sUAS_for_NSC_RFP_Attachment_J-16_QASP.pdf

ATTACHMENT J-16

Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) for the small Unmanned Air System (sUAS) for National Security Cutter (NSC) Program’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Services

1. Purpose

This Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) is a Government developed and applied document used to make sure systematic quality assurance methods are used in the administration of the Performance Based Service Contract (PBSC) standards included in this contract and in subsequent task orders. The intent is to ensure that the contractor performs in accordance with the performance metrics and the Government receives the quality of service called for in the contract. This QASP specifically corresponds to the RFP Section C, Statement of Objectives (SOO). That document discusses the requirements and standards of performance of the award. The objective of this QASP is to evaluate Contractor performance across requirements relative to performance standards. All activities included in the SOO are grouped into major categories of effort that lead to effective provision of support services. For this reason, the primary interest is acceptability of the service and/or final product provided by the Contractor, rather than the detailed operations procedures utilized to provide the service. The QASP will be utilized to obtain knowledge necessary for the contracting officer to negotiate equitable adjustments in the flow of monetary compensation when it becomes necessary for the Government to accept performance shortfalls from contractually established quality standards.

The requirement to be fulfilled is the National Security Cutter’s (NSC) immediate operational need for a persistent airborne surveillance capability and will serve as an ISR and communications extension of the cutter. The UAS will address the NSC’s Key Performance Parameter of daily flight time, which includes 12 unmanned flight hours per day in support of all world-wide missions executed by the NSC, including:

• Defense Readiness

• Drug Interdiction

• Other Law Enforcement

• Living Marine Resources

• Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security

• Migrant Interdiction

• Search and Rescue

• Marie Environmental Protection

This service requires the contractor to provide the necessary trained personnel, UAS ISR non-developmental equipment, certifications, installation, operation, maintenance, sustainment, spares/product support, training for Government personnel, and other related support services necessary to effectively and efficiently support the NSC fleet’s world-wide patrol missions. This effort will be in direct support of combat missions and requires around the clock imagery and other sensor capability in support of ISR missions. The contractor will be capable of providing both normal and surge ISR services day and night, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for up to 200 flight hours per month.

2. Authority

Authority for issuance of this QASP is provided under Contract Section E – Inspection and Acceptance, which provides for inspection and acceptance of the services and documentation called for in task orders to be executed by the Contracting Officer or a duly authorized representative.

Attachment J-16

3. Scope

To fully understand the roles and responsibilities of the parties, it is important to first define the distinction in terminology between Quality Control and the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan, and second, to define safety.

a. The Contractor, and not the Government, is responsible for management and quality control actions necessary to meet the quality standards set forth by the contract and subsequent task orders. The Contractor develops an internal Quality Control Plan for use by their employees during the duration of this contract. The Contractor then uses the document to guide and rigorously document the implementation of the required management and quality control actions to achieve the specified results.

b. The QASP is a Government document, put in place to provide Government surveillance, or oversight, of the Contractor’s quality control efforts to ensure that the services provided are timely, effective and delivered in accordance with the requirements specified in the contract and task order(s).

c. The Contractor and the Government share responsibility for safe operations. The safety program will focus on hazards to personnel and equipment. Government has overall authority to determine acceptable safety risks that could impact the mission performance.

4. Government Resources

The following definitions for Government resources are applicable to this plan:

Contracting Officer (KO) - A person duly appointed with the authority to enter into contracts and make related determination and findings on behalf of the Government. KOs are designated via a written warrant which sets forth limitations of authority.

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) - An individual designated in writing by the KO to act as their authorized representative to assist in administering the contract. The CORs will be designated in the resulting contract and individual task orders. The limitations of authority are contained in a written letter of designation.

Liaison Officer (LNO) - Each activity installing a UAS under this contract will have a government appointed individual who is responsible for the activity performance. This individual, the LNO, is tasked with developing operational procedures tailored to the unique situation and nature of work for the Government activity. The LNO is generally assigned by the Program Management Office (PMO) and may be designated in the resulting individual task order. The LNO is not authorized to modify or change any provisions of the contract.

