A -- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION -- MISSILE AUTOMATIC LOADING TECHNOLOGY

Notice Date

December 21, 2000

Contracting Office

Commander, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Acquisition Center, Research Development and Engineering Center, Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898-5000

ZIP Code

35898-5000

Response Due

February 15, 2001

Point of Contact

Ms. Patsy Garrison, Contracting Officer, AMSAM-AC-SS-RD-BC, telephone 256-876-7406, e-mail: patsy.garrison@redstone.army.mil, and Ms. Beverly Wills, Contract Specialist, AMSAM-AC-SS-RD-BC, telephone 256-876-8761, e-mail: beverly.wills@redstone.army.mil.

Description

The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Research, Development, and Engineering Center, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is seeking domestic sources of information on current or near term technology that can be applied in the design, fabrication, and proof of concept testing of an automatic missile loading system for U.S. Army missiles used in antitank, heavy bunker destruction, and urban operations. The objective of this proof of concept demonstration is to assess the technical capability to provide an experimental item that can automatically and rapidly load tactical missiles into a launcher mechanism. The baseline requirements of the automatic missile loader are: PARAMETER AND SUGGESTED VALUES: Lift and convey from a stored position to a firing position on/in a launcher mechanism, a variety of tactical missiles having the following characteristics: Length: 60 +/- 5 inches; Diameter: 8 +/- 2 inches; Weight: 80 +/-20pounds. The automatic loading demonstration device/system shall have the capability to lift and convey the aforementioned categories of missiles at a rate of 4 to 8 per minute. The demonstration device/system shall not impart on the missile a force in excess of the following values: (a) Longitudinal: 250g for 30msec; (b) Lateral: 25g for 1.4 sec; and (c) Vertical: 25g for 1.4 sec. The demonstration device/system shall be constrained to operate as a subsystem of an overall Light Combat System (LCS), which, as a total system, can be transported in a C-130 aircraft. LCS concepts can vary in class from 5 to 20 tons. Key technological issues for an automatic loading device/system include, but are not limited to, the following: (a) Capability to control a vehicle's automatic loading device/system from a non tethered source external to the vehicle; (b) Capability of the device/system to accommodate/interface with electronic transfer of missile targeting data; (c) Impact of the device/system on the host vehicle's power management system; (d) Capability of the device/system to accommodate multiple types of missiles (up to 3) in the same load; (e) Capability of the device/system to operate while the host vehicle is on the move; (f) Ease and speed at which restocking/re-supply of the device/system can be accomplished. Interested vendors/contractors are asked to submit a white paper containing a description of the technologies that they possess, or are conducting, that have potential application to this project. Responses should also include a brief summary of experience in this technical field. Responding vendors should provide information regarding this announcement to Ms. Beverly Wills, Contract Specialist, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Acquisition Center R&D Contracts Division, Building 5400, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama 35898, before February 15, 2001. Technical questions can be addressed to Mr. Brock Birdsong, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, AMRDEC Propulsion & Structures Directorate, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 35898. Telephone: (256) 876-5119, FAX: (256) 876-9861, e-mail: brock.birdsong@redstone.army.mil. This notice DOES NOT constitute an Invitation for Bids or a Request for Proposal and it is not a commitment by the U.S. Army to procure products or services. The GOVERNMENT DOES NOT INTEND TO AWARD A CONTRACT ON THE BASIS OF THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION OR OTHERWISE PAY FOR THE INFORMATION SOLICITED. However, respondents to this Request For Information will not be excluded from consideration for separate contract services ancillary to this demonstration program or for contract participation in any potential follow-on hardware development activity.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20001226/ASOL014.HTM (W-356 SN5094U3)