RC-26_RFP_Questions_and_Responses3June2016.pdf

Response to RFP Question

June 6, 2016

FA8131-16-R-0002

The Solicitation contains conflicting

FAR clauses FAR 52.245-1, FAR

52.245-1 Alt I, and FAR 52.245-2.

Will the Government consider removing

FAR 52.245-1 Alt I & FAR 52.245-2? If both FAR 52.245-1 Alt I & FAR 52.245-

2 are not removed, will the Government schedule Interested Parties for a physical inspection the GFP?

The list of Government furnish property is provided on page 58 of the

PWS. The physical inventory inspection of the GFP will be conducted during Phase In, per PWS

3.5

52.245-1 Alt 1 is removed.

The Clause FAR 52.245-2 is removed from the solicitation as Government.

2 Attachment 1 states a small business report “shall be submitted 5 months after contract award and every 6 months thereafter,” Attachment 4(a) states the first small business report is “due 11 months after contract award” and

“remaining reports due every 6 months thereafter.”

Question: Will the Government indicate which small business report timeline is correct?

The small business plan will have reports due after the 5th month and every 6 months thereafter.

Attachment 4 has been updated to reflect this information.

3 Ref ITO: cross reference matrix provided, but it does not cover all portions of the PWS.

Question: Can we assume that this is a representative or minimal example, and that the Government would want to see all portions of the PWS?

The contractor is required to fulfill all aspects of the PWS. The Cross

Reference matrix is provided to clearly point to areas that will be evaluated in each of the subfactors.

4 The ITO requires some portions of the

Past Performance Proposal to be submitted via the PPIT and some submitted with the hard copies/CD.

Question: Regarding ITO, section

5.1.2, can the Government please clarify what portions of the information required in the Past Performance

Proposal are provided via the PPIT and what portions are in the hard/soft copies provided 15 days prior to the closing date?

The government would prefer all hard and soft copies to be delivered 15 days prior to the closing date. However, Failure to submit early proposal information will not result in offeror disqualification.

5 In the ITO, section 5.2.2, the contractor is to complete section one of the Past

Performance Questionnaire and sends it, along with Performance Questionnaire

Letter, to those customers we list in the

PPIT.

Question: Are copies of these

Questionnaires (Section 1 only) and

Letters also required to be submitted with the proposal 15 days before the closing date?

The government would prefer all questionnaires and letters to be submitted with the proposal 15 days prior to the closing date. However.

Failure to submit early proposal information will not result in offeror disqualification.

6 Evaluation Factors 2.2.5 indicates that

Small Business is not considered in evaluating risk. The only other Small

Business consideration is in the Factor 1, Subfactor 4, which is a “Pass/Fail” criteria.

Question: Can the Government revise the evaluation criteria to gain credit for exceeding the 20% Small Business requirement and demonstrating that it can be maintained?

Factor 1 – Technical is either technically acceptable or unacceptable. No additional credit will be given for exceeding the 20% small business requirement. This is due to the rating descripted under

Factor 1- Technical.

7 The appendixes included in the RFP are incomplete and do not provide the historical usage data, MC Rate and Flight

Hours needed to accurately build a CPFH model.

The government has a bidder's library available upon request to the

Contracting Officer at

Vera.taylor@us.af.mil.

8 Reference:

SLIN X001AL San Juan, PR (1-3) and

SLIN X001AM San Juan, PR (4-6)

Question:

For Bid purposes, please clarify the quantities of aircraft for the optional

Puerto Rico sites. If each option does not include 3 aircraft, please provide specific quantities at each site.

The Government reserves the right to fund CLINs X001AL or X001AM at initial award or any time after initial award. CLIN X001AL and X001AM are optional CLINs. For bidding purposes, the Government expects the proposal to provide support for a range of (1-3) aircraft for CLIN X001AL and (4-6) aircraft for CLIN X001AM.

9 CLIN X001 reads “…for the C-26 aircraft fleet, which consist of 11

Aircraft.”

CLIN X001 SLIN Table: reads

“…Minimum of 1 Aircraft” for SLIN

AA thru AK, which equals 10 aircraft.