5. Responsibilities

The following Government resources shall have responsibility for the implementation of this QASP:

Contracting Officer – The Contracting Officer ensures the Contractor receives impartial, fair, and equitable treatment under the contract. The Contracting Officer is ultimately responsible for the final determination of the adequacy of the Contractor’s performance. Additionally, the Contracting Officer:

1) ensures performance of all necessary actions for effective contracting,

2) ensures compliance with the terms of the contract and

3) safeguards the interests of the United States in the contractual relationship

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) – The COR is responsible for technical administration of the contract and assures proper Government surveillance of the contractor’s performance. The COR is not empowered to make any contractual commitments or to authorize any changes on the Government’s behalf. Any changes that the Contractor deems may affect contract price, terms or conditions shall be referred to the KO for action.

Liaison Officer (LNO) - The LNO provides detailed technical oversight of the Contractor’s performance and reports findings to the COR in a timely, complete, and impartial fashion to support the COR’s technical administration activities. Despite serving as a direct conduit to provide Government guidance and feedback to the Contractor on technical matters, as with the COR, the LNO is not empowered to make any contractual commitments or to authorize any contract changes on the Government’s behalf.

Any changes that the contractor deems necessary may affect contract price, terms or conditions, and shall be referred to the Contracting Officer for action.

6. Methods of QA Surveillance

a. Contractor Performance Assessment Report System (CPARS) – The market place for UAS ISR services is expanding rapidly. As such, the Contractor has a vested interest in the Government-generated assessment under this contract. The Government for this procurement will address the quality of service, schedule, equipment reliability, and management. As input to the Government’s annual evaluation of Contractor performance, the LNO will provide the COR an informal evaluation of the Contractor’s performance. The COR will maintain a Contractor evaluation file which will be provided to the KO and used to supplement input into CPARS.

b. QASP - The below listed methods of surveillance shall be used by the COR in the technical administration of this QASP. In addition to the below instructions, the form to be used for documenting QA surveillance is the Surveillance Activity Checklist, provided as Enclosure (3) herein.

Mission Reliability Rate (MRR) –MRR shall be used as the measure of effectiveness for mission performance. MRR is defined as the total monthly credited mission hours divided by the total monthly scheduled mission hours. An MRR of 95% is the minimum threshold with a desired MRR of 100%. MRR data will be collected by the contractor and provided to the LNO for verification and reported to the COR utilizing the contractor provided spreadsheet. The LNO will validate the mission performance by annotating in the remarks block as Satisfactory, Marginal, or Unsatisfactory. The consolidated Monthly SITREP Data will be provided to the COR. The COR will incorporate this data into the evaluation file to be provided to the KO. MRR results will be entered on the Surveillance Activity Checklist, forwarded to the KO and used as the basis for monthly payment adjustment if MMR is less than 95%.

Formal and Informal Customer Feedback – Comments and observations by the NSC’s command to which the Contractor is assigned will be collected by the LNO and provided to the COR for incorporation into the evaluation file.

7. Identified QA Surveillance Tasks

The following Performance Based Service Contract (PBSC) items are identified and are to be monitored under this QASP. Enclosures (1) and (2) sets forth the performance standards and surveillance methods for the contractor and COR while enclosure (3) provides the checklist and means for the CORs to document the results of the surveillance and shall be provided to the Contracting Officer on an annual basis.

a. Contract Data Requirements (applies to each CDRL - see enclosure (2)):

Description - CDRL Title

Standard – Satisfactory COR Review

Surveillance Method – 100% Inspection by COR

b. Deployment Support

Description – Individual Deployment/Task Order (Deployment CLIN)

Standard – Mission Reliability rate

AQL – 95% success rate in implementation and sustainment

Surveillance Method – 100% inspection of deployment schedule by COR

8. Documentation

In addition to providing annual reports to the Contracting Officer, the COR will maintain a complete Quality Assurance file. The file will contain copies of all reports, evaluations, recommendations, and any actions related to the Government’s performance of the quality assurance function, including the originals of the Quality Assurance Checklists. All such records will be maintained for the life of the contract. The COR shall forward these records to the Contracting officer at termination or completion of the contract.

