ASQ-230 RFI_17 JUN 2026.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

FA8528-22-D-0013

U-2 ASQ-230 Sustainment and Support

CAUTION:

The Government is conducting market research to identify potential sources that possess the repair data, expertise, capabilities, and experience to meet qualification requirements to provide Sustainment and Support for the U-2 ASQ-230 installed on Air Force (AF) U-2 aircraft. The contractor is expected to satisfy all performance requirements with minimal assistance from the Government. Sustainment and Support will include depot-level repair/full depot sustainment support of all U-2 ASQ-230 unique hardware/software components installed as part of U-2 ASQ- 230 on the U-2. The contractor is expected to have repair capability and will use transportation, cost, repair turnaround, and other factors to make best-value determinations and support decision making. The contractor will provide U-2 ASQ-230 technical reach back lines of communication to address any/all technical/engineering issues affecting overall system performance. The contractor will provide total material management for all associated U-2 ASQ-230 unique hardware and consumable components. Fulfilling material management responsibilities for U-2 ASQ-230 will require the contractor or their subcontractor to be an AF Material Command (AFMC) certified Contractor-Inventory Control Point (C-ICP). The contractor will establish/provide full asset visibility of all U-2 ASQ-230 unique components. The contractor will provide serviceable retail U-2 ASQ-230 components to be stored in base supply units.

Serviceable wholesale U-2 ASQ-230 unique spares will be stored in contractor/subcontractor’s facilities. In addition, the contractor will provide U-2 ASQ-230 unique consumables to satisfy bench stock and Consumable Readiness Support Package (CRSP) requirements at all U-2 ASQ- 230 operating locations. The original design of the end item and parts thereof, or the design functional capabilities of the end item, will not be changed, modified, or altered unless such changes (Class I design changes affecting form, fit, function, or safety) are concurred with by the Government Program Office and authorized in writing by the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO). The Government does not own or have access to the data for these items. It has been determined to be uneconomical to buy the data or rights to the data. It is uneconomical to reverse engineer the part. The OEM and sole source for U-2 ASQ-230 is:

Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation 5441 Luce Ave McClellan Park, CA 95652

CAGE: 8X374

Large Business

Contractor shall furnish all material, support equipment, tools, test equipment, and services. The contractor is responsible for providing, maintaining, and calibrating all support equipment required at their facility or a subcontractor’s facility. Contractor furnished material or parts used for replacement shall equal or exceed the quality of the original material or parts.

Contractors/Institutions responding to this market research are placed on notice that participation in this survey may not ensure participation in future solicitations or contract awards.

This Request for Information (RFI) is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Quotations or Proposals. No solicitation document exists, and a formal solicitation may or may not be issued by the Government as a result of the responses to this RFI. The Government will not be liable for payment of any response preparation expenses, nor does the Government intend to pay for the information submitted in response to this posting. Contractors/Institutions responding to this market research are placed on notice that participation in this survey may not ensure participation in future solicitations or contract awards. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or completion sensitive information contained in their response.

52.215-3 – Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes

As prescribed in 15.209(c), insert the following provision:

Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (Oct 1997)

(a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

(b) Although “proposal” and “offeror” are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal.

(c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of market research in an attempt to overcome barriers to competition.

(End of Provision)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. The document(s) below contains a description of the U-2 ASQ-230 Sustainment and Support requirement and a Contractor Capability Survey. The Survey allows Contractors to provide their company’s capability.

2. If, after reviewing these documents, you desire to participate in the market research, you should provide documentation that supports your company’s capability in meeting these requirements. Failure to provide documentation may result in the government being unable to adequately assess your capabilities. If you lack sufficient experience in a particular area, please provide details explaining how you would overcome the lack of experience/capabilities in order to perform that portion of the requirement (i.e., teaming, subcontracting, etc.)

a. Identify any areas of work that your organization believes should be broken out exclusively for Small Business.

3. Both large and small businesses are encouraged to participate in this Market Research.

Joint ventures or teaming arrangements are encouraged.

4. Questions related to this market survey should be addressed to the PCO.

U-2 ASQ-230 Sustainment and Support

PURPOSE/DESCRIPTION

The Government is conducting market research to identify potential sources that possess the expertise, capabilities, and experience to meet qualification requirements to provide services required to support the U-2 ASQ-230 and associated support equipment as required by the High Altitude ISR Division Program Office.

• Provide depot-level sustainment support services for U-2 ASQ-230 unique components

• Accomplish program integration/management tasks for U-2 ASQ-230

• Accomplish material management tasks for U-2 ASQ-230 unique components using

Contractor Supported Weapons System tenets. Responsibilities include monitoring of Bonded stock and spare levels, identification of requirements, purchase order processing, operation/management of stored inventories, distribution, and administration of CLS material requirements.

• Function as the Contractor-Inventory Control Point (C-ICP) for U-2 ASQ-230 unique components

• Provide long-term storage and maintenance for up to 9 U-2 ASQ-230 Kits and associated containers, trailing components and support equipment

The AN/ASQ-230 is a remotely operated, fully integrated, collection system designed to detect, locate, identify and analyze noncommunications emitters, conventional communications emitters, and special communications emitters. AN/ASQ-230 provides real time Type 1 internet protocol network encryption for all data transmission external to the system.

The current contract provides for Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) for the AN/ASQ-230 sensors.

The future contract should plan for CLS support to include engineering support, the repair of spare assets, the resolution of system failures and issues to ensure the desired availability, reliability and maintainability of the fielded equipment and software. In addition, the current contract provides for HB and LB sensor “tuning” efforts, which occur monthly.

The contract also provides for the mitigation of obsolescence issues, the development and integration of planned upgrades, and DCGS operator support. The AN/ASQ-230 is strictly a military system. There are other military surveillance systems which provide similar capabilities, but none that specifically meet the AN/ASQ-230 specified capability requirements.

