Q A_for_Call_0001_(version_5).docx

Response to Questions

BAA-RVKD-2014-0001

Call 0001

*The Government’s Response to question #3 was updated to provide a correct response

1.

Please provide the following details:

· List of Items, Schedule of Requirements, Scope of Work, Terms of Reference, Bill of Materials required.

· Soft Copy of the Tender Document through email.

· Names of countries that will be eligible to participate in this tender.

· Information about the Tendering Procedure and Guidelines

· Estimated Budget for this Purchase

· Any Extension of Bidding Deadline?

· Any Addendum or Pre Bid meeting Minutes?

Please refer to the BAA-RVKD-2014-0001 (LSAR) and Call 0001 (LEAMR).

Cost/Business and Technical Proposals may be submitted on the same or separate CD’s.

Scenario: If the Contractor wishes to bid on two Task Orders [TA 13 and 14] with two Special Topics related to TA 13 and three Special Topics related to TA 14, for a total of 5 special topics.

Question 2a: How many full technical proposals per the instructions in Section VI of the Baseline BAA (BAA-RVKD-2014-0001) are required to be submitted?

Question 2b: How many cost proposals are required to be submitted?

Answer 2a: For this scenario 7 technical proposals will be submitted. The technical proposals would be as follows:

1 for the Technical Area 13 (Core) 1 for the Technical Area 13 Special Topic 1 for Technical Area 13 Special Topic

1 for the Technical Area 14 (Core) 1 for the Technical Area 14 Special Topic 1 for Technical Area 14 Special Topic

Answer 2b: For this scenario 7 cost proposals will be submitted. The cost proposals would be as follows:

1 for the Technical Area 13 (Core) 1 for Technical Area 13 Special Topic 1 for Technical Area 13 Special Topic

1 for the Technical Area 14 (Core) 1 for Technical Area 14 Special Topic

Question: If the Contractor wishes to bid on Task Order TA 13 with a Contractor Suggested TO, is there still a requirement to submit a CSOW for at least one Special Topic TO required?

Yes. At a minimum the offeror is required to submit a proposal to address a core Task Order (TA12-14) and at least one related item under the Special Topic associated with the core Task Order.

Question: Specifically, what constitutes a cost proposal for a Special Topic or Contractor-Suggested CSOW? Does Cost Proposal for a Special Topic or Contractor-suggested CSOW mean pricing tables (Excel spreadsheets) only? Or is a BOE narrative required, as well?

The cost proposal shall include excel spreadsheets, BOE and the additional items listed in the Cost Proposal Instructions. Each cost proposal submittal shall be IAW with Attachment 11, Cost Proposal Instructions.

1 Technical Proposal for the Core 1 Technical Proposal for the Special Topic related to Technical Area 12 1 Cost Proposal for the Core 1 Cost Proposal for the Special Topic

If the offeror is interested in submitting a response to Technical Area 13, the following proposals are required at a minimum:

1 Technical Proposal for the Core 1 Technical Proposal for the Special Topic related to Technical Area 13 1 Cost Proposal for the Core 1 Cost Proposal for the Special Topic

If the offeror is interested in submitting a response to Technical Area 14, the following proposals are required at a minimum:

1 Technical Proposal for the Special Topic related to Technical Area 14 1 Cost Proposal for the Core 1 Cost Proposal for the Special Topic

1 Technical Proposal for the Core 1 Technical Proposal for the Special Topic related to Technical Area 12 1 Technical Proposal for the Contractor’s Suggested Topic related to Technical Area 12 1 Cost Proposal for the Core 1 Cost Proposal for the Special Topic 1 Cost Proposal for the Contractor’s Suggested Topic Note: After the initial submittal of the above items, each Contractor Suggested Topic submitted would only include a technical and cost proposal for that topic.

If the offeror is interested in submitting a response to Technical Area 13 with a Contractor’s Suggested Topic, the following proposals are required at a minimum:

1 Technical Proposal for the Special Topic related to Technical Area 13 1 Technical Proposal for the Contractor’s Suggested Topic related to Technical Area 13 1 Cost Proposal for the Core 1 Cost Proposal for the Special Topic 1 Cost Proposal for the Contractor’s Suggested Topic Note: After the initial submittal of the above items, each Contractor Suggested Topic submitted would only include a technical and cost proposal for that topic.

