite of weapons and mission equipment systems. Both attack (AH) and assault (MH) plank systems must have aircraft interface mount provisions such that either could be installed on the same aircraft without modification. The Government plans to issue a solicitation in the fall of 2019 for a fleet wide replacement of the existing plank systems over five years (2020-2025). It is the Government's intent to award to a contract either competitively, competitively after exclusion of sources, or on a sole source basis depending on the outcome of the market research conducted via this RFI and other means. 1.2. The Government requests sources indicate willingness to participate in a no cost evaluation assuming the candidate hardware is available. The Government will conduct the evaluative testing, provide a host platform and test facility, and test support personnel to conduct the no cost evaluation. Target date for testing is May 2019 in order to accommodate the airworthiness release (AWR) process. 1.3. Interested sources will be required to complete a written agreement that testing is at no cost or obligation to the Government. 1.4. Potential sources are requested to submit a brief summary of their capabilities. (See paragraph 3.5., below.) 2. SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS 2.1. This system will be integrated onto the A/MH-6M special operations aircraft and shall satisfy the integration, interface, and processing requirements as detailed below. The equipment will be of the manufacturer's current design, new and unused, and capable of performing its intended function in accordance with the operation and performance requirements specified herein. The equipment shall be completed so that when integrated, it can be used for any function for which it is designed and constructed. 2.2. Production model. As an objective, components of the system shall be non-developmental items. 2.3. The potential vendor(s) shall be responsible for manufacturing the plank systems, conducting and documenting the airworthiness qualification testing of the units, and providing that documentation and publications necessary to integrate and operate the system on the A/MH-6M. This includes: installation, operation, and maintenance manuals; substantiating documentation (primarily structural analysis and test report) to support achieving an airworthiness release; and a repair manual that includes the ability to conduct battle damage tolerance assessments in the field. 2.4. The maximum weight requirement for the plank system is limited to: 90 pounds for the attack (AH) plank system and 80 pounds for the assault (MH) plank system. 2.5. The attack plank system shall be configurable for combinations of M134D Miniguns, M260 and M261 rocket pods, Hellfire launchers, and GAU-19 Machine guns. The attack plank system shall provide two weapon stations per side with folding outboard section including the additional capability to add tip stores. All stations must be capable of mounting multiple combinations of the weapons listed above. 2.6. The assault plank system shall be rated for simultaneous carriage of 750 lbs. on each side during flight operation and provide provisions for personnel restraint attachment points and to safely support installation of various mission equipment packages. 2.7. No modifications to the existing airframe shall be required to accommodate the LWPS. 2.8. Installation of the LWPS shall not require more than 20 minutes (threshold, 15 minutes objective) based on average aviation mechanic skills and proficiency. Once mounted, no portion of the plank system shall interfere with current configurable mission equipment. (Should interference occur, it would be the responsibility of the vendor to provide for the movement and reinstallation of non-LWPS mission equipment.) The mounting points shall not fail when subjected to crash loads for the A/MH-6M. 2.9. Descriptions of mountable accessories or provisions for specialized mission equipment that enhance the capability of the plank system are encouraged to be provided. These features will be considered as part of the integral design of the plank system. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE 3.1. Responses to this announcement should include the following information: Respondent's name, address, point of contact (POC), phone number, and e-mail address. 3.2. This Sources Sought is market research under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Part 10, and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. The information collected may be used by the Government to explore acquisition options and strategies. All information received in response to this Sources Sought that is properly marked as ""proprietary"" will be protected as proprietary information. Such information will be reviewed by a team comprised of Government as well as contractor personnel hired to provide technical assistance for the Government's preparation of an acquisition strategy. 3.3. All members of the team will be reminded of their obligation to protect such information to the maximum extent permitted or required by the Economic Espionage Act, 18 U.S.C. 1831 et seq., and other applicable statutes or regulations. In addition, Government members will be reminded of their obligations to afford protection under the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905. All contractor members are required to protect the information by the terms of their contracts. The Government will make a determination whether or not contractor personnel have organizational conflicts of interest that could adversely affect protection of the information. In an effort to ease the coordination for potential need of nondisclosure agreements between multiple parties as part of the Government's market research, the Government will treat all notice responses as proprietary and to disclose the contents only for the purpose of Government market research and acquisition planning activities. All proprietary information is submitted with the above understanding that these contractor technical experts will have access and should be marked accordingly. The Government shall not be liable for, or suffer any consequential damages, for any proprietary information not properly identified. 3.4. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Proprietary information will be handled accordingly. Please be advised that submissions will not be returned. 3.5. All interested, capable, and responsible sources that would like to respond to this sources sought are encouraged to provide a statement of interest along with supporting data (see, e.g., paragraph 2.3 for documents needed to support AWR) via email to Contracting Officer�Michael Wastella (at michael.j.wastella.civ@mail.mil) no later than 1300 Eastern Time on 28 March 2019. Once the sources sought requirement has closed, the Government will contact individual responders for any further information required. 4. NAICS: 336413 UPDATE 01MAY2020 - This RFI/Sources Sought is officially amended to allow for any new/updated submissions from capable vendors interested in submitting a statement of interest.� Vendors that have previously submitted a statement of interest need not re-submit, unless an new or updated system is available.� The new deadline for submissions is 1200EST on 15MAY2020.� All questions and submissions shall be directed�to the Contracting Officer, Mr. Michael J. Wastella (michael.j.wastella.civ@mail.mil).
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