Question: Please confirm that 10 aircraft is the correct number, and if not, what is the disposition of the 11th aircraft?

11 aircraft is the correct number of aircraft in the fleet. At award Aircraft will be supported at a minimum of 10

CONUS sites as CLINs X001AA-

X001AK. Each site will support a minimum of 1 aircraft. Additionally, the Government reserves the right to fund CLINs X001AL or X001AM at initial award or any time after initial award. CLIN X001AL and X001AM are optional CLINs.

10 The PWS cites a monthly FMC rate of not less than 75% for each aircraft and fleet. However, the table included in

Attachment 3, Incentive Options Plan, cites an FMC rate of not less than 80%.

Question: Please clarify which rate provides the correct requirement.

Attachment 3 has been updated to show an FMC rate of 75%. The updated document is attached to the addendum.

Does the Government desire the Mission

Essential Contractor Services to be included in the page limited Technical

Volume where it addresses PWS 1.3?

The plan does not count towards the technical volume page limit.

12 What are the differences of each of the

Block designs of the aircraft? Please clarify the Block designs (equipment and software configurations rev #s) and what tail #s have which Block configuration.

ETIMS has a list of all Tech orders.

In the TO’s stated below (-2,-3,-4), the cover page will list the tail number and quantity of each block aircraft as well as the installed equipment. The -2 TO is for BLK 20 (5 aircraft), the -3 is for the BLK 25 (6 aircraft), -4 (in work now) will be BLK 25R and replace the

-3 for the 6 BLK 25 aircraft.

If industry does not currently have access to ETIMS, a TODO account can be set up to gain access.

13 What is the planned schedule to modify the aircraft to the RC-26 Block 25R and

Block 30?

Currently no requirement to upgrade to BLK 30. BLK 25R reconfiguration is currently in work with an ECD of early CY 2017.

Attachment 9, Government Base Support

Matrix. What are the part numbers of the various items that the host will provide since some locations only provide a portion of these and one site will not support any AGSE? Please provide p/n and cage code for the items from this list.

The contractor will need to support the capabilities (described in attachment

9) not provided by the host base. The

Government will not direct specific support equipment (part numbers) necessary to meet the capabilities described in attachment 9. The contractor is responsible to provide ground support equipment necessary to meet the mission when not provided by the government.

15 What is item KS-97B APU and what does it support? Please clarify what this equipment supports and who manufactured it.

Item KS-87B APU has been removed from PWS appendix H as well as attachment 9.

16 Appendix H, 3.2.21. The items that are listed in this paragraph are fewer than the list of host provided items in

Attachment 9 para 3.2.21. Is the list in

Attachment 9 correct? Please clarify the host provided equipment.

Attachment 1- PWS- Appendix H, paragraph 3.2.21 has been corrected and matches attachment 9, paragraph

3.2.21. All host base provided

equipment will be provided except as denoted in attachment 9.

17 Appendix G, Non-serialized.pdf. Are the parts located at various sites or are they located at a centralized facility?

Please identify where parts are currently located.

The majority of parts are at a centralized location managed by the current contractor. Some high usage items and consumables are located at multiple locations as directed by the current contractor.

18 PWS, “The contract shall return GFP to the Government in the same condition and quantities as received”. Is this excluding FWT on the GFP and obsolescence of equipment?

All GFP will be maintained throughout the contract and returned to the Government in a serviceable/usable condition. Fair

Wear and Tear is acceptable as long as the equipment remains serviceable/usable. The Government will decide obsolescence of equipment and will direct the contractor how to dispose of if required.

19 Is the host provided equipment included in the Non-serialized GFP list?

No, the host provided equipment is not included in the Non-serialized GFP list.

20 PWS, “The contractor shall provide subscription service for all OEM and vendor publications, in including Service

Actions, and provide copies IAW

Appendix D”. Does this include the

Jeppesen Updates?

Jeppesen updates should be considered part of the contractor provided subscription updates if available.

21 PWS, “The contractor shall provide flight crews for repositioning Contractor possessed aircraft or as directed by the

PCO and ACO as an O & A”. Is there a minimum amount of time that the

Government will provide to assemble a crew to support this action? What is the purpose of flight crews? Please identify required time period. Please identify the purpose and actions of the flight crews.

