CAML Request for Solutions Brief_20250627.pdf

REQUEST FOR SOLUTIONS BRIEF (RFSB)

Common Autonomous Multidomain Launcher (CAML)

Prototype and Integration

BACKGROUND

The U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) would like to invite interested and eligible entities to provide complete solutions to the objectives and requirements outlined herein. RCCTO has been directed to pursue the development and demonstration on a rapid timeline of Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher (CAML) prototypes. CAML is an autonomous/optionally crewed, highly mobile, air transportable, cross-domain fires launcher with the potential to augment or replace existing Army launchers. CAML will be capable of worldwide deployment and operations. Only U.S. companies with the ability to process and store SECRET information and hardware are eligible to submit a solutions brief.

Two variants of CAML will be developed, tested, and fielded, each integrated with specific munitions;

• A CAML Heavy (CAML-H) on a M1075 Palletized Loading System (PLS) tactical vehicle or similar ~15-ton chassis tactical vehicle integrated with either the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) or the Patriot Advanced Capabilities Three (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor. The CAML-H variant will be an Autonomous Self- Resupplying System (ASRS) capable of autonomously reloading cannisters of missiles onto the CAML-H with minimal to no human intervention.

• CAML Medium (CAML-M) on a Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV), integrated with the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) Family of Munitions (MFOM) or with Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC) AIM-9X interceptors. The CAML-M will be supported by an Autonomous Resupply Vehicle (ARV) capable of autonomously reloading pods/cannisters of missiles onto the CAML-M with minimal to no human intervention.

To that end, RCCTO is responding to the need for TWO (2) SEPARATE SOLUTIONS.

RCCTO will rapidly prototype one (1) MFOM-capable CAML-M, one (1) IFPC-capable CAML-M, and one (1) ARV for Operational Assessments in 18 months, 24 months, and 36 months from date of award, respectively. RCCTO will rapidly prototype four (4) TLAM-capable CAML-H prototypes and one (1) MSE-capable CAML-H for an Operational Assessment in 18 months and 24 months from date of award, respectively.

This Request for Solutions Brief (RFSB) is an opportunity for eligible entities to present complete solutions directly to the U.S. Army that meet the objectives and requirements outlined herein. The identification of team members/subcontractors and the role that they play in delivering the prototype solutions, as well as the value and benefits the team members provide the prime is also an objective of this RFSB. Submittals will inform RCCTO as to the technical and competitive landscape that exists for capabilities, concepts, prototypes, or solutions that can meet or exceed the desired requirements and program objectives.

GENERAL CAPABILITY DESCRIPTION

The CAML mission is to provide elements across all echelons with a mobile, autonomous/ optionally crewed, versatile cross-domain fires capability and capacity far greater than current formation launcher and resupply capabilities. CAML reduces emplacement and displacement times, provides improved crew survivability, adds cross-country mobility, increases overall effectiveness, and allows commanders to weight the force appropriately during both offensive and defensive operations – enabling the ability to mass lethal assets and further dominate the operational environment across multiple domains. The CAML prototype system will include a prototype launcher platform, leader vehicle with autonomy kit, and an automated resupply vehicle or inherent autonomous resupply capability. The prototype launcher platform must support interface standards to support the integration of new autonomous solutions and future offensive and defensive munitions.

RFSB OVERVIEW & KEY MILESTONES

RCCTO intends to exercise the authority at 10 U.SC. § 4022 for a Prototype Other Transaction Agreement project. This RFSB and any subsequent activities are intended to satisfy competition requirements of the statute. This phased competition, executed under the authorities of 10 U.SC. § 4022, will consist of the following three (3) phases in the review and selection process as follows:

1. Phase 1 - Request for Solutions Brief: Ten (10) pages, inclusive of a cover page, of a technical discussion of a prototype development solution, any teaming arrangements, a rough project development schedule, data rights assertions (if applicable), and rough order of magnitude (ROM) price corresponding to the Government provided Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). The Solutions Brief will be based on the attached Performance Work Statements (PWS).

2. Phase 2 - Pitch Session: Companies whose Solution Briefs are evaluated to be of the most merit may be invited to provide a pitch in-person to demonstrate and provide further details on their proposed complete solution and the technical and business viability of the solution to RCCTO’s subject matter expert panel, consisting of representation across the RCCTO and Army/DoD Community of Interest. The Government expects it will limit the number of companies invited to pitch. As such, a company’s solution may be evaluated to be of merit but not invited to pitch.

3. Phase 3 - Proposal: Those companies whose Solution Brief and pitch are evaluated to be of merit and are selected for potential award of a Prototype OTA may, if funding is available, be invited to submit a full written proposal. This phase will include development of a written proposal and negotiation of terms and conditions governing the prototype project to include the collaborative development of an updated PWS.

