SPECIAL NOTICE
99 -- Request for Information (RFI) - Beam Expanding Telescope (BEX) for Laser Weapon Systems
- Notice Date
- 2/24/2023 8:58:12 AM
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- Contracting Office
- DEPT OF DEFENSE
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Response Due
- 3/13/2023 2:00:00 PM
- Point of Contact
- Claire Dowd
- E-Mail Address
-
claire.m.dowd.civ@army.mil
(claire.m.dowd.civ@army.mil)
- Description
- This is a Request for Information (RFI) only and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare System (PEO IWS) 2.0, Above Water Sensors and Lasers, will take procurement action in this matter.�Further, PEO IWS 2.0 will not be responsible for any cost incurred in furnishing information.� Directed Energy (DE) weapons are maturing to the point that the DoD is planning on fabricating High Energy Laser (HEL) weapons in significant quantities for integration on various land, sea, and air based platforms.� This requires that the DE Industrial Base be capable of meeting the anticipated production demand.� The Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare System (PEO IWS) 2 Above Water Sensors Office is tasked with ensuring that commercial vendors are prepared to meet this demand.� This RFI is being used to determine the status of the industrial base to meet the performance requirements and anticipated demand for the composite housing for the Beam Expanding Telescope (BEX) used for Laser Weapon Systems (LWS). Current HEL weapon systems utilize off-axis BEX designs that incorporate a large aspheric primary mirror and a smaller aspheric secondary mirror to both focus the outgoing HEL light onto the target and to collect incoming light for imaging and tracking sensors.� The mechanical housing that integrates these optics must have stringent mechanical and thermal properties to maintain optical alignment during high velocity target acquisition and tracking and while subjected to environmental factors (temperature, humidity, etc.). �It also typically incorporates mounting features to facilitate integration of sensors and alignment components.� Historically, the BEX composite housing is a significant cost and lead time driver for LWSs.� The goal of this RFI is to analyze production challenges that contribute to delivery timelines, performance, and cost (i.e., supply chains, component requirements, etc.). PEO IWS2 will use the results of this RFI to assess current domestic industrial capabilities for fabricating the BEX housing in anticipated quantities.� Additionally, the RFI will help inform the government of potential investment areas that would enable industry to meet the anticipated demand while achieving performance and cost goals.� Background: �Based on prior LWS development efforts, the BEX composite housing has been identified as a leading cost and lead time driver.� PEO IWS2 has analyzed the industrial base and determined that there is insufficient industrial capacity to provide BEX�s that are able to meet performance requirements while being produced in sufficient quantities at acceptable costs to support Navy and Army Laser Weapon system programs. Requirement:��The Department of Defense requires improvement of production and manufacturing processes of domestic vendors of BEX composite housing to address the lead time and cost issues.� �The BEX structure is used to house, mount, and meter the powered optics in an off-axis telescope and requires low weight, high stiffness, low thermal expansion, and low moisture expansion.� The construction of the BEX housing is commonly of bonded composite elements in addition to metallic bonded inserts. �The predominant feature in its construction is a cylindrical, composite element with very low or zero in-plane CTE with low CTE metallic inserts at the interfaces to the mounted optical and sensing components. �The structure should provide passive athermalization for the thermal growth of the optical elements and minimize optical aberrations due to thermal gradients. The interior of the structure should be amenable to receiving a metallic, highly reflective/dispersive coating to alleviate issues with small spillages of the high energy laser beam. LWS performance requirements may necessitate the need for the inner cylindrical opening to accommodate various BEX aperture sizes from ~30cm to 90cm diameter. The RFI is requesting answers to the following questions: What are the main contributing factors to the production timeline of BEX housing for off-axis telescopes? Provide a general breakdown of the production steps and timelines necessary to fabricate a BEX housing that meets the above requirements. Examples of production steps include procurements, tooling, fabrication, validation, etc. What are the impacts to the production processes for larger diameter BEX housings? Are there specific areas of the BEX housing production process that can benefit from investment to improve timelines and lower cost? Can production timelines be improved, and costs be lowered while still maintaining performance and quality? If tooling can be reused for multiple BEX housings, how much would lead time and cost be reduced on subsequent units? Contract Type Considerations:��The Government anticipates issuing a single Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement. Responding to this RFI:� Interested parties responding to this RFI must provide the following information: Company name Business size If your company is a small business, please identify any socio-economic category that applies CAGE code Name of the primary point of contact for the response Email address Phone number All information received in response to this RFI may be marked �Proprietary�. An e-mail response will be sent after all data has been reviewed. � � � ��Response Submission Deadline:��Responses to this RFI must be submitted no later than 4PM Central on 13 March 2023.� RFI submissions will be accepted as email attachments only.� All responses must be sent to the Agreements Specialist, Claire Dowd (Claire.m.dowd.civ@army.mil) with �PEO IWS2 BEX Composites Response RFI� in the subject line.�
- Web Link
-
SAM.gov Permalink
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- Record
- SN06600949-F 20230226/230224230101 (samdaily.us)
- Source
-
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