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

A -- PERMANENT PRIMER TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT SOL PRDA #98-39-MLK POC Contact Lt Leigh Johnson, Contract Negotiator, or Mr. Fred Rueth, Contracting Officer, 937-255-5051 E-MAIL: click here to contact the contract negotiator, johnsolg@wl.wpafb.af.mil. INTRODUCTION: The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/MLKN) is interested in receiving proposals (technical and cost) on the research effort described below. Proposals in response to this PRDA shall be received by __(date)_, 1500 hours Eastern Time, addressed to Wright Laboratory, Directorate of R&D Contracting, Building 7, Area B, Attn: (Lt Leigh Johnson, AFRL/MLKN), Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7607. This is an unrestricted solicitation. Small businesses are encouraged to propose on all or any part of this solicitation. Proposals submitted shall be in accordance with this announcement. Proposal receipt after the cutoff date and time specified herein shall be treated in accordance with restrictions of FAR 52.215-10; copy of this provision may be obtained from the contracting point of contact. There will be no other solicitation issued in regard to this requirement. Offerors should be alert for any PRDA amendments that may permit subsequent submission of proposal dates. Offerors should request a copy of the AFRL Guide entitled, "PRDA and BAA Guide for Industry" dated November 1992. This guide was specifically designed to assist offerors in understanding the PRDA/BAA proposal process. Copies may be requested from the contracting point of contact stated herein. The Guide is also available on the internet, address: www.wl.wpafb.af.mil/contract. B-REQUIREMENTS: (1) Technical Description: The objective of this program is to identify new formulation chemistries and component concepts for military aircraft primers with a minimum of 30 years durability and performance. The intent of the program is to focus on primer resins and binders, and not on the evaluation of non-chromated corrosion inhibitors or other corrosion prevention concepts. The new primer must be compatible with both current and emerging aircraft topcoat chemistries and surface treatments. The new primer must be environmentally benign to include no use of chromates, no use of hazardous air pollutants (HAPS), and minimal use of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) not to exceed 200 grams / liter. Primer application methodology must be amenable to depot and field maintenance applications of large aircraft, to exclude processes of dip, plating, plasma, etc. Currently available aircraft primers are aimed at a three to five year service life. However, as corrosion protection systems are being sought and developed to increase durability to over 30 years on a typical military aircraft, it becomes necessary to have a primer with the same extended life. Novel technical approaches are sought involving new formulations and materials that shall provide adhesion by both currently used / emerging aircraft topcoats, and shall adhere to aircraft corrosion protection systems. The new primer shall be insensitive to varying surface treatments and other surface features, and be flexible. It is also necessary that the new primer maintain mechanical property stability over the required 30 year service life. An offeror's proposed program should address the following issues: (a) a review of the current state of the art of aircraft primer materials, and a definition of deficiencies, thereby establishing a benchmark for this project; (b) an exploration of new primer resin chemistries based upon a minimum life time of 30 years; (c) a definition of critical experiments to evaluate key primer performance parameters; (d) performance of the critical experiments in (c), with submittal of the resulting data; and (e) submittal of a final written report. (2) Deliverable Items: The following deliverable data items shall be proposed: (a) R&D Status Report, DI-MGMT-80368/T, monthly; (b) Funds and Manhour Expenditure Report, DI-FNCL-80331/T monthly; (c) Project Planning Chart, DI-MGMT-80507A/T monthly; (d) Contract Funds Status Report (CFSR), DI-MGMT-81468/T, quarterly; (e) Presentation Material, DI-ADMIN-81373/T, as required; (f) Scientific and Technical Reports, Contractor's Billing Voucher, DI-MISC-80711/T, monthly.; and (g) Scientific and Technical Reports, DI-MISC-80711/T, (Draft and Reproducible Final). (3) Security Requirements: None. This is an unclassified program. (4) Other Special Requirements: International Traffic in Arms Restrictions Apply. C -- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: (1) Anticipated Period of Performance: The total length of the technical effort is estimated to be 40 months. The contractor shall also provide for an additional 4 months for processing/completion of the final report. (2) Expected Award Date: August 1998. (3) Government Estimate: The Government funding profile is estimated to be as follows: FY98 -- $5K, FY99 -- $145K, FY00 -- $150K, FY01 -- $125K. This funding profile is an estimate only and is not a promise for funding as all funding is subject to change due to Government discretion and availability. (4) Type of contract: Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) or Cost (no fee). Any grants awarded will be cost (no fee). (5) Government Furnished Property: None contemplated. (6) Size Status: For the purpose of this acquisition, the size standard is 500 employees (SIC 8731). (7) Notice to Foreign-Owned Firms: Such firms are asked to immediately notify the Air Force point cited below upon deciding to respond to this announcement. Foreign contractors should be aware that restrictions may apply which could preclude their participation in this acquisition. D-PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS: (1) General Instructions: Offerors should apply the restrictive notice prescribed in the provision at FAR 52.215-12, Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data, to trade secrets or privileged commercial and financial information contained in their proposals. Proposal questions should be directed to one of the points of contact listed elsewhere herein. Offerors should consider instructions contained in the "WL PRDA and BAA Guide for Industry" referenced in Section A of this announcement. Technical and cost proposals, submitted in separate volumes, are required and must be valid for 180 days. Proposals must reference the above PRDA number. Proposals shall be submitted in an original and five copies. