Responses_to_Questions_(20140128).doc

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS

BAA-RVKV-2014-0002

28 Jan 2014

1) Can proposals be submitted electronically?

RESPONSE: No.

2) What level of detail is required for the Cost Proposal?

RESPONSE: The Government expects the cost proposal for all Task Orders to be developed in accordance with the FAR Cost Proposal Instructions given in Attachment 3 of the BAA.

3) Do attachments to the Technical Proposal count towards the page limit?

RESPONSE: Yes. The page limitation covers all information in the Technical Proposal, including: indices, photographs, foldouts, tables, charts, link budgets, integrated master schedules, models, simulation results, plots, appendices, attachments, resumes, etc. Only the overarching CSOW and the CSOW for Task Order 0001 are separate from the page count.

4) Can the Technical Volume page count limit be relaxed?

RESPONSE: Yes, the page count limit is increased to 80 pages. See Amendment 1 dated 28 Jan 2014.

5) Is a hardware deliverable, such as a laboratory breadboard test unit, required under Task Order 1?

RESPONSE: No. However, it is the responsibility of each offeror to assess the risk of their proposed design and to propose appropriate risk mitigation strategies. It is the Government’s goal that, for the proposed concept, integrated sub-systems (particularly those of high risk or those that are critical to system performance) shall have been successfully demonstrated prior to proceeding past the Critical Design Review milestone. If a laboratory breadboard demonstration is warranted and proposed, it should be understood by the offeror that any resulting breadboard unit developed would be considered as a hardware deliverable under the contract. Further, if requested by the offeror and reasonable, the breadboard unit can be made available to the contractor for subsequent phases of development, for instance, for the engineering demonstration unit.

6) How should tasks described in Table 1 be translated to Sample Task Order descriptions?

RESPONSE: It is the Government’s strategy to divide the overall development into “phases”, reflected in Table 1 as “tasks”, to better manage technical and programmatic risks. Table 1 provides potential offerors the Government’s current understanding of how those tasks could be arranged, activities to be accomplished during those tasks, the notional duration of each task, and a notional cost for each task. However, the Government understands that there may be alternate technical and programmatic approaches. Table 1 is notional. The offeror’s proposal should explicitly describe the work to be accomplished during Task 1. The offeror’s proposal should describe as well as reasonable, based on the offeror’s level of understanding and subject to the offeror’s particular technical approach, how subsequent activities will be accomplished.

7) Explain the reference to Phase 1 in paragraph I.B.i.

RESPONSE: The Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate, conducted a study in 2013 to assess the feasibility of W/V-band satellite communications, which is referred to as Phase 1. The Phase 1 also considered scientific measurements that might be required and relevant for further development. Finally, the Phase 1 developed alternate concepts to the Preliminary Design Review milestone, which allowed the Government to assess technical risks, experiment feasibility, schedule requirements, and costs. Key results from Phase 1 guided the development of the current BAA. Again, the Government understands that there are many reasonable approaches for the space and ground system configuration with various technical advantages and disadvantages. It is not the Government’s intent to suggest or imply a preferred space or ground system configuration.

8) Can the proposal due date be extended from 14 Feb 2014 to 07 Mar 2014?

RESPONSE: The proposal due date will not be extended at this time.

9) Is the BAA-RVKV-2014-0002 award restricted?

RESPONSE: The BAA is full and open competition and all U.S. owned responsible sources are permitted to compete.

10) Will technical data from the Phase 1 be made publicly available?

RESPONSE: Additional technical data will not be provided beyond that given in the BAA. It is not the Government’s intent to suggest or imply a preferred space or ground system configuration.

11) Does “foreign owned companies” include companies with “non US” ownership?

RESPONSE: Yes.

12) Clarify foreign participation requirements.

RESPONSE: Technical data derived from this research effort will be subject to Export Control. Awards will not be made to foreign-owned (i.e., not US-owned) companies. Involvement by employees of US-owned companies that are foreign nationals is not permitted. Sub-contracts resulting from this research effort must prevent unlawful distribution of restricted technical data.

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