BAA-AFRL-RVKD-2015-0002_STRAFE_Q_and_A_20151124.pdf

BAA-AFRL-RVKD-2015-0002 Questions and Answers 24 November 2015

Q1. Does the “System Control” function under the Laser Pod Research and Development (LPRD) effort handle all interfaces for predictive avoidance?

A1. The STRAFE effort will not control the interfaces for predictive avoidance. The system control function for predictive avoidance interfaces will be under the LPRD effort.

Q2. Does the “System Control” function under the LPRD effort handle all interfaces for hard-wire abort?

A2. The STRAFE effort should consider hardware required to support the hard-wire abort function for the beam control optical path, but will not be responsible for overall hard-wire abort system operation or control. The LPRD effort will be responsible for overall interfaces to verify operation of the hard wired abort system.

Q3. Does the “System Control” function under the LPRD effort handle transitions through the kill chain functions: Fix, Track, Target, and Engage? Asked another way, the requirement on chart 5 indicates that the system must be capable of handling the “Fix, Track, Target, and Engage” functions of the Kill Chain:

Should STRAFE suppliers assume that the Beam Control System (BCS) is required to provide the capability to execute these functions while System Control handles the transition through these functions in the Kill Chain?

A3. The referenced chart is found on slide 49 of ‘STRAFE-BFI_Briefs_2015-07-16.pdf’ from the STRAFE unclassified bidder’s library. The BCS should provide the capability to execute these functions.

Depending on timeline allocation, this execution may be automated.

Q4. Are you able to provide a drawing describing pod dimensions?

A4. Potential STRAFE offerors can assume a structure similar to the external fuel tank shown in ‘F-15 Fuel Pod Info.pdf’ of the STRAFE unclassified bidder’s library. The structure for the Self-Protect High Energy Demonstrator (SHiELD) demonstration will be developed under the LPRD effort.

Q5. Reference BAA VII,C.3.b), page 19 and Attachment 6 Model Contract. The BAA states that the potential CLIN 0001 is for “Labor, Subcontract and Consultants” and CLIN 0002 is for “Other Direct Costs.” Per the draft Model Contract, it states that CLIN 0001 is for “labor and facilities.” Please clarify whether CLIN 0001 is to include subcontract costs or not.

A5. Subcontracts and consultants are included in CLIN 0001 of the model contract.

Q6. Reference BAA VII,C.3.b), page 19. Please clarify AFRL’s definition of ODC. Is material considered as ODC to AFRL?

A6. Other direct costs (ODC) are non-labor cost expenditures which are allowable, allocable and reasonable as a direct charge and include things such as materials, special tooling, test equipment computer services, packaging and packaging cost required for the effort. ODCs are costs not previously identified as a direct labor cost, or indirect cost. In other words, any other direct cost is a cost that can be identified specifically with a final cost objective that the offeror does not treat as a direct labor cost.

Q7. Reference BAA VII,C.3.b), page 19. Is there intent to flow the no fee on ODCs to subcontractors?

A7. There is no intent to flow the “no fee” on ODCs for subcontracts priced under CLIN 0001.

Q8 Reference BAA VII,C.3.b), page 19. What is the purpose of the Not Separately Priced (NSP) CLINs? Does the contractor have to separately show pricing for each of the NSP in our proposal for your assessment? Since they are “NSP”, wasn’t sure the intent of having separate CLINs for them.

A8. The offeror does not have to show pricing separately for NSP CLINs; the purpose of NSP CLINs is to indicate a contract deliverable when the price is included in another contract line item.

Q9. Reference Attachment 8 Cost proposal Instructions 1.d.(6) and 2.a.(2) – “Furnish Tables 1 thru 4” and “including Tables 1 thru 4.” There is no sample Table 4 included in the BAA documents. Please provide a sample table or confirm that the table is not required.

A9. Table 4 referenced in paragraph 1.d.(6) and 2.a.(2) of the cost proposal instructions does not exist.

