Phillips Laboratory, Directorate of Contracting, 2251 Maxwell Avenue SE, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5773

A -- NEXT GENERATION SPACE PROCESSOR SOL F29601-98-9-0193 DUE 090998 POC Linda Rae Johnson, Agreement Administrator, 505-846-5935 A-OBJECTIVE The Air Force Research Laboratory/Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/VS) and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are jointly seeking: (1) Development of a radiation hardened, high performance (100 MIPS minimum, with a goal of 200 MIPS throughput), general-purpose microprocessor for incorporation into a multiprocessing architecture addressing high-end payload processing tasks or as a stand-alone spaceflight qualified computer (See the AFRL/PRS contracting home page at http://www.plk.af.mil for information on the Improved Space Architecture Concept.) The target microprocessor should be derived from a commercial design to permit prototyping activities using commercial parts, operating system, and programming tools. (2) Development of a corresponding processor chip-set providing memory management, select fault tolerant elements, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) capability (delivery of engineering parts 01/2000, fully radiation hardened chips 01/2001). (3) Incorporation of the processor chip-set onto a demonstration board with minimal operating system and local bus driver software, for a basic performance evaluation demonstration. (engineering version 04/2000, fully hardened devices 04/2001) (4) Development, demonstration, and qualification testing of a full flight computer prototype with the chip-set, memory and I/O capabilities in a Government specified 4"x4" stacked-slice configuration (version using commercial components 11/1999, first run rad-hard parts 07/2000, flight qualifiable parts for qualification testing 11/2000). Full details of the stacked slice configuration are available in a Technical Requirements Document (TRD) on the AFRL/PRS contracting home page. AFRL intends to award an Other Transaction (OT) for Prototype Agreement. This instrument provides relief from certain statutes and the Federal Acquisition Regulations and Supplements. To take advantage of this flexibility, offerors may propose traditional prime/sub relationships as well as other management approaches suchas consortia. A model OT agreement is available from the AFRL/PRS home page at http://www.plk.af.mil as are all other web-referenced documents. Select "contracting", then "Phillips Site R&D Acquisitions." All documents are under "Next Generation Space Processor." The total funding estimate for this effort is $12M over a three-year period, for up to two awards, of which $4M will be available for performance through the end of FY 99. The Government believes deliverables resultant from this effort will be commercial items offering successful offerors significant opportunities for commercial sales. Given this assumption, the Government will require the successful offeror(s) cost-share to be at least 50%. It is NOT the Government's intention to limit competition under this requirement. To the extent that a potential offeror disagrees with the appropriateness of the stated cost-share percentage, or the commercial nature of the deliverables, you are encouraged to address any concerns to the Agreements Administrator or discuss them at the pre-proposal conference. Offerors attending the conference, but wishing to discuss this issue privately, will be afforded the opportunity to do so immediately after the briefing. The Government will take all comments into consideration when judging the appropriateness of this requirement, and amend the Research Announcement, if required, based upon industry comments. B-PREPROPOSAL BRIEFING A pre-proposal briefing will be held on 30 July 1998 at 9:00 a.m., JPL, Building 303, Cafeteria Conference Room, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA. (see web site for directions). The briefing will cover both technical and contractual issues. Only contractors who are registered and certified with the Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS) may attend. Submit copy of DD Form 2345 to AFRL (Ms Linda Rae Johnson) by (28 July 1998). Offerors shall provide the Agreement Administrator a list of all attendees by (28 July 1998). C -- PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS Offerors shall submit a written cost proposal, administrative volume, viewgraphs, and make an oral presentation. Proposals must reference the announcement number. A signed original and 4 copies shall be submitted by 2:00 PM MDT (9 September 1998) to AFRL Det 8 PKVE, 2251 Maxwell Ave. SE, Bldg 424 Rm. 206, Kirtland AFB NM 87117-5773, Attn: Ms Linda Rae Johnson, Re: F29601-98-9-0193. Viewgraphs, cost, and administrative volumes should be submitted separately and should be valid for a period of not less than 120 days from submission. Offerors may take alternative approaches in their proposals, however, clear rationale must be provided explaining the nature and basis for the proposed alternatives. (1) Oral Presentation-Offerors will make an oral presentation -- there will be no written technical proposal. The Government will draw lots to establish contractor order of presentation. Orals will begin no earlier than 14 September 1998. The oral presentation shall demonstrate the offeror's understanding of and competence to perform the work required under this announcement. The presentation will be limited to 2 hours and shall be given by key technical and management personnel proposed to conduct the effort. Following the presentation and a recess, a detailed afternoon discussion session will be conducted to address all technical, cost and administrative issues. Offerors are advised to have the necessary personnel present for comprehensive discussion in these areas. The oral presentation shall be supported by viewgraphs describing the work proposed. While there is no limit to the number of viewgraphs an offeror may use, only those viewgraphs projected and addressed will be considered. Overly elaborate viewgraphs are discouraged. (2) Administrative Volume-Offerors shall include a brief administrative volume containing the following four elements. (i) Provide a discussion of any concerns regarding terms or conditions contained within the Government's model agreement. Offerors may take issue with Government proposed articles or propose their own. Provide rationale explaining the nature of and basis for the proposed change. (ii) Provide resumes of key technical and management personnel. (iii) Provide a program plan, which shall be incorporated into the award agreement. The program plan shall identify and describe all deliverables, milestones, and associated tasks, required to satisfy the Government's objectives consistent with the offeror's unique approach. (iv) Required certifications shall be submitted as part of the proposal and are available on the website along with instructions. (3) Cost Volume-The cost proposal shall cover the entire program. The cost proposal price breakdown shall be prepared in a schedule format that contains sufficient data to demonstrate realism and reasonableness. Price each technical milestone showing associated labor hours, materials, other direct costs (ODCs), and associated rates and factors. All