QA 6 Jan 12.doc

The Questions and Answers

B-1 Advance Radar/Electronic Warfare Test Station (ARTS)

Request for Proposal (RFP) FA8533-11-R-31160

6 January 2012 The following questions have been received in the WR-ALC/GRVKBB, Major Programs Contracting Office on the above ARTS requirement. The questions as well as the applicable answers are provided below for assistance to all potential offerors for the greater understanding of the Government’s requirement.

Question 1: In previous questions, you answered that the total number of ITAs with current CLIN quantities was 200 varying ITAs (8 x 25). This infers there are more ITAs than stations when you group LRU such that one ITA tests 4 LRUs. We believe the maximum number of ITAs associated with TPSs that have the same ITA for multiple LRUs should be no more than 8. For example if the NSNs below are tested using the same ITA, that would be 4 x 8 = 32 ITAs, and there are only 23 production stations. Please clarify, do you really need 8 ITAs per LRU/TPS?

Government Response: The best estimated quantity (BEQ) of 7 ITA copies for LRU TPSs as identified in the solicitation is based on the assumption that each LRU TPS will have its own ITA. The Government reserves the right to place a delivery order for a quantity less than the BEQ at the time of the order. However, the total BEQ (qty of 7 copies) identified in the RFP should be priced to avoid unbalanced pricing.

Question 2: Will it be allowable to distribute the test station non-recurring costs to the CDRL CLINs in the base year for the test station and only price the maintenance of those CDRLs in the option years without being considered non- compliant to the unbalanced pricing clause as defined in paragraph 4.0ii on page174 of the RFP?

Government Response: CLIN 0001 in the RFP denotes preproduction test station units. Each offeror shall determine what recurring as well as nonrecurring costs are associated with the preproduction units, and price the units accordingly. The Government will not instruct offerors on how to allocate their costs among the CLINs in the RFP but advises all offerors that prices will be evaluated pursuant to the "Evaluation Basis for Award" provision.

Question 3: Why are all option year pricing summed together to determine the Total Evaluation Price (TEP) for CLINS that have a quantity of one (example LRU TPS)? The TEP will be inflated by a factor of four. For example, the TEP for CLIN 1002 will be the sum of the total price for AA thru AD. Are we interpreting this correctly? Should the TEP be the maximum value of the 4 sub-CLINs?

PRICE

TOTAL

PRICE

$0

$0

$0

$0

Government Response: This method of determining the Total Evaluated Price (TEP) has been extensively reviewed and discussed within the Government. The Government determined this methodology to be the fairest methodology for calculating the TEP.

Question 4: It is our interpretation that PD paragraphs 3.2.2.5, Discrete Signals I/Os, and 3.2.3.7, Digital Parallel Stimulus/Measurement Capability, are mutually exclusive. In other words, the ARTS station is required to have 264 Low Voltage Discretes, 48 High Voltage Discretes, 232 Low Voltage Parallel, and 24 High Voltage Parallel, all available independently or simultaneously. Is this interpretation correct?

Government Response: There was some overlap and/or duplication of requirements between

3.2.2.5 and 3.2.3.7 of the PD. This was due to typographical errors that were made when the multitude of specifications were consolidated into the one PD. The revised PD pages will be incorporated via Amendment 0003. Requirements of revised sections 3.2.2.5 and 3.2.3.7 are required to be independently and simultaneously available. Refer to T.O. 33D7-33-195-1 for more specifics/details on how this capability is currently generated/provided in the legacy test equipment (REW station).

While there has been a change to the requirement, the changes reduce the amount of capability required and does not necessarily change the functional parameters of the requirement (i.e. same type of functionality/capability, just less quantity of digital I/O). As such, the Government will not grant an extension as a result of Amendment 0003.

Question 5: CLIN 1054 on Page 116 of the solicitation calls out a quantity of four Test Plans for each option year. Yet, there are a total of 22 TPS’s spread across four option years. Shouldn’t there be a quantity of 22 Test Plans itemized by each individual TPS for each option year?

Government Response: CLIN 1054 has a BEQ of 4 LO because it is the Government’s intent to order a BEQ of 1 LO for CLIN 1054 per TPS group. However, the Government reserves the right to order more than or less than the BEQ listed on the CLIN. Please see Note 3 on page 32 of the RFP. Also note that paragraph 3.2.4.2 of the Statement of Work states that, “One technical review shall be conducted for each group. Should a group be separated into two subgroups, the contractor shall conduct a technical review for each subgroup.” If the contractor chooses to divide the TPS Group(s) into subgroups for the purpose of reviews, the contractor will deliver two test plans, with each test plan comprising the proposed test procedures for each TPS within the subgroup. However, the Government will only order 1 LO as it will not be known until after the order is placed whether the TPS Group(s) will be divided into subgroups by the contractor.