The sentences should read “…Tables 1 thru 3….”

Q10. Attachment 8 Cost Proposal Instructions 1.d.(2) - If the proposal includes more than one priced CLIN, recurring/non-recurring costs shall be identified for each priced CLIN. Since this is a research and development program, the entire scope could be defined as non-recurring. Do you agree with this assessment?

A10. For purposes of this BAA there is only one priced CLIN for the basic effort and one priced CLIN for the optional effort (ODC CLINs are base lined. Identifying recurring and nonrecurring costs does not apply.

Q11. Reference Attachment 8 Cost Proposal Instructions Section 2 page 4 - “(b) Obtain cost or pricing data from prospective sources for those exceeding the threshold set forth in FAR 15.403-4 ($700,000) and not otherwise exempt, in accordance with FAR 15.403-1(b) (i.e., adequate price competition, commercial items, prices set by law or regulation or waiver).” FAR Threshold has been updated to $750,000. Will the updated threshold of $750,000 be applicable for this BAA?

A11. The current threshold for obtaining certified cost or pricing data is $750,000 and is applicable for this BAA. Attachment 8, Cost Proposal Instructions, Section 2 page 4 should read $750,000.

Q12. Reference BAA Project Description Paragraph I.A and I.B. Paragraph 1.B discusses a "provided beacon source" for aero-effect characterization. Will the Government confirm that the referenced beacon source will be provided as GFP? Will the Government also provide the specifications of this beacon source?

A12. The Government will provide the beacon’s specifications. The Government does not anticipate that the beacon will be operated by or provided as GFP to the STRAFE contractor. This beacon will not be part of the Beam Control Subsystem but rather an external beacon used only in cooperative engagements such as aero-optic disturbance measurements.

Q13. Reference BAA Paragraph VI.E.1(a) through (g) Associate Contractor Agreements - The Contractor shall enter into ACA for any portion of the contract requiring joint participation in the accomplishment of the Government Requirement…The following contractors are associate contractors with whom agreements are required: Leidos, MZA Associates Corp., The Aerospace Corp., additional ACAs TBD.

What interfaces, categories of information and/or support will be provided by Leidos, Aerospace and

MZA? Does the Gov't require these ACAs to be in place at time of proposal submittal, or available later for review prior to contract execution? Will you please provide point of contact information for each of the three required contractors?

A13. Associate contractor agreements will be required to be in place with known associate contractors after contract award. At contract award, point of contact information for each associate contractor, if requested, will be provided.

Q13a. Please clarify the scope of the Associate Contractors contracts/programs as identified on page 10 of the BAA and their relation to the BAA effort. In addition, please provide a point of contact for each of the Associate Contractors to initiate the agreements required.

A13a. Associate Contractors are being used for independent analysis for the SHiELD program. Point of contact information for each associate contractor will be provided, if requested, to the STRAFE awardee to initiate ACAs.

Q13b. Are OCI mitigation plans in place with MZA and the other ACAs, if appropriate. If so, can you advise the specifics of their mitigation plans?

A13b. OCI mitigation plans are in place with the ACAs, if appropriate. Specifics will be provided, as needed, after award.

Q14. Reference BAA Paragraph VII.B.3 - The Aerospace Corp will provide advisor support. Will the Government provide Aerospace Corp point of contact information, as well as any other non-Gov't advisors, so that Contractors may directly initiate proprietary non-disclosure agreements?

A14. Any non-disclosure agreement requests for the Aerospace Corporation will be sent through the contracting POC listed in the BAA (Section III.B.) Non-Government advisors will not be given access to proprietary information until after requested NDAs are complete. No other non-Government advisors will be used during the STRAFE evaluations.

Q15. Reference BAA Paragraph VII.C.3(6) and VIII.2 - Describe the facilities that will be used….Mfg capability, testing facilities and or/relevant specialized equipment. Identify any Gov't facilities which may be utilized. Contractor assumes AFRL will provide the Gov't facilities, including any specialized equipment, free of rent. Please confirm.

