Commander, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Code 210000D, 1 Administration Circle, China Lake, CA 93555-6100

16 -- LIGHTWEIGHT ENVIRONMENTALLY SEALED PARACHUTE ASSEMBLIES AND IN-SERVICE SUPPORT SOL N68936-97-R-0247 POC William T. Monckton, Contract Specialist, (760) 939-8234 or L. Dell Hledik, Contracting Officer, (760) 939-3772 1670 -- LIGHTWEIGHT ENVIRONMENTALLY SEALED PARACHUTE ASSEMBLIES AND IN-SERVICE SUPPORT Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWPNS), China Lake, CA intends to conduct negotiations, on an other-than-competitive basis, with Safety Equipment Inc (SEI), Subsidiary of Simula, Inc., Asheville, NC for products and services for continued development effort and production related to Lightweight Environmentally Sealed Parachute Assemblies (LESPA). A principle feature of these systems is the hermetically sealed parachute canopy design that provides the parachute canopy protection from physical and environmental hazards and results in significantly lower life-cycle cost. Additionally, the basic parachute assembly is lightweight (8-10 pounds lighter than systems currently fielded), and presents a clean, snag free, external profile. The lower weight, less bulk and increased lumbar support allow the crew member the needed comfort to don the system during the entire duration of long and hazardous missions. The lower profile allows for increased crew member maneuverability, thus, improving the potential of survival during emergency egress conditions. The company is the only source with proprietary rights to the environmental sealing techniques/methods required by the Systems to achieve the required 27.5 year total life (combined shelf life and service life) with no repacks. Supplemental support services include Testing Services such as: 1) Engineering Testing, 2) Reliability Growth Testing, 3) Verification Testing, 4) Reliability Demonstration Testing, 5) Environmental Qualification Testing, 6) Validation Testing, and 7) Surveillance Testing and Engineering Technical Services such as 1) Development Support, 2) Deployment Support, 3) In-Service Engineering Support and 4) Analysis Support. Proposed contract type is a combination of fixed-price with redetermination and cost plus fixed fee Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract. Products and services will be ordered and funded under individual delivery orders. Statement of Work will be provided with RFP. Proposed contract base ordering period will be for three years with two one-year options. All responsible sources may submit an offer which will be considered by the Agency. Responses to this synopsis, other than SEI, must be written and include previous experience in similar developments, descriptions or qualifications in this area and other qualifications considered pertinent to this procurement. See Note(s): 22. (0199)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0299 19970723\16-0001.SOL)