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which shall be considered against the criteria set forth herein. Offerors are advised that only contracting officers are legally authorized to contractually bind or otherwise commit the government. (2) Cost Proposal: Adequate price competition is anticipated. The accompanying cost proposal/price breakdown shall be furnished with supporting schedules and shall contain a personhour breakdown per task. Copies of the above-referenced guide may be obtained from the contracting office cited. (3) Technical Proposal: The technical proposal shall include a discussion of the nature and scope of the research and the technical approach. Additional information on prior work in this area, descriptions of available equipment, data and facilities, and resumes of personnel who will be participating in this effort should also be included as attachments to the technical proposal. The technical proposal shall include a Statement of Work (SOW) detailing the technical tasks proposed to be accomplished under the proposed effort and suitable for contract incorporation. Offerors should refer to the WL Guide referenced in Section A to assist in SOW preparation. PL 98-94 applies. Any questions concerning the technical proposal or SOW preparation shall be referred to the Technical Point of Contact cited in this announcement. (4) Page Limitations: The technical proposal shall be limited to 40 pages (12 pitch or larger type), double-spaced, single-sided, 8.5 by 11 inches. The page limitation includes all information, i.e. indexes, photographs, foldouts, appendices, attachments, etc. Pages in excess of this limitation will not be considered by the government. Cost proposals have no limitations, however, offerors are requested to keep cost proposals to 40 pages as a goal. (5) Preparation Cost: This announcement does not commit the Government to pay for any response preparation cost. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this PRDA is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting or any other contract. However, it may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost as specified in FAR 31.205-18. E -- BASIS FOR AWARD: The selection of one or more sources for award will be based on an evaluation of an offeror's response (both technical and cost aspects) to determine the overall merit of the proposal in response to the announcement. The technical aspect, which is ranked as the first order of priority, shall be evaluated based on the following criteria which are of equal importance: Soundness of Approach: (a) identify approaches to understand primer resin chemistry and formulation relationships to improved durability, aircraft performance, and topcoat, corrosion protection system and surface compatibility; (b) identify evaluation techniques that quantitatively determine the durability performance and compatibility of aerospace topcoats to primers and primers to surfaces; and (c) identify methods for determining the requirements for aircraft primers and relating them into primer material performance requirements. Understanding of the Problem: (a) understanding the chemistry and formulation of aircraft primers; (b) understanding the limitations and failure modes of aircraft primers due to service life; (c) understanding the limitation and needs in using environmentally compliant, benign materials: and (d) rationale for the selection of evaluation techniques based upon materials requirements. Special Technical Factors: (a) the background, capability, technical expertise, and completeness of the team assembled for the effort; (b) availability and adequacy of required equipment and facilities; and (c) previous experience with developing requirements, formulating, and evaluating aerospace primers. Cost and/or price, which includes consideration of proposed budgets and funding profiles, is a substantial factor, but ranked as the second order of priority. No other evaluation criteria will be used. The technical and cost information will be evaluated at the same time. The Air Force reserves the right to select for award of a contract, grant or cooperative agreement any, all, part, or none of the proposals received. Award of a grant to universities or nonprofit institutions or cooperative agreement, in lieu of a contract, will be considered and will be subject to the mutual agreement of the parties. The government reserves the right to award any resulting contract pursuant to the Research and Development Standard Contract format in DFARS 235.70. F-POINTS OF CONTACT: (1) Technical Contact Point: Engineer, Dr. Elizabeth Berman, AFRL/MLBT, 2941 P. St. Ste. 1, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base OH 45433-7750, (937) 255-2465. (2) An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear concerns from offerors and potential offerors during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the Program Director or the Contracting Officer, but to communicate contractor concerns, issues, disagreements and recommendations to the appropriate government personnel. When requested, the Ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals or in the selection decision. Interested parties are invited to contact Mr. Stephen J. Plaisted, ASC/SYI, telephone 937-255-9095, DSN 785-9095, e-mail plaistedsj@sy.wpafb.af.mil. All routine communication concerning this acquisition should be directed to Lt. Leigh Johnson, Contract Negiotator, Johnsolg@wl.wpafb.af.mil, telephone 937-255-5051. See Note 26. (0075)

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