CONTRACTOR CAPABILITY SURVEY

U-2 ASQ-230 Support and Sustainment

Part I. Business Information

Please provide the following business information for your company/institution and for any teaming or joint venture partners:

• Company/Institute Name:

• Address:

• Point of Contact:

• CAGE Code:

• Phone Number:

• E-mail Address:

• Web Page URL:

• Government Proposed North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code:

Based on the Government proposed NAICS Code, state whether your company is:

• Small Business (Yes / No)

• Woman Owned Small Business (Yes / No)

• Small Disadvantaged Business (Yes / No)

• 8(a) Certified (Yes / No)

• HUBZone Certified (Yes / No)

• Veteran Owned Small Business (Yes / No)

• Service-Disabled Veteran Small Business (Yes / No)

• System for Award Management (SAM) (Yes / No)

• A statement as to whether your company is domestically or foreign owned (if foreign, please indicate the country of ownership).

Responses to the Capability Survey Part I and Part II must be received no later than close of business on 01 July 2026. Please ensure data is in a readable electronic format that can be received through a firewall. Attachments shall not exceed 10 MB per email. Multiple emails are acceptable.

Responses must be sent via email to the following:

• Capt Tanner Reed (Contracting Officer); tanner.reed.2@us.af.mil

• Macie Dyke (Contracting Specialist); macie.dyke@us.af.mil

Any questions related to this market research should be addressed to the PCO.

mailto:tanner.reed.2@us.af.mil mailto:macie.dyke@us.af.mil

Part II. Capability Survey Questions

A. General Capability Questions:

1. Describe briefly the capabilities of your facility and nature of the goods and/or services you provide. Include a description of your staff composition and management structure.

2. Describe your company's past experience on previous projects similar in complexity to this requirement. Include contract numbers, a brief description of the work performed, period of performance, agency/organization supported, and individual point of contact (Contracting Officer or Program Manager).

3. Describe your company’s experience in repairing the U-2 ASQ-230.

4. Describe your company's capabilities for generating, handling, processing and storing proprietary material and data.

5. Describe your company's capabilities and experience in generating technical data, engineering drawings and manuals. Identify what software programs are utilized to generate these data products and what formats are available for delivered items.

6. What is your company’s current maximum capacity per month for this particular type of requirement? Provide information on any facility reserves you may possess to increase capacity in the event of an immediate need do to critical operational mission requirements.

7. What quality assurance processes and test qualification practices do your company employ?

Provide a description of your quality program (ISO 9001, AS9100, etc.).

a. Provide a detailed quality plan implementing AS9100 (or equivalent).

8. Does your organization possess, or have a plan to obtain, the necessary Facility Security

Clearance (FCL) and accredited facilities (e.g., SCIF) to support this requirement?

9. Describe your experience navigating the Authority to Operate (ATO) process and implementing Risk Management Framework (RMF) controls for similar systems.

B. Repair Questions:

1. Describe your capabilities and experience in repairing existing systems/equipment (hardware and software) to solve maintenance and support problems in the depot environment.

2. Describe your capabilities and experience in developing/modifying repair or maintenance procedures. Include associated upgrade of technical orders and preparation of new technical orders.

a. State the types of diagnostic and troubleshooting tools utilized for efforts such as this.

3. Demonstrate your ability and experience in repair of the same or similar components, which are currently in use on commercial or military helicopters by providing the following information on the same or similar items:

a) Contract Number

b) Procuring Agency

c) Contract Value

d) Number of assets shipped

4. Provide your commercial manual(s) or Acceptance Test Procedures (ATP) and your rights to these manuals and or ATP used in the depot level repair and functional check of these or similar assets for Government Engineer review.

5. Describe your capabilities and experience in test, evaluation, repair or maintenance procedures.

6. Describe your configuration management processes and how you identify and resolve parts obsolescence and diminishing manufacturing sources problems?

7. Discuss your process for addressing any fit, form, and or function issues that may arise out of this effort.

8. Describe your process for maintaining inventory records and reporting on hand/work-in-process balances and repair status to your customer.

9. Include a detailed listing of facilities and equipment, including quantities, required to satisfy the requirements of this effort.

a. Provide an outline of the proposed process, including inspections.

i. State the type of test procedures are anticipated for this effort.

ii. State the type of inspection processes anticipated for this effort.

1. NDI/T.

2. Destructive testing/inspection.

10. How will your organization address the absence of drawings, specifications, technical data, test procedures, etc.

11. If the item cannot be repaired in total, state what your organization can repair.

12. State any technology insertion ideas for the item that would be suitable for this effort.

13. Discuss any reverse engineering or item replacement opportunities that may be present.

C. Engineering Services Questions (Engineering, advisory & assistance services, contractor logistic support, and other services not listed)

1. Describe your services’ capabilities and experience with regard to the requirements of this effort.

2. Describe your capabilities and experience in developing/modifying procedures. Include associated upgrade of technical orders and preparation of new technical orders.

3. Demonstrate your ability and experience for the same or similar services, which are currently provided in the commercial and/or military environment by providing the following information on the same or similar items:

a) Contract Number

b) Procuring Agency

c) Contract Value

d) Services Provided

4. Describe your capabilities and experience in any required test, evaluation, and repair processes/procedures with regard to the required items.

5. Describe how you/your organization will identify and resolve parts obsolescence and diminishing manufacturing sources problems?

6. Discuss your process for addressing any fit, form, and or function issues that may arise out of the requirements of this effort.

7. Describe your process for maintaining inventory records and reporting on hand/work-in-process balance and manufacturing status to your customer as required.

8. How will your organization address the absence of drawings, specifications, technical data, test procedures, etc.