9. Enclosures

Enclosure (1) - Deployment Performance Standards Enclosure (2) - Data Performance Standards Enclosure (3) - Surveillance Activity Checklist

(Enclosure 1)

DEPLOYMENT PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Types Standard

ACCEPTABLE

QUALITY

LEVEL (AQL)

Surveillance Method/Measure

System Installation

Operational System

NAVAIR Interim Flight Certification (Message)

100% Inspection by COR with Customer feedback

Testing Operational System

Deck Certification At Sea Qualification

100% Inspection by COR with Customer feedback

Sustainment Support Mission Reliability Metric

MR >= 95%

threshold, 100% Objective per Month

Number of Mission hours scheduled divided by Number of acceptable mission hours provided

ISR Data Sensor Quality

Satisfactory Rating Marginal Rating

Daily SITREP Entry

1. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENT FOR PAYMENT

Failure to meet the MRR for required service levels specified in the Task Order will result in adjustments to the applicable monthly deployment CLIN as follows:

1.1. Reduction of payment occurs when Mission Reliability drops below 95%.

1.2. The Contractor shall make every effort to resolve problems as they occur.

1.3. The Contractor shall be in constant contact with Government representatives keeping them informed of problems/concerns and resolutions to issues.

1.4. The Contractor shall maintain and have adequate UA’s and sparing to provide ISR services without replenishment for duration of the NSC deployment (currently estimated at 200 days per deployment).

(Enclosure 2)

DATA PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Description Standard AQL Surveillance

Method/ Measure

CDRL Mission Reliability Satisfactory COR Review and Acceptance N/A

100% Inspection by COR with Customer feedback

CDRL Quality Control Plan Satisfactory COR Review and Acceptance N/A 100% Inspection and acceptance by COR

Areas of Assessment and Definitions

All tasks will be assessed focusing on the following:

Quality of Product or Service – Assess the contractor’s effort to provide quality products and/or services in meeting the statement of work requirements. This shall include activities to meet cost, performance, and schedule objectives. Assess how successfully the contractor meets program quality.

Schedule – Assess the contractor’s adherence to the required delivery schedule by assessing the contractor’s efforts during the assessment period that contribute to or effect the schedule variance. Also, address significance of scheduled events, discuss causes, and assess the effectiveness of contractor corrective actions.

Cost Control –Not used for firm-fixed-price orders.

Management Responsiveness – Assess the timeliness, completeness and quality of problem identification, corrective action plans, proposal submittals (especially responses to over and above work requests and requests for proposals), the contractor's history of reasonable and cooperative behavior, effective business relations, and customer satisfaction.

Consider the contractor’s responsiveness to the program as it relates to meeting contract requirements during the period covered by the report.

Other areas – Assess additional evaluation areas unique to the task order or that cannot be captured elsewhere.

(Enclosure 3)

SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITY CHECKLIST

Monthly Surveillance:

Description Surveillance Method/

Measure Date Planned Date Completed Summary

Rating/Results Assess Adherence to Operational Requirement

100% Inspection by COR

TBD

LNO Assessment of Sensor Quality

100% Inspection by COR

Annual Surveillance:

GOVERNMENT QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM METRIC (Mission Reliability Rate)

Mission Reliability Rate (MRR) shall be used as the measure of effectiveness for mission performance.

MRR is defined as the total monthly credited mission hours divided by the total monthly scheduled mission hours. An MRR of 95% is the minimum threshold with a desired MRR of 100%. A credited mission is defined as having the appropriate sensor, at the designated location, within the specified time, with the capability of transmitting quality data to the NSC. Total scheduled mission hours are the sum of the daily scheduled mission hours adjusted for cancellations initiated by the government. The total credited mission hours are the difference between the daily scheduled mission hours minus the mission cancellation hours that result from circumstances that are within the contractor control.