For example, CLINs 1002 – 1007 comprise TPS Group II. It is the Government’s intent to place a delivery order for all of TPS Group II (CLINs 1002 – 1007), as well as 1 LO of CLIN 1054 to cover the test plan data requirement for all of the TPSs in TPS Group II. In other words, it is the Government’s intent that 1 LO Test Plans will comprise the test plans for all five TPSs in TPS Group II. The same is true for TPS Groups III – V.

The approach in this answer suffices for, and is applicable to Questions 6 – 9.

Question 6: CLIN 1055 on Page 117 of the solicitation calls out a quantity of four Test Reports for each option year. Yet, there are a total of 22 TPS’s spread across four option years. Shouldn’t there be a quantity of 22 Test Reports itemized by each individual TPS for each option year?

Government Response: See answer to Question 5 above.

Question 7: CLIN 1056 on Page 119 of the solicitation calls out a quantity of four Design Review Information Packages for each option year. Yet, there are a total of 22 TPS’s spread across four option years. Shouldn’t there be a quantity of 22 Design Review Information Packages itemized by each individual TPS for each option year?

Government Response: See answer to Question 5 above.

Question 8: CLIN 1065 on Page 129 of the solicitation calls out a quantity of four Logistics Management Information (LMI) Data Products for each option year. Yet, there are a total of 22 TPS’s spread across four option years. Shouldn’t there be a quantity of 22 Logistics Management Information (LMI) Data Products itemized by each individual TPS for each option year?

Government Response: See answer to Question 5 above.

Question 9: CLIN 1066 on Page 130 of the solicitation calls out a quantity of four Supplemental Data for Provisioning for each option year. Yet, there are a total of 22 TPS’s spread across four option years. Shouldn’t there be a quantity of 22 Supplemental Data for Provisioning itemized by each individual TPS for each option year?

Government Response: See answer to Question 5 above.

Question 10: CLINS 1057, 1060, 1064, 1067 of the solicitation each call out quantity of 22 however they are not itemized by TPS type. Can we use the format for Quantity Range Example on page 177 to itemize the quantity of 22 by TPS type? If so can CLIN 1054, 1055, 1056, 1065 and 1066 be restructured for quantity of 22 and can we use the format for Quantity Range Example on page 177 to itemize the quantity of 22 by TPS type?

Government Response: The Government will not dictate how offerors are to propose their prices. However, if the offeror chooses to provide quantity range pricing, the example on page 177 of the RFP illustrates how the Government will evaluate the quantity range pricing.

CLINs 1054, 1055, 1056, 1065 and 1066 will not be restructured to indicate a BEQ of 22 LO for each CLIN. It is not the Government’s intent to individually order 1 LO of these data CLINs per TPS. The Government’s intent is to order 1 LO per TPS Group. However, the Government reserves the right to order more than or less than the stated BEQ amount.

Question 11: Due to the Christmas and New Year holidays, most companies were shut down for over a week. As such, a 15 day extension is requested.

Government Response: The Government typically allows 45 days for proposal preparation. In consideration of the holidays, the Government included an additional 14 days for a total of 54 days. As such, the Government will not grant any extensions at this time.

Question 12: TPS Group 1 comprised of CLINs 0006, 0007, and 0008 have corresponding data in support of these CLINs. The data items will be priced at CLINs 0009AA through 0009AJ. However, the rest of the TPS Groups in the option years do not have any corresponding data CLINs. Are there supposed to be TPS data CLINs to price data in the option years?

Government Response: CLINs 1051 – 1067 are all data CLINs. CLINs 1051-1052 are in support of CLIN 1001 (reference the title above CLIN 1051 on page 111 of the RFP). CLIN 1053 is in support of CLINs 1001-1050 (reference the title above CLIN 1053 on page 114 of the RFP). CLINs 1054-1067 are in support of CLINs 1002-1023 (reference the title above CLIN 1054 on page 116 of the RFP). CLINs 1002-1023 are the remaining TPSs for TPS Groups II-V.

Question 13: Per SOW para 3.3.2.2, “The contractor shall design each ITA to test as many UUTs as possible without significantly increasing the footprint of the ITA.” Based on this statement, it is possible that multiple UUTs could be hosted on one ITA. Per RFP CLINs 0011-0013 and 1026-1050, copies of the LRU TPS ITA and cables are to be priced individually per UUT TPS. How should bidders price the cost of ITAs used for more than one TPS?

Government Response: Offerors are to price the ITAs as specified in the schedule. If an ITA works on multiple TPSs, this information will become available to both the Government and the contractor at the time of the technical reviews. The Government will take that into consideration if/when placing a delivery order for the copies of those ITAs.