A15. As stated in the BAA VI.C. available base facilities are described in the supplemental data package (05 Systems-Engineering_Government-Resources_Test-Overview_STRAFE-BFI.pptx). These base facilities will be provided free of rent.

Q16. Reference BAA Attachment 4 -Potential Scheduled Government Furnished Property. The Briefing for Industry Charts provided by the Government on 16 July 2015 highlighted additional Government Furnished Property (GFP) and Government Furnished Information (GFI) not explicitly listed in the BAA attachments. Please confirm that the additional GFP/GFI detailed in “04 Systems- Engineering_Government-Resources_Test-Overview.pdf”, specifically charts 9 through 20 will be provided for use on the STRAFE program on a rent free basis.

A16. If requested by the STRAFE awardee, any additional GFP/GFI provided that is not listed in Attachment 4 will be on a rent free basis.

Q17. Reference BAA Paragraph X,B Support Contractors - AFRL has support contractors, e.g. Corporate Allocation Services, Chenega, Integrated Security Solutions, LMATA Government Services and Schafer Corp…which will require…access to proprietary information. Will the Government provide point of contact information for all support contractors so that offerors may directly initiate proprietary non-disclosure agreements?

A17. Points of contact for AFRL support contractors will be provided, if requested, to the STRAFE awardee to initiate any proprietary non-disclosure agreements. AFRL support contractors will not have access to any proprietary information during the evaluation process.

Q18. Reference DD254 Block 11.k - k. Be authorized to use the Defense Courier Service: Block checked NO. Will Contractors be authorized to use Defense Courier Service for transporting TS material?

A18. STRAFE offerors are directed to the BAA VII,C.3; any exceptions to the terms and condition of the draft model contract are to be included in the business section of the Cost/Business proposal volume.

Q19. Reference DD254 Block 13 - Contractor will follow security classification guidance on information, hardware, and equipment provided in the following security classification guides: Directed Energy (DE), Acoustic, Counter-DE & Counter Acoustic Weapons & Weapon Technologies, Change1, 12 July 2010 and DARPA SCG-622 dated 13 Oct 2009. Will the Government please provide a copy of DARPA SCG-622, dated 13 Oct 2009?

A19. The Security Classification Guide (SCG) is provided in the classified GFI, ABC System SCG 622.pdf (the SCG itself is unclassified). If needed, contact the TPOC identified in the BAA (III.A) for a copy.

Q19a. Request a copy of the Security Classification Guide (Block 13) and OPSEC Security Plan (11j).

A19a. Contact the TPOC identified in the BAA (III.A) for copies of the SCGs. The OPSEC plan will be provided to the awardee upon award.

Q20. Reference DD254 Paragraph 11.j - It is incumbent upon the contractor to request this document via the contracting officer or directly to the OPSEC Program Office. Will the PCO or OPSEC Program Office please provide copies of the RV/RD OPSEC Plan or specific Program OPSEC Plan, and the RD/RV Critical Information List?

A20. The OPSEC plan and Critical Information List will be provided to the awardee upon award.

Q21. Reference CDRL A003 and A005 Financial/Schedule Reporting - There are two CDRLs that address financial reporting. The first being A003 Status Report, and the second being A005 Integrated Program Management Report (IPMR) (A005 is a relatively new CDRL that combines CPR and IMS).

Recommend that A003 be deleted, since A005 is much more comprehensive. Based upon Government requirements, A005 is mandated due to the potential dollar value of this award, as noted on page 6 of the IPMR Implementation guide, dated 1-24-13. In addition, CDRL A003 references DID DI-MGMT- 80368A, which then references DI-FNCL-80331. The third paragraph of DI-FNCL-80331 states: “This DID is applicable to time and material, research and development and other contracts where use of Cost Performance Reporting (CPR) or Cost/Schedule Status Reporting (C/SSR) are not appropriate . . . . . . . ”.