Sample Daily SITREP

The sample Daily SITREP below shall be utilized by the contractor for documenting Mission performance. The LNO will use the notes column for verifying mission performance as Satisfactory, Marginal, or Unsatisfactory. The instructions for filling out the form will be included as a part of the Standard Operating Procedures. At the end of the month the completed SITREP will be forwarded to the COR for processing.

Description Surveillance Method/ Measure

Date Planned Date Completed Summary Rating/Results

CPAR Consolidation

100% Inspection by

COR & PCO

x Daily MTD YTD

Hrs: Date

Sorties: 5 x Unsched. Flights:

x

Date Mission # S-Schedule U-Unsched

Aircraft

Sensor Onstation Start Time

Offstation Mission

End

Mission Time

(Hours)

Onstation Start Time

Offstation Mission End

Total Mission

Time

Reason for Cancel, Abort or Delay

Weather Incident / Misha

Notes/ Comment

Sensor Quality

End of Month

MRR %

1/1/2011 1(S) 1 EO 8:00 18:00 10.0 8:00 16:30 8.5 Clear

1/1/2011 2(S) 2 EO 6:40 15:10 8.5 6:40 15:10 8.5 Sandstorm Clear

1/1/2011 3(S) 3 EO 6:00 16:00 10.0 6:00 17:00 11 Clear

1/1/2011 4(U) 4 IR 21:00 1:00 4 Clear

1/1/2011 5(S) 5 IR 18:00 4:00 10.0 18:00 22:00 4 Clear

1/1/2011 5A(U) 6 IR 23:30 1:30 2 Clear

38.5 38.0 99.0

Daily Situation Repor t for January 2011

Daily Flying Status

Scheduled Actual

Deployment

Site Lead

Example of Mission Reliability Accreditation and Calculation

The purpose of this example is to demonstrate the methodology for crediting Mission Reliability. The scenarios below are an attempt to describe many of the adjustments that can be applied to the credited mission hours.

Mission 1(S) is a (10) hour Scheduled EO mission. The camera fails in the last 1.5 hours of the scheduled mission resulting in 1.5 hours reduction to credited Mission time. The contractor is credited with 8.5 hours.

Mission 2(S) is a (10) hour Scheduled EO mission. A thunderstorm in the area develops during the last

1.5 hours of the mission and the government cancels the mission. A 1.5 hour adjustment is made to the scheduled mission changing it from 10 to 8.5 hours. The contractor is credited with 8.5 hours.

Mission 3(S) is a (10) hour Scheduled EO mission. The government extends the mission for an additional hour. The contractor is credited with the additional hour. The contractor is credited with 11 hours.

Mission 4(U) is an unscheduled high value target of opportunity mission. The contractor is credited with an additional 4 hours towards the monthly total.

Mission 5(S) is a (10) hour scheduled mission. After 4 hours of mission time the UA has a mechanical failure. As a result the contractor loses 6 hours of mission time. The contractor is credited with 4 hours.

Mission 5A(S) is a follow-on to mission 5 with a replacement UA. The contractor completes the last 2 hours of the scheduled mission and is credited with the 2 additional hours.

The total credited hours for all missions is 38.0 hours. The total adjusted scheduled hours are 38.5. This ratio (38/38.5) results in a monthly MRR of 99%.

*Includes actual hours of unscheduled missions performed

Mission S=Scheduled U=Unscheduled

Scheduled Mission Hours

Adjusted Scheduled Mission Hours –(G)hours

Failure G=Government C=Contractor

Credited Mission Hours

- (C)hours

Comments

1S 10 10 C(1.5) 8.5 EO camera failed 2S 10 8.5 G(1.5) 8.5 Thunderstorm 3S 10 10 11 Mission extended 4U 4 High value pop up 5S 10 10 C(6) 4 Mechanical Failure 5AS 2 2 Launched second aircraft Total 38.5 38.0