If the offeror is interested in submitting a response to Technical Area 14 with a Contractor’s Suggested Topic, the following proposals are required at a minimum:

1 Technical Proposal for the Special Topic related to Technical Area 14 1 Technical Proposal for the Contractor’s Suggested Topic related to Technical Area 14 1 Cost Proposal for the Core 1 Cost Proposal for the Special Topic 1 Cost Proposal for the Contractor’s Suggested Topic Note: After the initial submittal of the above items, each Contractor Suggested Topic submitted would only include a technical and cost proposal for that topic.

1 Technical Proposal for the Core 1 Technical Proposal for the Special Topic related to Technical Area 1 Technical Proposal for the Contractor’s Suggested Topic related to Technical Area 1 Cost Proposal for the Core 1 Cost Proposal for the Special Topic 1 Cost Proposal for the Contractor’s Suggested Topic

1 Technical Proposal for the Core 1 Technical Proposal for the Special Topic related to Technical Area 14 1 Cost Proposal for the Core 1 Cost Proposal for the Special Topic

If the offeror is interested in responding to more than one Special Topic for Technical Area 14, the initial submittal of the above items are required, and each Special Topic submitted would only include a technical and cost proposal for that topic.

Question a, Is this interpretation correct?

Question b, Does each separate Technical proposal follow the instructions and page count outlined on Page 12 of the LEAMR Proposal CALL 0001?

Answer a: That is a correct interpretation.

Answer b: Yes, the core, special topic or contractor’s suggested topic must follow the instructions and page limitations stated in Call 0001. The offeror can duplicate applicable information from the core proposal, i.e. executive summary, facility & equipment, etc. It is expected other items, such as program plan, resumes, etc. could vary based on the special topic chosen.

Question a: Should the offeror use these estimates as the cost objectives in their Cost Proposals associated with their corresponding submitted Technical Area proposals?

Question b: Shall the offeror assume that the sum of the cost proposals submitted for a given Technical Area and corresponding Special Topic shall not exceed the anticipated funding estimates provided on Page 6 of the LEAMR CALL 0001 or shall the offeror assume that the cost proposals for the Special Topics will be subsumed in the cost proposal for the corresponding Technical Area?

Answer a: No the anticipated “funding” for the Technical Areas is the total ceiling expected for the five-year ordering period for LEAMR. Total “funding” should reach the Technical Area ceiling amounts and at the end of the five years period. The core Task Order period of performance are 12 months each; costing for the Task Orders will indicate the offeror’s understanding of the requirements and efforts involved for the 12 month period.

Answer b: The funding estimates per year, are only estimates. We don’t know how much funding we may actually receive in a given fiscal year. The Technical Area ceilings ($28M, $8M,$13M) are the key numbers. All Task Order awards to all successful offerors over the 5 year period cannot exceed the ceiling amounts for each Technical Area. Initial awards and additional Task Orders issued over the five years to support evolving efforts in support of the LEAMR Call cannot exceed the ceiling.

Question a: Does the Government want only contractor-suggested topics within a single Technical Area or can the offeror submit a Technical and Cost proposal with a contractor-suggested topic that spans more than one individual Technical Area?

Answer a: The offeror can submit multiple proposals within a Technical Area or spanning Technical Areas.

Question a: Will the Government award Task Orders 1, 2 and 3 for the purpose of commencing research or are these Technical Area task orders only for evaluation purposes?

Question b: If Task Orders 1, 2 and 3 are only for establishing qualified contractor that can bid on subsequent topics, does the Government anticipate awarding Special Topic or Contractor-Suggested Topics with the award of the LEAMR contract?

Answer a: They are not for evaluation purposes only. At least one Task Order 1 will be awarded in Technical Area 12, at least one Task Order 2 will be awarded in Technical Area 13, and one Task Order 3 will be awarded in Technical Area 14.

Answer b: Proposals against Task Order 1, 2, and 3 will be used for evaluation purposes to reflect the offeror’s understanding of RDL/LEAMR requirements. Special Topic and/or Contractor Suggested Topics may be awarded as an initial Task Order for a contractor (without an award of a core Task Order to that Contractor).