costs shall be time-phased to milestone. All cost data shall be supported in narrative form that provides rationale for labor hours and categories, material quantities and types, and ODCs (e.g. travel). Costs associated with deliverable hardware and reports shall be accompanied by supporting information to justify cost. Offerors are advised that certain requirements, such as data deliverables, are required by the model agreement, though they need not be addressed in an offeror's technical proposal. Costs for these items must still be reflected in the cost volume. The Government contemplates award of a cost reimbursable OT. Offerors may propose an alternate agreement arrangement, but are required to provide rationale for this choice. Cost-sharing of at least 50% is required. Offerors contributions should be illustrated in their cost volume. The Government will only consider cost-sharing in those instances where it is of high quality (e.g. a real contribution of cash to pay for salaries, materials, subcontractors, or future IR&D) and a commitment is made to its amount and time of insertion (stated dollar amounts by task or percentageof total contract value). Favorable consideration will be given to those offerors proposing their cost-share early in the program. The cost proposal has no page limit, however offerors are encouraged not to exceed 40 pages. Electronic submission of the cost proposal in Microsoft Excel (version 5.0 or 7.0) files on a 3.5" diskette, IBM PC compatible, including all cell formulas, covering the entire period of performance, is required. (4) Other Requirements -- Foreign owned firms are advised they will not be allowed to participate at the prime contractor level. To prepare its proposal and perform services under the contract, the contractor will require access to Militarily Critical Technical Data whose export is restricted by U.S. export control laws and regulations. Only contractors who are registered and certified with the Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS) may submit proposals. Contact DLIS, 74 North Washington, Battle Creek, Michigan 49016-4312 (800 352-3572) to register. Submit copy of DD Form 2345 with the proposal if not already submitted to attend the Pre-proposal Conference. Offerors are advised awards will be made only to contractors who are registered in the DLIS maintained Central Contractor Registration (CCR) Registry. For information on registration, contact the CCR Assistance Center at 1-(888)-227-2423 or visit their website http://ccr.edi.disa.mil. D-BASIS FOR AWARD -- The Government plans to award two agreements as a result of this announcement, but may award more, one, or none depending upon the quality of offers received and availability of funding. Offerors are advised that the Government intends to hold all proposals received for a period of one year from the closing date. Should additional funding to support another award become available during this year, the Government may approach the most highly rated non-winning offeror, to enter into negotiations. The Government will not accept additional proposals not originally evaluated. Offerors will be afforded the opportunity to update their proposals during the negotiation process. The selection of a prospective awardee will be based upon an integrated evaluation of the offeror's response to determine the overall merit of the proposal in addressing all the requirements in this announcement, leading to selection of the offer(s) that represent(s) best value to the Government. Offerors are notified that the Government intends to select a prospective awardee for further discussion, based upon offeror's initial responses, so offerors should submit their best offer initially. Upon completing its evaluation, the Government will select a prospective awardee(s) and enter into final negotiations with that/those offeror(s) only. After notification of selection, the Government/prospective awardee team will prepare a statement of work (SOW) consistent with the offeror's approach to this effort. The Government-furnished TRD will become an attachment to this SOW. Should negotiations prove unsuccessful, the Government may enter into negotiations with another offeror who may then displace the first as the prospective awardee. Evaluation Criteria: Technical -- This area shall be evaluated using the following factors in descending importance: (1) the offeror's capability, e.g., experience, past performance, personnel qualifications, facilities, and confidence that the offeror will commercialize the item, (2) the feasibility and demonstrated scientific/technical merit of the offeror's approach, including confidence that the offeror can meet the minimum requirements stated in the TRD, (3) acceptability of offered terms and conditions. Cost -- This area will be evaluated for realism, reasonableness and cost-share, which are of equal importance. (1) Realism -- The proposal will be evaluated to determine the extent to which proposed costs are consistent with the types, quantities, qualities, and performance/delivery schedules of all products/services being proposed. (2) Reasonableness -- The proposal will be evaluated to determine if the offeror's proposed costs are consistent in nature and amount with what prudent persons would be willing to recognize for the same or similar products and/or services under comparable acquisition circumstances. (3) Cost share will be evaluated for overall quality and impact upon best value to the Government. Technical and Cost are approximately equal in importance. The Government evaluation team may include technical advisors from both Government and Federally Funded R&D Centers (FFRDCs), including JPL and Aerospace Corporation. E-MISCELLANEOUS-A copy of this announcement will be available to interested parties via the AFRL/PRS/PK (www.plk.af.mil) web site. Offerors that respond to this announcement must monitor the web site for potential changes to the acquisition. Amendments and questions and answers to the announcement will be posted exclusively on the web site -- all postings will clearly display the date of posting. Check the form DD 254 attached to the model agreement. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hearconcerns from offerors or potential offerors, primarily during the proposal development phase of this competitive, negotiated acquisition. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the Program Director or Agreement Administrator, but to communicate offeror concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations to the appropriate government personnel. Before contacting the Ombudsman, potential offerors should first communicate with the Agreement Administrator. In those instances where offerors cannot obtain resolution from the Agreement Administrator, they are invited to contact the Ombudsman at the AFRL/PRS, Mr. Eugene DeWall, Deputy Chief of Contracting (PRS, Det 8/PK), at (505) 846-4979, or at 2251 Maxwell Avenue SE, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5773. 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 process. For business issues please contact Linda Rae Johnson, (505) 846-5935. For technical issues, please contact Creigh Gordon, (505) 846-6079. Posted 07/20/98 (W-SN225604). (0201)

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