In this case the new IPMR (CPR and IMS) CDRL A005 is most appropriate, per our interpretation of the Government’s documentation.

A21. The draft CDRLs (Attachment 2) are representative of the types of data that may be required.

Offerors are free to propose additional content to these reports. STRAFE offerors are directed to the BAA VII,C.3; any exceptions to the terms and condition of the draft model contract are to be included in the business section of the Cost/Business proposal volume.

Q22. Reference CDRL A003 and A005 Financial/Schedule Reporting - In the CDRL A005, Block 4, the CDRL states “Formats 2,3 and 4 are optional, at the discretion of the Program Manager.” Does the Government Program Manager plan to require Formats 2, 3, and 4?

A22. No

Q23. Reference Model Contract - In the description of CLIN 0003: The contractor shall submit a basis for estimate prior to conducting travel. All travel shall be approved in advance by the STRAFE Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) identified in the contract. The travel CLIN is intended to pay for travel occurring at the direction of the Government performed in conjunction with a specific trip authorized in the contract. Will the Government please delete the advance approval requirement for travel? Contractors must react quickly to any problems that might occur at a subcontractor's facility and may need to immediately travel to the supplier location to assist in resolving the problem. The need for advance approval will add administrative charges for processing and could cause delays in resolving such problems, potentially impacting program cost and schedule.

A23. STRAFE offerors are directed to the BAA VII,C.3; any exceptions to the terms and condition of the draft model contract are to be included in the business section of the Cost/Business proposal volume.

Q24. Reference Attachment 1 Statement of Objectives - Objective bullet 1 states a technical objective of a BCS capability includes a Range-in-a-Box diagnostic to facilitate low power system performance verification. Is this not to be used with the Phase 2 mid power system?

A24. The Range in a Box is only required to handle SHEL power.

Q25. Reference Full Announcement, VII - Proposal and Submission Information, C. Specific Proposal Preparation Instructions, 2. Technical Volume a). This paragraph states “Pages shall be numbered starting with the cover page as Page 1”, yet two sentences below the instructions state “Blank pages, title pages, tables of content, lists or cover sheets are not included in the page count”. Does the “cover page” count against the 50 page limit?

A25. The cover page does not count against the 50 page limit.

Q26. Reference Attachment 1, Statement of Objectives – Period of Performance, Schedule Guidelines.

Would the Government consider either moving the time of exercising the Option, if applicable, to coincide with the date of the PDR, or allow additional time for the delivery of the second BCS, to allow for the procurement of long lead items?

A26. The schedule listed in the STRAFE SOO is intended as a guideline only. Offerors are free to propose a schedule that best fits the proposed approach to meeting the STRAFE objectives

Q27. Reference BAA Attachment 1 - SOO STRAFE Objective. A Range-in-a-Box diagnostic to facilitate low power system performance verification without requiring access to an outdoor extended range. Please confirm our understanding that the intent of the Range-in-a-Box is for low power SHEL use only.

A27. The Range in a Box is only required to handle SHEL power.

Q28. Reference BAA Attachment 1 - SOO STRAFE Objective. A rapidly reconfigurable BCS design to allow operators to transition from full power, moderate energy laser (MEL) operation to low power (100W-class) surrogate high energy laser (SHEL) configuration. Does the above statement mean the SHEL is part of STRAFE scope?

A28. Acquisition of the SHEL is not part of the STRAFE scope.

Q29. Reference BAA Attachment 1 - SOO STRAFE Objective. This second BCS will provide a means to troubleshoot issues off-line in both low power and Moderate Energy Laser (MEL) configured demonstrations, discern component performance trades, and provide a ready substitute in test contingencies. Will the second BCS be used for spares, if needed?

A29. The intent of the second BCS is to have a full system that could be integrated for the purpose of risk reduction during testing. As part of this intent, the second BCS may be used for spare parts during testing.

