R&D Contracting, Bldg 7, 2530 C Street, WPAFB OH 45433-7607

A -- STRUCTURAL TECHNOLOGY AND ANALYSIS POC Mr. Felix E. Turner, Contract Negotiator, (513) 255-5901 Ms. Kathy Walston, Contracting Officer, (513) 255-4255. 17. Notice of Contract Award for Aerospace Transparency Systems Technology is hereby provided. The Wright Laboratory, Flight Dynamics Directorate, Vehicle Subsystems Division (WL/FIV) is contemplating the award of a 60 month program for the research and development of technology for aerospace transparency systems. The Subsystems Division thrust is focused on core technology areas with ultimate goals of lowering life cycle costs balanced against increased mission performance and supportability requirements. The core transparency technology efforts are divided into eight (8) main areas, namely: Material Behavior/Characterization & Evaluation, Test Method Development & Standardization, Fabrication & Assembly, System Definition, Design, Analysis & Test, Failure Criteria Development, Analysis & Application, Recycling, Repair & Refurbishment, Birdstrike Risk Reduction & Cost Avoidance, and Technology Transfer/Application. The primary goal of the Material Behavior/Characterization & Evaluation core area is to evaluate and characterize the mechanical properties of transparent polymers at different temperatures and strain rates. The goal of the Test Method Development & Standardization core area is to develop and standardize polymer test methods into acceptable industry standards. The primary goal of the Fabrication & Assembly core area is to support the development of new processing and fabrication techniques using injection molding. The goal of the System Definition, Design, Analysis & Test core area is to develop new fully integrated transparency systems with various air vehicles. The goal of the Failure Criteria Development, Analysis & Application core area is to develop deterministic and probabilistic analysis methodologies for use in making service life predictions and to establish/validate removal for cause criteria. The goal of the Recycling, Repair & Refurbishment core area is to evaluate methods to make economical repairs/refurbishment to a transparency system and to validate recycling process control procedures. The primary goal of the Birdstrike Risk Reduction & Cost Avoidance core area is to evaluate and extend technologies to reduce/tolerant the riks of birdstrike events. The primary goal of the Technology Transfer/Application core area is to evaluate and apply technologies which minimizes damage caused by birdstrike events to other related aerospace subsystems. The thrust of these core technology areas is to enable the Air Force to increase aircraft transparency service life and decrease life cycle costs while continuing to maintain mission compatibility. The challenge posed by this goal is made much more difficult by the need to meet new and demanding mission requirements on both existing and future aircraft. The objective of this proposed program is to develop, validate and transition emerging technology into the design/development of improved transparency systems with known capabilities and acceptable limitations based on compromises and trade-offs with a balanced emphasis on natural hazards, combat hazards, supportability, man-machine interface, and fuselage integration. It is planned to make a single contract award. A portion of these efforts may include work of a classified nature, therefore, respondents should have or be able to obtain DOD clearance to the SECRET level. Respondents should have extensive experience in aircraft transparency research and development, design, and manufacture. Firms responding should indicate whether they are, or are not, a small business, a socially and economically disadvantaged business, a woman owned business, a historically black college or university, or a minority institution. For this item the general definition to be used to determine whether your firm is small is as follows: ''A small business concern is a concern that is independently owned and operated, is not dominant in the field of opertion in which it is bidding on government contracts and with its affiliates, the number of employees does not exceed 1000 persons.'' SIC Code 8731 applies. ''Concern means any business entity organization for profit with a place of business in the United States, its possessions, Puerto Rico or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, including but not limited to an individual, partnership, corporation, joint venture, association or corporation.'' The Air Force reserves the right to consider a small business set-aside based upon responses hereto. Small business respondents should provide a statement of capabilities to assist the Air Force in making a set-aside decision. Large businesses are only requied to submit a statement of interest to receive a copy of the Request for Proposal (RFP). All respondents shall include in any request their assigned Commercial and Government Entity Code. Respondents are further requested to indicate their status as a foriegn-owned/Foreign-controlled firm and any contemplated use of foreign national employees of this effort. Responses should be sent to: ATTN: Felix E. Turner, WL/FIKA, Bldg 7, 2530 C. Street, Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7607. Non Technical assistance may be secured by calling the above individual at (513) 255-5901. An Ombudsman has been established for this acquisition. The only purpose of the Ombudsman is to receive and communicate serious concerns from potential offerors when an offeror perfers not to use established channels to communicate during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. Potential offerors should use established channels to request information, pose questions, and voice concerns before resorting to use of the Ombudsman. Potential offerors are invited to contact ASC's Ombudsman, ASC/CY, Col Robert C. Helt, at (513) 255-1427 with serious concerns only. Closing date for submission of responses is thirty (30) calendar days from the publicaton of this notice. Firms should reference F)IK-95-02 in their responses. RFP release for this program is projected in Jan 1996. This program wwill not be republicized prior to solicitation. See Numbered Note(s): 25. (0348)

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