The purpose of the contractor provided flight crew requirement is to provide a flight crew if directed by the

Government. The contractor flight crew is only responsible to get the damaged aircraft to the repair facility.

Required time period would be based upon circumstances of the situation.

22 Appendix E, Notes 6, 18,26,27,28 & 30 are not listed on the MESL. What do these notes relate to?

Government modified the following notes: Note 6, 18, 26, 27 and 28.

Note 30 is listed on MSEL item number 169.

23 Appendix E, Item # 19 MSO KY-58. The

KY-58 system is an unsupportable item. Is there a replacement for this item or will the Government maintain these and provide them to the aircraft? If the item is different than listed on the

MESL is this acceptable?

Per note 9 of the MESL states the KY-

58 is maintained by the military.

24 PWS, “The contractor shall accomplish

ISR Mission Equipment Maintenance as described 1 C-26(R)B-2 for Block 20 and 1 C-26(R)B-3 for Block 25 and

Appendix L.”

As stated in para 1.2 the aircraft are currently split into three configurations, RC-26B Block 20, RC-26B Block 25 and RC-26B Block 25R. What is the reference for maintenance for the Block

25R? Please identify the reference for maintenance for the Block 25R.

1 C-26(R)B-4 is currently being written for the BLK 25R modification and will be provided via ETIMS upon completion.

25 PWS, “NRT will only be given while actual work is being accomplished on the aircraft”. If the aircraft has a mishap or accident, as an example a bird strike/windshield breakage causing the aircraft to be unflyable, should the aircraft be considered NRT throughout the time of the incident to completion of the actual work and the aircraft becomes flyable?

This activity is outside the

FWT/routine maintenance and should this time period be counted against the

FMC & MC rate that the contractor is held accountable to?

NRT time will be granted from the time of incident (unless caused by contactor) to the completion of repairs and FCF (if required) is completed.

26 PWS, “The Contractor shall refer to

Appendix E, MESL for the appropriate status when an aircraft system or component is inoperative.” When the

USG is maintaining the specific components, i.e. KY-58 Type Items and Self Protection Systems will the

Contractor be charged with MC or PMC because of the items not being operational?

NRT is determined on a case by case basis. The Government would have to know what caused the problem first.

The contractor must submit an NRT request if the contractor believes there is an issue outside of their control.

27 Appendix N, Is the workload data for the primary 11 aircraft only? If so will the government provide projected workload data for the 6 optional aircraft. If not available, will the government move flight hours costs for the 6 aircraft to an

O&A CLIN?

Yes, workload data is for the fleet of

11 aircraft. There are no additional aircraft.

28 Reference: CLIN 0001 - AL San Juan, PR (1-3) & AM San Juan, PR (4-6).

Can the government clarify what number of aircraft will be deployed to PR? The manpower required to service 3 aircraft is materially different than 1 aircraft -creating bid risk to vendors and increases performance risk to the Government. If the Government cannot expand the CLIN structure could they please change to options negotiated after contract award such as CLIN X009?

If the actual number of aircraft is unavailable, will the government consider changing the optional PR CLINs to "AL:

San Juan, PR (1 ac); AM: San Juan, PR (2 ac); AN: San Juan, PR (3 ac); AO: San

Juan, PR (4 ac); AP: San Juan, PR (5 ac);

AQ: San Juan, PR (6 ac). ?

The number of aircraft to be supported in PR is currently unknown. The

Government has reviewed the requirement, considered pricing each possible quantity, and stands behind the aircraft support ranges as stated in

X001AL and X001AM. The CLIN structure to the PR CLINS remains unchanged.

29 Attachment 7, ITO. Given the focus on technical risk, and transition planning - a well-planned transition POAM will easily run several hundred lines, which would be challenging within the proscribed 70 page limit. Will the Government allow for submittal of a comprehensive POAM outside of the page budgets, with the inclusion of an abbreviated timeline within the volume?

Please include the submission of a

Microsoft Project .mpp file for the transition plan.