Q30. Reference BAA funding profile Section IIB. Is funding profile restrictive by year?

A30. The anticipated funding profile provided in Section II.B of the BAA is an estimate of how the Government anticipates funding the resultant STRAFE contract.

Q31. For planning and securing appropriate facility purposes, please advise when TS/SCI data will be provided where handling and storage will be required at Contractor facility?

A31. TS/SCI data will be provided after award of the contract.

Q32. The STRAFE BAA gives the impression that one award will be made. Our team has wondered if a small risk reduction activity say about $10M would be considered. There has been some positive encouragement for this approach but nothing firm. As you know the concern here is that one contractor will win no matter what so it makes no sense to compete for the whole project. This approach may facilitate cross fertilization and help the Government in this regard. It would be a shame if the government only received one substantial proposal because organizations felt that they were wasting their time and money.

A32. The STRAFE BAA Announcement Overview states that the Government anticipates awarding a minimum of one award; this will remain unchanged. Market research and attendance at the STRAFE Briefing for Industry (BFI) (July 2015) indicate that the Government will receive more than “one substantial proposal.”

Q33. I recently found out that OASIS is being used to obtain proposals to support the Government team in risk reduction, system engineering, etc. This is typically the role of our company but it appears that we cannot address OASIS as the proposal due date is near and we are not sure that we meet the requirements to bid on OASIS. Is there a way for our company to participate in this competition without submitting a formal protest as to the process. We, of course, do not want to follow this approach but would very much like to be involved.

A33. It is inferred that the comment regarding OASIS is a reference to the System Engineering (SE) and Modeling and Simulation Support for AFRL-RD (SEMSS-RD) effort. The acquisition approach for SEMMS-RD is still being defined.

Q34. We are concerned that if we propose on STRAFE and lose we will not be allowed to work on the Government side. We have a related question as to what happens if we win. Is there a way to participate on the Government side?

A34. The Government foresees no Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) constraint should one or more of these contracts be awarded to the same prime contractor. The Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program requires awardees to work together for the demonstration to be successful. For the awardees to work closely together, the applicable AFFARS OCI clause and alternates will be included in each contract. This clause will require flow down to subcontractors. The purpose of the System Engineering (SE) and Modeling and Simulation Support for AFRL-RD (SEMSS-RD) effort is to provide independent support for assessment of Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) efforts in the design, build and test phase and to assist with Government led elements of program support (e.g. requirements development, configuration control, test planning, risk management).

These activities would have a natural OCI risk with regard to design, build, and test efforts. If the awardee of the SE contract was also awarded one or more of the SHiELD efforts, an acceptable OCI mitigation plan would be required.

Q35. Our assumption is that the STRAFE contractor will participate in trade studies and systems engineering with AFRL and other subsystem contractors, with AFRL functioning as the systems engineering lead. Is that correct?

A35. That is correct. The STRAFE contractor will participate in systems engineering and trade studies, Q36. Reference BAA Project Description Paragraph I.A and I.B. Paragraph 1.B discusses a "provided beacon source" for aero-effect characterization. Will this beacon only be used for supersonic data collection?

A36. The beacon source referenced in Paragraph I.B is a cooperative target beacon which will be used for aero-effects characterization. It will not fulfill the Paragraph I.A objective to engage a dynamic non-cooperative target.

Q37. Reference BAA VII,C.3.b), page 19 and Attachment 6 Model Contract. We would like to recommend a clear acceptance point (preferably DD250) for CLIN 001 after hardware delivery and then segregate post hardware delivery activities into a separate CLIN.

A37. STRAFE offerors are directed to the BAA VII,C.3; any exceptions to the terms and condition of the draft model contract are to be included in the business section of the Cost/Business proposal volume.

Q38. May we include capabilities outside the scope of the STRAFE BAA as an option in our proposal?

A38. Work which is outside the scope of the BAA that might support the effort may be included in the proposal as a separately priced option.