Amendment 01--RFI-Long Range Air-to-Air Technology.docx

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

The Department of Defense, United States Air Force (USAF), Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Munitions Directorate, invites industry and Government laboratories to submit information showcasing innovative long range air-to-air missile technologies leading to possible Government/Industry collaboration for development of Joint Forces technology capabilities. Sources also include small businesses (SB), 8(a), HUBZone, Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned (EDWOSB), Woman-Owned (WOSB), and Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVOSB) small business.

This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP). This RFI provides an opportunity for respondents to interact with the Government to determine how technology development efforts and ideas may support or enhance DOD capability needs. The purpose of this RFI is to facilitate a collaborative relationship between Government and industry to promote the identification and assessment of emerging technologies.

The deadline for responses is 18 June 2020 at 12:00 Noon Central Time. After review of the submissions, the Government may ask select respondents for additional information, a proposal, or to demonstrate technologies at a sponsored event.

Technical Focus: Descriptions of innovative long range air-to-air missile design concepts to existing full prototypes and key technologies that enable the capability.

Key Attributes of Interest (Responses to these attributes may be classified SECRET):

· Range – Ability to significantly exceed current fielded Air-to-Air missiles

· Specify the conditions (i.e. impact range, launch range, altitude, velocity, etc.)

· Time of Flight – Minimize time to target at range

Physical Constraints:

· 5th Generation Fighter Aircraft Bay Carriage

· Length: Not to exceed 156 inches

Configurations of Interest (Others may be considered):

· Single stage solid rocket motor air-to-air missile

· Multi-stage solid rocket motor air-to-air missile

· Air breathing air-to-air missile

Enabling Technologies of Interest (Others may be considered):

· Propulsion (Performance responses may be classified CONFIDENTIAL) - Multi-pulse Solid Rocket Motor, Throttle-ability, Propellants, Grain configurations, Cases & Liners

· Warhead & Lethality (Lethality responses may be classified SECRET) – Compact designs with high single shot probability of kill

· Airframe – Novel airframes, compact control systems

· Guidance, Navigation, and Control – Optimized guidance algorithms, compact M-Code GPS, enhanced seekers and sensors

· Electrical Power – advance battery technologies, ultra-capacitors

· Carriage – Novel carriage and release concepts, advanced power delivery, advanced data transmission

Key Considerations:

1. Technical feasibility

2. Performance

5. Manufacturability

If there is a need to include classified or sensitive information as part of the RFI response, contact the AFRL/RWP POC and accomplish the following PRIOR to including information:

1. Notify and obtain written agreement from the AFRL/RWP Government Program Manager (GPM) as well as the responsible originating GPM.

2. Submit information in accordance with the instructions provided in the last paragraph.

REQUEST FOR CLARIFICATION: A respondent may request clarification in writing from the Contracting Officer for any of this RFI that is unclear by sending an e-mail listed in this posting. Verbal requests will not be accepted. Questions shall not contain classified information.

Any requests for clarification must be received no later than five (5) business days prior to the close of this RFI in order to receive a timely response. Clarifications may be posted on the RFI announcement website to benefit all interested respondents. Interested respondents are encouraged to periodically check the website during the response period for clarifications.

All interested parties shall submit a response addressing the technology attributes to the Primary Point of Contact listed below. Responses to this RFI DO NOT need to address every area of the technology attributes of interest outlined below. Proposals are not being requested or accepted at this time. As stipulated in FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. No solicitation (RFP) exists at this time; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. The decision to solicit for a contract shall be solely within the Government’s discretion.

The NAICS Code assigned to this acquisition is 541715, Research and Development in the Physical, engineering, and Life Sciences (except Guided Missiles and Space Vehicles, Their Propulsion Units and Propulsion Parts), with a size standard of 1,250 persons. Respondent should indicate its size in relation to this size standard and indicate socio-economic status (i.e. SB, 8(a), HUBZone, EDWOSB, WOSB, or SDVOSB). Respondent is further requested to indicate its status as a Foreign-owned/Foreign-controlled firm and any contemplated use of foreign national employees on this effort. The Government reserves the right to consider a small business set-aside based upon responses hereto for any subsequent action. All prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database to be awarded a DoD contract. No set-aside decision has been made. Note that a key factor in determining an acquisition to be a Small Business Set Aside is that small business prime contractors must perform at least 50% of the effort, as defined in FAR Clause 52.219-14.

