RFI For Directed Energy 1055.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

United States Coast Guard Research and Development Center Market Research for High-Power Microwave Technologies for Maritime Applications

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201 “Exchanges with industry before receipt of proposals”

THIS NOTICE IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI).

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) OR A REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS (RFQ). UNSOLICITED PROPOSALS OR ANY OTHER TYPES OF OFFERS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED IN RESPONSE TO THIS RFI.

NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED PURSUANT TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. PHONE CALLS WILL NOT BE

ACCEPTED AND EMAILS WILL NOT BE RESPONDED TO.

DISCLAIMER: This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. Neither unsolicited proposals nor any other kind of offers will be considered in response to this RFI. Responses to this notice are not offers and will not be accepted by the US Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked “proprietary” will be handled accordingly.

Please segregate proprietary information in your response. All submissions become US Government property and will not be returned.

DESCRIPTION:

This Request for Information (RFI) is part of an effort by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to determine the availability and technical readiness of non-lethal directed energy technologies. The USCG is interested in effectors that use high-power microwaves (HPM) to incapacitate electronic systems in the maritime environment. For the purpose of this RFI, “non-lethal” encompasses two key aspects: (1) minimally-destructive to equipment: capable of stopping a target of interest (TOI) with minimal or no damage to the vessel or it’s machinery, and (2) harmless to living organisms: causes no harm to any persons or marine animals in the area of effect of the effector. The “maritime environment” refers to installation locations that include, but are not limited to, fixed sites such as piers, on the move (OTM) cutters, and OTM small boats. The unique challenges of the maritime environment may require packaging to protect against shock, vibration, sea spray, and airborne particulates, including smoke and fuel exhaust. Primary TOIs for this RFI include, but are not limited to, personal watercraft (PWC) such as Jet Skis, outboard engines, and uncrewed systems, to include uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and uncrewed surface vessels (USV). Information is specifically requested regarding physical dimensions of the effector: its weight, power requirements, cooling requirements, and rough order of magnitude for cost of acquisition and installation. Responses should also include frequency, bandwidth, waveform, output power, area of effect, and range information. Software load to include target profiles and targeting methods should be included as available.

All submissions of technology for this RFI should submit a Technical Readiness Level (TRL) as defined in Figure 1 on page 11 of the US Government Accountability Office’s Technology Readiness Assessment Guide.

https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-48g.pdf https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-48g.pdf

BACKGROUND

The USCG is investigating advances in directed energy technologies and their potential to augment current fleet capabilities. Directed energy is defined as electromagnetic systems capable of converting chemical or electrical energy to radiated energy and focusing it on a target, resulting in physical damage that degrades, neutralizes, defeats, or destroys an adversarial capability. Directed energy systems using HPM are seen as having the potential to facilitate non-lethal vessel stopping operations.

SPECIFIC TECHNICAL INFORMATION REQUESTED

The USCG Research and Development Center requests detailed information on physically available non-lethal directed energy effectors that use HPM. More specifically, information regarding the following:

• Technical description of technology, including imagery as applicable

• Description of how the technology works, including theory of operation

• Description of how technology would be integrated onto a maritime platform

• Dimensions, weight, and other relevant parameters of the technology

• Information on power required and source of power (e.g. batteries, generator, shore power)

• Cooling requirements of the effector

• Information on power emitted, area of emission, range of effect, and management of power emissions

• If emitted power can be adjusted based on TOI range

• Frequencies, bandwidth, and waveforms, if applicable

• Duty cycle

• Software load, to include target profiles and targeting methodology

• Estimated or simulated effects on key electrical or computer systems of targets

• Prior tests or demonstrations the effector has participated in

• TRL and basis for this TRL in the context of the TRL definitions

• Specific make and model TOIs that the system has been tested against

• Safety features, e.g. auto shut-off, alarms, etc.

• Survivability of the effector in a maritime environment including ingress protection (IP) rating, MIL-STD-810G acceptance for temperature, shock, vibration, and salt fog, and sea state (if applicable) the effector can operate in

• Intended operational environment of the effector as it currently exists, e.g. stationary, on-the-move (OTM) on ground, OTM maritime

• Mechanical, electrical, and software integration information required for the government to integrate the HPM effector into a larger system-of-systems

• Estimated timeline to deliver one (1) effector

• Estimated cost of the technology

RESPONDING TO THIS MARKET RESEARCH

It is desired that responses to this RFI address all of the topics discussed in the ‘SPECIFIC TECHNICAL INFORMATION REQUESTED' section. Topics may be combined or treated individually. However, if information is not available for some of the topic areas, your submission is still of interest to the USCG.

When responding to the RFI, please include the following information:

• A one-page cover letter that provides:

o Company information to include: Point of contact (POC) Name, POC Title, Company Name, Location, Mailing Address, Phone Number, Website Address, Email Address; and a brief summary of the response indicating if supporting documentation is included.

• A detailed description of a technology that addresses the “SPECIFIC TECHNICAL INFORMATION REQUESTED” section of this RFI. Submissions of digital photographs, line drawings, illustrations, and technical data are encouraged. Please use International System of Units (SI) for responses, if able.

• Please include all models and variations into one response

• If previously awarded, provide US Government or International contracts for the technology.

• Please limit electronic responses to no more than 20 pages per technology (supporting documentation in the form of a glossary or attachments to the RFI response will not be counted towards the 20-page limit).

The deadline for final responses to this RFI is 01 August 2025. Responses should be sent to smb-rdc-dss+1055@uscg.mil and Kiemisha.A.Sweetney@uscg.mil. Any material classified up to Secret should be separated into an appendix and sent via SIPR only. A SIPR address, if needed, should be requested in an unclassified response to the address above. Please do not submit Top Secret or higher classification responses. If your email response is greater than 10 megabytes (MB), break the submission into multiple sequentially numbered emails of 10 MB or less.

RFI POSTING CATEGORIES:

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS):

5417 – Scientific Research and Development Services 928110 – National Security

Products and Service Code (PSC):

5860 – Stimulated Coherent Radiation Devices, Components, and Accessories 5865 – Electronic Countermeasures, Counter-Countermeasures, and Quick Reaction Capability Equipment 1095 – Miscellaneous Weapons 9999 – Miscellaneous Items mailto:smb-rdc-dss+1055@uscg.mil mailto:smb-rdc-dss+1055@uscg.mil mailto:Kiemisha.A.Sweetney@uscg.mil