U.S. Army Materiel Command, Natick Contracting Division, Attn: AMSSB-ACN, Natick, MA 01760-5011

84 -- CONCEALABLE BODY ARMOR SOL DAAD16-99-R-1019 DUE 080599 POC Peggy Dube, 508-233-4481 or Jerry Jeffrey, 508-233-6257 E-MAIL: Peggy Dube, Contract Specialist, pdube@natick-notes02-army.mil. CONCEALABLE BODY ARMOR VESTS: The following provides answers to questions that were submitted against a synopsis published in the CBD on 7 July 1999: 1.Is the Berry Amendment applicable 100%? If so, has a waiver been applied for? The Berry Amendment applies to this procurement. As a result, no fibers, yarns, fabrics, materials, or manfactured articles may be produced overseas. In accordance with the amendment, the Secretary of Defense has detrmined that certain para-aramid fibers may be procured from the Netherlands, but no other materials, nor para-aramid fibers from any other source, are permissible. Although the Department of the Army is considering alternative materials, the Secretary has not determined that such materials are not available domestically at U.S. market prices. As a result, no waiver to the Berry Amendment other than the DoD excepion for para-aramid fibers described above will be permitted. 2. Is there a benchmark or prototype vest for this solicitation? No. The intent of this solicitation is to see what is commercially available that meets our requirements. 3. Has there been a preliminary review of the current COTS items? Yes. Natick conducted a Market Survey to see if industry could meet our requirements and the requirement in this solicitation is a result of that survey. 4. Is the emphasis for evaluation under NIJ 0101.03 more relevant for 9mm 3A velocity or 44 Mag? The requirement for this vest is NIJ Certified for Level IIIA. Both the 9mm and 44 Mag requirements must be met. 5. What is expected area of coverage for size medium regular? The vest shall provide protection to the torso (vital organ coverage) with one-inch overlap side protection. 6. Is a trauma reduction insert necessary for this procurement? No. This solicitation has no requirement for a trauma insert or for the pocket for the trauma insert, as it affects concealability. 7. Please define "minor modifications" more specifically. Minor modifications could consist of things such as: color, location and number of adjustable belts, side overlap coverage, information required by the government on the care and instruction labels, deletion of pocket for the trauma insert, etc. 8. What is the Style number of the shirts/blouses to be used for evaluation? The CBA vest will be used primarily with civilian clothing by the Protective Services. Therefore, the males will be wearing the standard men's dress shirt (non-fitted) and the females will be wearing the traditional button-down blouses. Posted 07/26/99 (W-SN359040). (0207)

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