Reference: The LEAMR Proposal Call Announcement states under Proposal Submission section 5.a. “… the offeror is required to submit a proposal to address a core Task Order (TA 12-14) and at least one related item under the Special Topic associated with that core Task Order (for example TO-12 and Special Topic 12-1 - 1.1.3, Thermal Conductivity).” It goes on to say “But each Special Topic response requires a separate proposal. “

This guidance appears to conflict with instructions in Q&A for Call_0001 Answer 2a. that state “5 technical proposals will be submitted” for the seven subjects identified in Question 3.

Question: Does the Government expect a separate Executive Summary, Program Description, Program Plan, etc. for the compulsory Special Topic submitted in addition to the Executive Summary, Program Description, Program Plan, etc. submitted for the core proposal?

Answer to Reference: The response to #3 was corrected. See the updated response.

Answer to Question: Please refer to question #10.

Reference 1: LSAR Baseline BAA, p. 19, section VI (“Proposal/Application and Submission Information”), subsection 3 (“Specific Proposal Preparation Instructions”), subparagraph b. (Technical Proposal”), subparagraph 1 (“Page Limitation”) requires “pages shall be double-spaced, single-sided. . . “

Reference 2: LEAMR Call Announcement, p. 11, section titled “Proposal Submission,” subsection 5 (“Technical Proposal) requires the offeror to submit his technical proposal in accordance with the BAA requirements of Section VI, but subsequently changes the page spacing to “single-spaced, single-sided . . .” in subsection 6, “Technical Proposal Page Limitations.”

Question: Please clarify whether the technical proposal is to be single-spaced or double-spaced?

Technical proposal shall be double spaced.

Reference: LEAMR Call Announcement, pp. 12-13, table titled, “Technical Proposal Organization and Page Limitations per each TO Proposal” says that the Milestone Chart is part of the CSOW and is given a page allocation of 2 pages.

Implication: This reference seems to say that the Milestone Chart is limited to 2 pages and consumes part of the 8-page allocation to each CSOW. In addition, it seems to imply there are separate Milestone Charts related to the core TO and the Special Topic and/or Contractor-Suggested TO.

Questions:

a. Please clarify whether the Milestone Chart is part of the CSOW, is limited to two pages per Milestone Chart, is allocated to the page count for each CSOW, and is not included in the overall technical proposal page count?

b. If the Milestone chart is not part of each CSOW, does the Government require separate Milestone Charts for the core TO and included Special Topic, each being allocated 2 pages?

c. If the Government desires only one Milestone Chart, would they accept a single chart with two separate schedules on it, one for the core TO offering and a separate line for the Special Topic, assuming that each separate schedule showed the required elements from the Baseline BAA requirements listed in the LSAR Baseline BAA, p. 20, section VI (“Proposal/Application and Submission Information”), subsection 3 (“Specific Proposal Preparation Instructions”), subparagraph b. (Technical Proposal”), subparagraph 2 (“Content”), subparagraph v. (“Milestone Chart”) Answer a: The milestone chart is part of the CSOW, is limited to two pages, is part of the CSOW total page count and is not included in the overall technical proposal page count.

Answer b: Since the milestone chart is part of the CSOW, separate milestone charts are required for each Task Order submittal.

Answer c: Based on the answers to questions a and b, question c doesn’t apply.

1. Mesh software TrueGrid MATLAB

1. Solidworks

1. LociCHEM

1. Other COTS may be added depending of investigations

1. Wavetrain – Wave optics

1. ZMAX – Beam train design

1. FRED beam train design

1. Python scripting tool

1. FLIP -- Finite-elements for Laser Interaction and Penetration

1. HITS – Probabilistic laser lethality prediction

1. ITRAL - Integrated Thermal Response Algorithm is aa one-dimensional, time explicit, finite difference code for calculating the thermal response of a layered target subjected to high energy, continuous wave laser irradiation.