Any information submitted by respondents to this RFI is voluntary. This RFI notice is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government reimburse any costs associated with the submission of information in response to this notice. Respondents will not be individually notified of the results of any Government assessments. The Government’s assessment of the information received will factor into whether any forthcoming solicitation will be conducted as a full and open competition or as a set-aside for small business, or any particular small business program.

RESPONSES: All interested respondents shall submit information that explicitly demonstrates the capability to provide/perform the requirement(s) stated in this notice. The capabilities statement should be brief and concise, yet clearly demonstrate information concerning the technology attributes. The response must not exceed 20 single-sided, single-spaced pages. This page limit is to be treated as a maximum and RFI responses containing fewer pages will be accepted. Proprietary information provided must be marked accordingly. To protect such data, each line or paragraph on the pages containing such data must be specifically identified and marked with a legend similar to the following: “The following contains proprietary information that (name of Responder) requests not be released to persons outside of the Government, except for the purposes of review and evaluation.”

Responses will be provided to the Government on CD-ROM media. The font for text should be Times New Roman 12-point or larger. Existing commercial documentation and product literature can also be submitted and is not subject to a page limitation. Submitted responses should be in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat format.

Small businesses with only partial capabilities of this requirement are encouraged to submit a capabilities statement demonstrating the portion of the requirement it is capable of providing/ performing. This information will allow the Government to identify areas of possible breakout or possible subcontracting opportunities.

AFRL/RW GPM:

Major Daniel J. Welsh Counter Air Science and Technology PM AFRL Munitions Directorate Daniel.welsh.2@us.af.mil 850-882-8196 (office) 850-218-9239 (work mobile) Note: Due to current telework situation, please coordinate by email.

Responses are to be submitted to Yakemi McKinnis at 101 W. Eglin Blvd, Elgin AFB, FL 32542. All correspondence shall contain a subject line that reads “FA8651-2020-001, Technical Experimentation: Long Range Air-to-Air Missile Technologies.

All responsible sources may submit information that shall be considered by the agency. If late information is received, it may be considered, depending on agency time constraints. All routine communications regarding the announcement should be directed to the contractual point of contact listed in this posting. The Government may or may not use any responses to this RFI as a basis for a subsequent project/requirement. Any project/ requirement developed from the RFI responses may be the subject of a subsequent acquisition; any such subsequent acquisition will be posted in Beta.Sam.gov separately. Responses to this RFI will not be returned. The Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information submitted, or provide feedback with respect to any of the information submitted. In order to protect the integrity of any possible future acquisition, no additional information will be provided and no appointments for presentations will be made in order to respond to this RFI.

Only Government employees will review submitted responses to this RFI. Respondents are advised that employees of commercial firms under contract with the Government may be used to administratively process submissions and perform other administrative duties requiring access to other contractor’s proprietary information. These administrative support contracts include nondisclosure agreements prohibiting contractor employees from disclosing any information submitted by other contractors or using such information for any purpose other than that for which it was furnished.

RESPONSES ARE DUE NO LATER THAN 12:00 P.M. Noon (Central Time) ON 18 June 2020. To reduce the risk of a security incident during RFI submissions, respondents MUST provide all responses on two separate CDs via a classified package. Courier hand-delivery of response package is not allowed. If a response contains classified information, it must be sent via FedEx to the following address: Outer envelopes will be addressed to AFRL/RW, 101 W. Eglin Blvd, Bldg 13, Eglin AFB, FL 32542-5427 ATTN: Security. Inner envelopes will be addressed to Yakemi McKinnis, AFRL/RWK, 101 W. Eglin Blvd, Bldg 13, Eglin AFB, FL 32542-5427. Direct all questions concerning this requirement to Yakemi McKinnis @ yakemi.mckinnis.1@us.af.mil.

DISTROBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release (Case Number 96TW-2020-0122): distribution unlimited.