Eligible entities offering solutions to both CAML-M and CAML-H must provide separate Solution Briefs (i.e. Phase 1-3 for CAML-M and Phase 1-3 for CAML-H). Any Solution

Briefs which combine approaches or options to prototype both variants will be determined non-compliant and unacceptable and not reviewed. The Government will not consider or evaluate any partial solutions.

As stated above, only U.S. companies with the ability to process and store SECRET information and hardware are eligible to submit a solutions brief. Interested Offerors shall submit a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code and Offeror POC to the following Government Security POC:

- William C. McWhorter, william.c.mcwhorter2.ctr@army.mil

- Barbara Cantrell at barbara.a.cantrell2.civ@army.mil

- Josh Flinn at joshua.e.flinn.civ@army.mil

Upon validation of facility clearances, the Government will coordinate with the Offeror’s POC to provide the CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION (CUI) Performance Work Statement (PWS) on the date indicated in Table 1. The PWS will support the creation of the solution brief technical content and the ROM costing. Offerors shall submit a solution brief in accordance with the Format and Content of Solutions Briefs described below. Failure to submit of CAGE Code information in a timely manner, or related Vendor errors, will not be a basis for extensions of time for questions or Solution Brief submissions.

Solution Briefs are due at 12:00 PM/1200 ET on Monday, 30 July 2025, via the following RCCTO email address. Contact the individuals below if you require a DOD SAFE site drop for CUI submissions.

- Abbie Chatelain at abigail.e.chatelain.civ@army.mil

- Barbara Cantrell at barbara.a.cantrell2.civ@army.mil

- Josh Flinn at joshua.e.flinn.civ@army.mil

Key Milestones are listed on the table below.

RFSB Release Date 27 JUN 2025

Offeror Submission of CAGE Code 07 July 2025

Release of PWS to Cleared Offerors 09 July 2025 RFSB Questions 16 JUL 2025 RFSB Responses Due 30 JUL 2025

Invitation to Pitch Session 06 AUG 2025 Pitch Session 13 AUG 2025

RFPP Release Date TBD OTA Award TBD

TABLE 1

mailto:abigail.e.chatelain.civ@army.mil mailto:barbara.a.cantrell2.civ@army.mil mailto:joshua.e.flinn.civ@army.mil mailto:abigail.e.chatelain.civ@army.mil mailto:barbara.a.cantrell2.civ@army.mil mailto:joshua.e.flinn.civ@army.mil

SOLUTION BRIEF GUIDELINES

Eligible entities can respond to this RFSB with a Solution Brief. Solution Briefs shall not exceed ten (10) one-sided pages, inclusive of a cover page, with company information.

Solution Briefs shall be single-spaced, 12-point font with at least one-inch margins on 8 1/2” x 11” page size. ROM cost ground rules and assumptions will not count against the 10-page limit but must be kept on separate page. Total file size shall not exceed a 10 MB e-mail limit for all items associated with this RFSB response. Solution Briefs must specifically address the requested information detailed below. Respondents shall not initiate oral communications with the Contracting Office, the Program Office or other RCCTO personnel regarding this opportunity during this phase; violations of this requirement may constitute non-compliance with the established procedures. It is Respondents’ responsibility to properly mark proprietary information/portions if company proprietary information is included within a Solution Brief, The 10-page Solution Brief, in contractor format, may focus on describing details of the proposed prototype solution, including capabilities and how it could address or improve the technical requirements and objectives, and potential impacts and benefits to the applicable CAML variant program. While there is no guarantee of a future request for prototype proposal, the Solution Brief should state whether the contractor would participate in future pitches or prototype proposals for the concepts outlined in their Solution Brief.

The Solutions Brief should be outlined as follows:

1. Cover Page (1 page) to include Company name and address, and CAGE Code; whether it is a traditional or non-traditional defense contractor (defined below); the Technical and Business Points of Contact (POC) to include: Telephone Numbers and Email Addresses;

headquarters location; size designation of company (i.e., large or small business concern), annual revenues, and number of employees; if the Company’s proposed approach has been proposed to or previously funded by any federal agency, to include SBIR/STTR, please identify each specific agency and all applicable contract/agreement numbers; and a brief abstract. The Solution Brief cover page must identify which variant the Solution Brief proposes to provide within the title itself.

2. Technical Approach (6 pages):

a. Project objectives and scope

b. Proposed capabilities of the Offeror’s autonomous weapon system.

c. Ability to integrate Government Furnished Property into the best technical solution for the autonomous weapon system.

d. Facilities/equipment available to carry out the proposed prototype effort and to be positioned to fabricate additional quantities.

e. Outline the development approach and schedule for logical sequencing and achievability of the PWS operational assessments. Discuss how long lead requirements, if any, will be addressed and associated risk/risk mitigation.

f. Identify any intellectual property involved in the effort and associated restrictions on the Government’s use of that intellectual property.