1. TMAP – Threat Modeling Analysis Program

1. ISAMS – Imaging Seeker And Missile Simulation

1. DISAMS - Digital Imaging Seeker And Missile Simulation

1. ALE3D – Lawrence Livermore Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian

1. CHAR – NASA thermal protection system ablation model

1. OSC – Optical Signatures Code

1. TASAT – Optical signature

1. Cubit

1. DAKOTA

1. Sierra Suit

1. LaserFX

This list is not all-inclusive and does not include several engineering and engagement models that will have to be interfaced by these codes with as part of other programs within the Directed Energy Division.

Reference 1: LEAMR Call Announcement, p. 10, sectioned titled “Applicability of Baseline BAA”, states “All requirements of BAA RVKD-2014-0001 apply unless specifically amended and addressed in this Call”.

Reference 2: LEAMR Call Announcement, p. 12, sectioned titled “Technical Page Limitations” states “Pages shall be single-spaced,…” which amends the “double spaced” requirement in the LSAR BAA RVKD-2014-0001.

Based on the Call instructions our proposal effort has been underway for several weeks using the single space format. Would the Government either reconsider the decision to change from single to double-spaced, or consider increasing (e.g. doubling) the page counts to offset the decrease in content caused by changing the line-spacing? This would alleviate the need for rework of sections contractors have already prepared and would provide more room for presenting relevant content, particularly in the Core T.O. proposals where there is a great deal of technical scope to address.

The page spacing for Call 0001 will be “double-space” and the page limitations will stay the same as stated in Call 0001. The Government will not consider increasing (e.g. doubling) the page counts to offset the decrease in content caused by changing the line-spacing from “single-space” to “double-space”.

Reference 1: LEAMR Call announcement, p. 11, sectioned titled “Technical Proposal” states “ the offeror is highly encouraged to provide Contractor Statements of Work (CSOW) for contractor-suggested topics related to the Technical Areas (12-14)”

Reference 2: The Government response to Question 24 states “The offeror can submit multiple proposals within a Technical Area or spanning Technical Areas.”

Is it correct to interpret this to mean that it is acceptable to submit a set of proposals that includes a Contractor-suggested topic where the activities to be performed are in-scope for more than one Technical Area such as the following scenario?

1 Technical Proposal for the TA 13 Core 1 Technical Proposal for the TA 13 Special Topic 1 Cost Proposal for the TA 13 Core 1 Cost Proposal for the TA 13 Special Topic

1 Technical Proposal for the TA 14 Core 1 Technical Proposal for the TA 14 Special Topic 1 Technical Proposal for a Contractor-suggested topic that spans TA 13 and 14 1 Cost Proposal for the TA 14 Core 1 Cost Proposal for the TA 14 Special Topic 1 Cost Proposal for a Contractor-suggested topic that spans TA 13 and 14 Yes, the interpretation is correct. The Task Order should be submitted under the Technical Area with the predominance of effort.

Question: One of the requirements for TO-1 concerns Counter-Countermeasures Studies. Included in the CDRL list for this topic is data item number A0012, which is Test Hardware (Prototype); UID Data for Test Hardware Embedded Components. What would the Government expect to see in a UID list for this type of study?

This deliverable generally applies to all hardware asset items delivered and serves to facilitate identification of the hardware. Typically, hardware consists of a target system such as a missile or surrogate missile, for example. Whether it is used for counter or countermeasure studies is independent of the need for it to have an accompanying bar code ID report.

Rather than having a limit of 4 pages for Program Description and 4 pages for Program Plan, may bidders allocate the page count as necessary to fully address the details required and simply use 8 pages total for both?

No the specified page count should follow the page limited as stated in Call 0001.

The LSAR BAA Announcement references a “Guide to Preparing Contractor Statements of Work” (page 20) which provides a format for SOWs. And the LEAMR CALL 0001 gives a different format to use for the Special topic CSOWs. Should all proposed CSOWs (including those for the Core Technical Areas) follow the format guidance identified in the LEAMR CALL 0001 for the Special Topics?

Yes, all proposed CSOW’s should follow the specified instructions in the LEAMR Call 0001.

-Does contractor facility have a critical capability that is not already provided by the Government-provided facility that would add value?

-Does the testing conform to operational security and distribution limitation requirements for the given test?

-Do the contractor facilities/test meet safety and environmental requirements that may be part of the test scenario, e.g., predictive avoidance The answer to these will, of course, be test-dependent.