Due to multiple industry request and further research the Government has extended the page limitation for the technical volume to 100 pages.

No Additional formats are being accepted at this time.

30 Attachment 8, Evaluation Factors.

The descriptions for CLINS X012 and

X013 seem to be reversed versus the RFP

CLIN descriptions and the CLIN descriptions in the Attachment 8. Will the government provide a revised pricing matrix file?

Yes, the Government has updated the price matrix on the previous amendment.

31 PWS, “The Contractor shall accomplish

ISR Mission Equipment Maintenance as described in 1C-26(R)B-2 for Block 20 and 1C-26(R)B-3 for Block 25 and

Appendix L. “

The RFP did not include TO 1C-26(R)B-

2 for Block 20 and 1C-26(R)B-3.

Without this data, the level of effort and specialized tools required to comply is unknown. Can the Government please provide the referenced Technical orders?

Please provide the referenced technical orders.

ETIMS has a list of all Tech orders.

In the TO’s stated below (-2,-3,-4), the cover page will list the tail number and quantity of each block aircraft as well as the installed equipment. The -2 TO is for BLK 20 (5 aircraft), the -3 is for the BLK 25 (6 aircraft), -4 (in work now) will be BLK 25R and replace the

-3 for the 6 BLK 25 aircraft.

If industry does not currently have access to ETIMS, a TODO account can be set up to gain access.

32 PWS 1.10.2 (RFP Model Contract), “Contractor shall provide a quarterly

DMSMS report in Contractor format.”

Within the list of reports under PWS

1.37, this quarterly DMSMS report is not included. Will the government modify the PWS to include this report under

1.37? Will the Government also include the report in CLIN X011 in the model contract and give it an A000 identifier?

Please clarify this as mandated report under PWS 1.37 and for CLIN X011.

The Government has updated PWS paragraph 1.37 and Appendix M to include the DMSMS report delivery as well as CLIN X011.

33 PWS 1.32.1 (RFP Model Contract), “The contractor shall include the phase-in plan as part of the C-26 Management Plan”.

The C-26 Management Plan is only addressed under PWS 1.37 as a required report for semi-annual updates. Is the

Government expecting a separate C-26

Management Plan to be delivered with the proposal or within a certain time period after contract award? For example, XX days after contract award, or with the proposal as a separate document? Or is the proposal considered the initial

Management Plan? The Model Contract only identifies updates as A009.

Please clarify the requirement for a C-26

Management Plan with the inclusion of the phase-in plan and identify the plan in

A0xx if completed on contract.

The Government has updated the PWS to make Management Plan delivery clear. Initial Management Plan (to include transition plan) due with delivery of proposal. Updates to the

Management Plan will be due every 6 months thereafter, beginning 60 days after contract award.

34 FA813116R0002-Wage Determ.doc lists

WD 05-2116 FL, Jacksonville. The price matrix Attachment 5 does not indicate a

Florida location. Please verify there are no base operations in Jacksonville, FL.

The Florida location is now removed from the updated Wage

Determination.

35 Attachment 5 pricing matrix lists CLIN

X012 as Phase-In and CLIN x013 as

Phase-out, however Attachment 8 TEP

Calculation Table and solicitation

FA8131-16-R-0002 lists CLIN X012 as

Phase-out and CLIN X013 as Phase-In.

What is the correct Phase-In and Phase-out CLIN?

The Government has updated the price matrix on the previous RFP

Addendum.

36 RFP Attachment 7, Section 2.8.1. Would the Government consider extending page limitations to pages?

Due to multiple industry request and further research the Government has extended the page limitation for the technical volume to 100 pages.

37 Regarding PWS 1.4.2 Changes to Flying

Hours: “to renegotiate the flying hour rate whenever the actual average flying hours for a fleet vary by 50% or more from the utilization rates set forth in

Appendix N of PWS for more than six

(6) consecutive months”

Question: Will the government consider revising language to reflect “six

(6) consecutive months, or six (6) months in a calendar year” as the varying mission load could conceivable result in greater than 50% variance for

10 out of 12 months while not triggering the PWS 1.4.2 renegotiation statement.