3. Qualifications and Experience (2 pages):

a. Prior or current work related to integrating missiles (of the type, size and range similar to the CAML variant proposed) and command and control systems into autonomous weapon systems. Provide contract numbers and POCs for Government sponsored efforts.

b. Identify team members’, if any, role assignments and each team member's qualifications and experiences in comparison to the respective performance requirement(s) the team members are proposed to perform. If the Respondent proposes to utilize one or more NDC, the Respondent must identify the specific contribution of each NDC and explain the significance of the NDC’s participation.

4. ROM Price (1 page) Describe the estimated costs for the proposed technical approach by providing a ROM following the Government provided Work Break Down Structure (WBS) by FY and any assumptions pertaining to price for how this concept could be achieved.

Solution Briefs shall be clearly marked “Company Name_RFSB_CAML-M Solution” or “Company Name_RFSB_CAML-H Solution.” Only UNCLASSIFIED or CUI submissions will be accepted. Any submissions with classified information will not be reviewed and will be deleted. There will be no mailed submissions and telephone inquiries will not be accepted.

Review of solution briefs does not promise nor guarantee that a company will receive a contract, and the Government reserves the right, at any point, to cancel the RFSB. Please be advised, only an Agreements Officer has the authority to enter into, or modify, a binding agreement on behalf of the Government.

BASIS OF EVALUATION

Phase 1 - Request for Solutions Brief:

All solution briefs correctly submitted in response to and compliance with this announcement will be evaluated against the stated criteria below. The Government reserves the right to review the content of solution briefs against various AI tools to determine whether it appears Offerors relied on AI to write and submit Solution Briefs. If the Government, in its sole discretion does this, and receives indication that a Solution Brief correlates closely to AI provided solutions, this will be viewed as an indication of a lack of knowledge and understanding by the Vendor, and the solution may be determined unacceptable or otherwise negatively rated.

Technical Approach:

1. The approach addresses the Government’s needs as outlined in the variant specific PWS and states how the approach can meet or exceed the stated objectives.

2. The approach demonstrates sufficient understanding of variant specific launcher physical launch, fire control, and missile command operations.

3. The approach demonstrates sufficient understanding of the autonomous system operations.

4. Proposed facilities/equipment

5. Schedule, key milestones, projected timelines and proposed critical path(s)

6. Data rights - the degree to which asserted data rights restrictions, as well as any proposed option(s) for additional data rights, affect the proposed technical solutions and the Government's ability to use, modify, reproduce, release, perform, display or disclose the resulting technical data and computer software for Government purposes as defined in DFARS 252.227-7013(a)(12) and 252.227-7014(a)(11) in terms of demonstrating its ability to execute the proposed approach. Emphasis will be placed on the Government’s ability to use, release, and disclose technical data or computer software documentation and preference may be given to solution brief submissions with the least amount of data rights restrictions.

Qualifications and Experience:

1. Recency of related prior or current work experience and relevancy of that experience to integrating missiles (of the type, size and range similar to the CAML variant proposed), launchers, and command and control systems.

2. Relevance of related prior or current work experience for the development and integration of autonomous weapon systems similar to the CAML variant proposed.

3. Effective team member role assignments

4. Team member qualifications and experiences

ROM Cost:

1. Is the cost realistic to meet the PWS and schedule requirements, and aligned with the proposed technical approach?

2. Is the cost affordable based upon the Independent Government Estimate?

Solution Briefs will be initially evaluated on the basis of merit of the proposed solution/concept in addressing the PWS, not against other Solution Briefs submitted in response to this announcement. Following initial evaluation, RCCTO may select Companies who submit solution briefs with particular merit or benefit to provide an oral presentation/pitch.

Phase 2 - Oral Presentation/Pitch:

Individual pitches are expected to provide additional insight into the solutions brief and as such will be evaluated against the same factors as the solution brief.

Individual pitches will be initially evaluated on the basis of merit of the proposed concept in addressing the PWS and the factors above, not against any other pitches held under this announcement.

Pitch evaluation will consider the full content of the actual Oral Presentation (including answers or inability to answer any questions posed) and the content of the slides presented. Pitch evaluation will also consider the previously submitted solution brief; thus, inconsistencies between the solution brief and presentation, or between the digital copies of the slides and the oral presentation itself, may be viewed unfavorably. It is anticipated that pitches will be conducted in-person with an up to one hour presentation and up to 30-minute question/answer session, though specific parameters of the Oral Presentation may change before the presentation date.

Phase 3 - Request for Prototype Proposal (RFPP):

After Oral Presentations, the Government will first evaluate each Solution presented against the stated criteria and relevant PWS. After initial evaluation, the Government may select the most beneficial Solution(s) and send a Request for Prototype Proposal (RFPP) to such Respondent(s). The RFPP will set forth specific guidelines for submission and evaluation.