No, the Government will not revise paragraph 1.4.2 to months in a calendar year as consecutive months would show a trend.

38 In ITO, 5.2.1 Submission prior to solicitation closing date states, “Each offeror is requested to submit Volume III

Past performance for each relevant contract fifteen (15) calendar days prior to the solicitation closing date. Failure to submit early proposal information will not result in offeror disqualification.”

Question: As 15 calendar days prior to the solicitation closing date falls on a

Sunday, will the early proposal information be due the Friday before, June 10, or the next business day, June

13?

Early proposal information will be due the next business day, June 13. Failure to submit early proposal information will not result in offeror disqualification

39 In PWS Section 1.4 (e), it states ““… shall be sent to a FAA-approved commercial calibration laboratory performing measurements traceable to the National Institute of Standards and

Technology (NIST.)” Is it the

Government’s intent for the commercial calibration to be FAA-approved? If not, will the Government consider revising the requirement to state ““… shall be sent to a calibration laboratory performing measurements traceable to the National Institute of Standards and

Technology (NIST), a standard acceptable to the FAA.”

Section 1.4 (e) is written appropriately. It is the Government’s intent for the commercial calibration to be FAA-approved.

40 In PWS section 1.4, Flying Hours, of the

PWS, the USG uses the term

“recoverables.” Please define the term

“recoverables.”

A recoverable is any part that is removed from the aircraft and is repairable.

41 In PWS section 1.4 (i), the USG states

“Ensure repair and overhaul of all reparable items are accomplished at

FAA certified repair facilities.” In 1.1 of the PWS, a statement is made that the

CLS system includes…repair and overhaul of all repairable spares At

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified repair stations. These statements are in direct conflict with

PWS sections 1.14 and 1.10.3 which state that ISR Mission Equipment may be repaired IAW OEM & vendor procedures. Is mission equipment excluded from the FAA requirement, as it is not FAA certified material?

All original aircraft parts must be FAA certified. The ISR equipment as stated in the PWS will be repaired IAW

OEM and vendor procedures.

42 Per FA813116R0002_RC-26_52_212-2-

Eval_Factors18Apr16, Page 14 and 15, and FA813116R0002_RC-

26_PriceMatrix-20Apr16, Page 2, the government has CLIN 12 as Phase out and CLIN 13 as Phase In, however, the

Pricing Matrix document has CLIN 12 as

Phase In and CLIN 13 as Phase Out.

Please confirm which CLIN structure is correct.

The Government has updated the

Pricing Matrix on the previous RFP release.

43 In the RFP under CLINs X001AL and

X001AM, the offeror is asked to bid a fixed price per month in labor to support

1-3 aircraft and 4-6 aircraft respectively.

The instructions imply that the offeror is to bill the same fixed monthly amount should support be activated under these

CLINs whether the offeror is supporting

1 aircraft or 3 under CLIN X001AL and whether the contractor is supporting 4 aircraft or 6 under CLIN X001AM.

Given the fact that 3 aircraft will require significantly more support than 1 aircraft, offerors are likely to assume that they will have to support 2 or 3 aircraft under X001AL and 5 or 6 aircraft under

CLIN X001AM. In the event the

Government ends up requiring only 1 aircraft or 4, it is likely to be significantly overbilled. We Suggest that the Government revise the RFP in order to request a specific quote for each quantity of planes. This would reduce risk on the part of both the Government and the contractor.

The number of aircraft to be supported in PR is currently unknown. The

Government has reviewed the requirement, considered pricing each possible quantity, and stands behind the aircraft support ranges as stated in

X001AL and X001AM. The CLIN structure to the PR CLINS remains unchanged.

44 Appendix N of the PWS does not tell offerors what the total engine cycles are on the fleet engines, nor the total accumulated cycles on internal engine cycle-limited components. The utilization rates in Appendix N also do not indicate anticipated engine cycles going forward. Can the government please clarify how offerors should plan for possible engine cycle-limited.

The Government has updated appendix N of the PWS and added engine cycle data for the fleet. Engine components are replaced during

HSI/CZI events as required. All components that will not make the next inspection interval will be replaced during current inspection/overhaul. Planning should be based on projected flying hours and

HSI/CZI intervals.

45 RFP CLIN X011, PWS- Data- CDRL

A019 and A026 appear to be duplicates.-

Will the Government verity that only one of the two deliverables are required?

The Government has updated appendix M in the PWS as well as

CLIN X011. The duplicate deliverable error has been corrected.

46 2) Reference: Table 2.1 Proposal

Organization in Section L.2.7.3, page 4 of Attachment 7.

Discussion: Section L.2.7.3, Table 2.1 requires that the small business section

(subfactor 4) be included in the 70 page limit of Volume 1. As the small business plan is largely documenting company and financial information and not a technical “approach” in the manner of the other subfactors, the SB plan should not be subjected to the same space restrictions as the rest of the volume.

Due to multiple industry request and further research the Government has extended the page limitation for the technical volume to 100 pages.

47 AWD’s revisions are TBD, and AWD’s numbers.

The DOL has updated AWD numbers.

Can the USG provide a baseline of all applicable AWD as a basis for this proposal, and provide a revision number?

An updated WD is now attached to the

RFP

48 RFP- Section X010 Technical and

Engineering- CLIN X010 reads “Travel and per diem for official business associated with effort shall be authorized in advance by the PCO and shall be reimbursed under CLIN X010.”- Will the Government confirm that Travel expenses are to be bid in X010, or should the reference instead be X008?

The government confirms, travel and per diem for official business associated CLIN X010 shall be authorized in advance by the PCO and shall be reimbursed under CLIN

X010.

49 RC-26 CLS Attachment 5 Pricing

Matrix, X012, X013- The RC-26 CLS

Pricing Matrix does not provide a separate location to bid Phase in / Phase

Out for the Optional Base, San Juan, PR.- Will the government confirm the transition of the optional Base should not be included in the Phase In/Phase Out

CLINs (X012 and X013)?

Due to the uncertainty of the timing of the phase-in and phase out of the PR sites, the phase-in and phase out for

PR will be handled under Over and

Above (CLIN X007). The phase-in and phase out for PR should not be included in the Phase in/Phase Out

CLINs (X012 and X013)

50 In accordance with FAR 52.228-5

Insurance – Work on Government

Installation, the FAR clause states that the Contractor is required to maintain minimum amounts of insurance as required in the schedule or elsewhere in the contract. Does the Government plan to add ‘required insurance requirements’ in the schedule or the PWS of the RFP.

Required insurance is now added to the schedule per the addendum

51 Regarding Addendum to 52.212-4—

Contract Terms and Conditions—

Commercial Items (page 5 of RFP

SF1449), the new paragraph (p)

Indemnification will hold the Contractor responsible for the loss of aircraft while on Contractor or Subcontractor premises/custody. Does the Government plan to add ‘required insurance requirements’ to cover this aircraft liability?

Required insurance is now added to the schedule per the addendum

52 3) Reference: Table 2.1 Proposal

Organization in Section L.2.7.3, page 4 of Attachment 7, Volume II Past

Performance Volume.

Discussion: Section L.2.7.3, Table 2.1 requires separate sections for

“Present/Past Performance Information

Tool” and “Relevant Contract

Narrative”. It is unclear what the

Government expects in both of these sections. The listed requirements seem to overlap.

L.5.1.2 (which is listed as the relevant

ITO instruction for “Present/Past

Performance Information Tool” discusses the need to use the PPI Tool but does not require specific information be provided. However, L.5.3.2 (which is listed as the relevant ITO instruction for

“Relevant Contract Narrative”) provides this guidance but is listed by Table 2.1 as not applying to the “Present/Past

Performance Information Tool” section.

L.5.3.1 discusses the usage of PP

Information Sheets at length but isn’t found in the Table 2.1 reference.

There is some overlapping in the two sections however the information is requested in both areas. Please provide the information as requested in section L.

Recommend removing the

““Present/Past Performance Information

Tool” reference in Table 2.1 and adding

5.1.2 and 5.3.1 to the “Relevant Contract

Narrative” entry in Table 2.1.

Questions: Will the government update the ITO and/or provide PPIT output guidance?