Chiefly, offerors must submit an updated PWS based upon the Government PWS and a detailed price breakdown as it relates to payment milestones.

Questions. The Government will consider and answer relevant questions to this RFSB. Submit questions to the POCs identified above NLT 1200 ET on 16 JUL 2025. Depending on the nature of the question, the Government may respond directly to the inquiry or post questions and answers as an amendment to this announcement.

Non-Government Advisors. All government or contractor personnel that may review RFSB responses have executed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) for project information related to this initiative.

Eligibility Requirements. Only U.S.-based companies or organizations are considered eligible to participate in this RFSB. Submissions from entities or organizations that do not have a primary place of business in the U.S. will not be considered.

Each eligible entity:

1. U.S.-based firms shall be incorporated in, and maintain, a primary place of business in the U.S.

2. May not be a U.S. Federal government entity or employ a U.S. Federal employee acting within the scope of their employment.

3. Is required to register in System for Award Management (SAM) and have, or be able to obtain, an active CAGE code, DUNS number, and not be on the exclusion lists (debarred, suspended, or ineligible).

RCCTO’s RFSB is voluntary and open to all entities that meet the eligibility requirements.

Submittals to the RFSB must be received by 12:00 PM ET on 30 JUL 2025. Late submissions will not be accepted, and any other failure to comply with RFSB submission instructions (content, approach, etc.) may not be evaluated by the Government.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

The Army is a strong proponent of deliberate intellectual property (IP) rights and management by the private sector and the Department of Defense.

For the RFSB:

1. Nothing in this RFSB shall diminish the Government’s rights in patents, technical data, technical information, computer software, computer databases, and computer software documentation that the Government had prior to this effort, or is entitled to, under any other Government Agreement or contract, or is otherwise entitled to under law; and

2. The Federal Government may negotiate licenses for the use of IP developed by a registered participant in the future.

Furthermore, the Government understands that information provided in response to this solicitation is presented in confidence and may contain trade secret or commercial or financial information, and it agrees to protect such information from unauthorized disclosure to the maximum extent permitted or required by Law, to include:

1. 18 USC 1905 (Trade Secrets Act),

2. 18 USC 1831 et seq. (Economic Espionage Act),

3. 5 USC 552(b)(4) (Freedom of Information Act),

4. Executive Order 12600 (Pre-disclosure Notification Procedures for Confidential Commercial Information), and any other statute, regulation, or requirement applicable to Government employees.

COST AND SOFTWARE DATA REPORTING (CSDR)

Based on projected expenditures and the acquisition pathway utilized, the Government anticipates the inclusion of cost and software data reporting (CSDR) requirements as part of this effort in accordance with the requirements of Section 3227 of Title 10, U.S.C., and DoD Instruction 5000.73.

NOTES & DEFINITIONS

Non-traditional defense contractor is defined in 10 U.S.C. § 3014 as an entity that is not currently performing and has not performed, for at least the one-year period preceding the solicitation of sources by the Department of Defense for the procurement or transaction, any contract or subcontract for the Department of Defense that is subject to full coverage under the cost accounting standards prescribed pursuant to section 1502 of title 41 and the regulations implementing such section.

Prototype projects are defined as submissions that may improve Army platforms, Army weapons systems, or Army support systems. A prototype project can generally be described as a preliminary pilot, test, evaluation, demonstration, or agile development activity used to evaluate the technical or manufacturing feasibility or military utility of a particular technology, process, concept, end item, effect, or other discrete feature. Prototype projects may include systems, subsystems, components, materials, methodology, technology, or processes. By way of illustration, a prototype project may involve: a proof of concept; a pilot; a novel application of commercial technologies for defense purposes; a creation, design, development, demonstration of technical or operational utility; or combinations of the foregoing, related to a prototype.

Non-Government Personnel

Offerors are advised that employees of the firm identified below may serve as a non- Government advisor in the review and evaluation of Solution Briefs. Such firms are expressly prohibited from competing on the subject acquisition. The non-Government advisor will be required to submit to the Government a Non-Disclosure Agreement reflecting the effort(s) that they will be supporting. The Offeror’s submission of a Solutions Brief under this RFSB indicates concurrence with the aforementioned use of non-Government advisor.

Michael J. Smith KODA Technologies 620 Discovery Drive Building 2, Suite 100 Huntsville, AL 35806 POC: Amanda Zimmerman Email: amanda.zimmerman@kodatech.com Work: (256) 509-2710

DISCLAIMER:

All information contained in this RFSB is preliminary as well as subject to modification and is in no way binding on the Government. This notice and the information presented herein will not obligate the Government in any manner. The Government does not intend to pay for information received in response to this RFSB. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFSB. This RFSB will be the basis for collecting information on capabilities available. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned nor will receipt be confirmed.