FA8730-C2SET-FO2 C2SET Follow-on RFI Supplemental.pdf

Supplemental Request for Information (RFI) Air Force Life Cycle Management (AFLCMC)

Command and Control Simulation Environment for Training (C2SET)

Any information submitted by respondents to this request is strictly voluntary. This is neither a Request for Proposal nor a Notice of Contract Action (NOCA). This is a market research survey to determine the availability and adequacy of potential sources prior to determining an acquisition and contract strategy. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Respondents are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested parties’ expense. The Government does not intend to award a contract based on this RFI.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to provide feedback with respect to any information submitted. To the maximum extent possible, please submit non-proprietary information. Any proprietary information submitted should be identified as such and will be handled accordingly and protected from disclosure. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with the applicable Government regulations. The Government shall not be liable for damages related to proprietary information that is not properly identified.

Any submissions in response to this RFI constitutes consent for that submission to be reviewed by Government personnel, Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) Contractor employees, and Advisory & Assistance Services (A&AS) Contractor employees supporting the Air Force Modeling & Simulation Training Toolkit (AFMSTT) program and/or AFLCMC/HBB (Kessel Run) -- unless the respondent clearly objects in writing to the release of this information to FFRDC and/or A&AS Contractor employees supporting AFLCMC/HBB in a cover letter accompanying the respondent’s submission. All Government and Department of Defense (DoD) contractor personnel reviewing RFI responses understand their responsibility for proper use and protection from unauthorized disclosure of proprietary information.

Scope:

This is a supplemental RFI, as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(e). The Government is issuing this supplemental RFI in an effort to further understand the market’s ability to deliver capabilities for building, integrating, and modernizing Modeling, Simulation and Analysis (MS&A) software needed for the United States Air Force (USAF) to include, but not limited to, simulating and stimulating the Air Operations Center (AOC) Weapon System (WS) for battlestaff training, operational sustainment and maintenance of C2SET fielded capabilities, continued modernization of current C2SET and Air Force M&S Training Toolkit (AFMSTT) capabilities, operational sustainment and maintenance of AFMSTT fielded capabilities not fully integrated into C2SET, and the operational support and development for the M&S DevSecOps Platform for cloud and on-premises deployment as required by the M&S training application, user, or site. The Government is also interested in the market’s ability to engage in partnered development, sustainment, and Industry/Government sharing within Kessel Run (AFLCMC/HBB).

This effort will modernize AF Constructive C2 MS&A in conjunction with AOC WS and other KR applications as part of the follow-on modification and sustainment & modernization C2SET program. This effort will provide contractor operational and technical software maintenance, sustainment, and modernization to the existing AFMSTT and C2SET software baselines.

Additionally, this effort will provide continued contract support to the current customers of the C2SET and AFMSTT systems until replaced and removed from service, or no longer required.

Lastly, this effort will continue contractor operational support and development of the M&S DevSecOps Platform to share infrastructure, services, security, accreditation, fielding, training, costs, and maintainability. This M&S Platform will enable application development and integration toward a single KR M&S suite of software that will be configurable for deployment as required by the user. The Government believes that a Commercial off-the-shelf product (COTS) is unlikely to satisfy program requirements in a timely or cost-effective manner.

C2SET and AFMSTT are part of the Air, Space, and Cyberspace Constructive Environment (ASCCE) fielded to the AF C2 Simulation Centers, the 505th Combat Training Squadron (CTS), Hurlburt Field, FL, and other customers worldwide. This effort will maintain interoperability with the ASCCE network including the current and evolving Air, Space, and Cyberspace Constructive Environment – Information Operations Simulation (ACE-IOS) suite of applications and the AF Synthetic Environment for Reconnaissance and Surveillance as necessary to create the air, space, and cyber picture for joint major theater warfare events and exercises. It will also maintain compatibility with current and future joint and coalition Federations to include, but not limited to, Joint Live Virtual Constructive, Joint Land Component Constructive Training Capability, and Battle Lab Collaborative Simulation Environment.

C2SET is expected to use an Agile Software Development approach with new model fielding when operationally ready to support new AF WS enhancements as well as new AF programs in rapid acquisition (e.g. ABMS, CJADC2, etc).

C2SET Program Objectives

1. Simulate and stimulate the AOC WS and other Combined Forces Air Component Commander/Joint Forces Air Component Commander/Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance/Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control applications as required.

2. Operationally sustain and maintain the C2SET fielded capabilities to include software, models, algorithms, interfaces, integrations, Kubernetes environments, host software, database management, test, exercise support, and the M&S DevSecOps Platform, etc.

3. Continue to modernize Air Warfare Simulation (AWSIM), AFMSTT, Air Base Simulation (ABS), and Command and Control Weapon System Part Task Trainer (C2WSPTT) capabilities in support of the AOC WS and other C5ISR application development, testing, and training, as required.

4. At the time of the AFMSTT Sustainment contract completion, this effort will operationally sustain and maintain any AFMSTT capabilities not fully integrated into C2SET, as required.

5. In conjunction with other Research & Development agencies, provide modernization technologies and architectures for the modeling of new AF Coalition and adversary weapons systems and C2 Constructive tactical Air, and theater lift operations in all theaters of potential conflict from counter-insurgency through major theater conventional war.

6. Maintain interoperability with the ASCCE network, external Federation partners, and the training audiences.

7. Augment real-time components to an existing wartime plan and execution (e.g., ABP, ATO, ACO, SPINS, RSTA, JIPTL, and OPTASKLINK) in a wargame through real-time model control providing onsite support to manipulate the system to best mimic wartime procedures.

8. Provide advancements in distributed data transfer systems to populate and share simulation data in real-time through legacy High-Level Architecture (HLA), Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS), etc. and upcoming Joint community replacements.

9. Leverage existing commercial or military M&S frameworks to minimize overall development such as, the Advanced Framework for Simulation, Integration and Modeling

(AFSIM).

10. Support and development of the M&S DevSecOps Platform for cloud and on-premises deployment as required by the M&S application, user, or site.

Program Assumptions

1. For both sustainment and modernization through modification, teams will be required to use the current technology stack for the following reasons:

a. Ada

i. The legacy AWSIM model is built using Ada83 standard and can be compiled using Ada2005 compliant compiler.

ii. The C2SET contract will continue sustainment of legacy AFMSTT components as required which may include AWSIM code development using Ada.

b. Advanced Framework for Simulation, Integration, and Modeling

i. AFSIM is based in C++, and its modular architecture is an advantageous framework to connect with other systems, specifically the FOM needed for joint exercises.

ii. AFSIM brings the analytical and training community together, allowing for M&S to be AF wide and to have joint goals for wargaming. This will change the way that M&S provides value to the AF.

iii. AFSIM is an analytical tool that can give real-time capabilities in creation and assessment of the mission planning cycle. This fits well with our increased focus on a dynamic Air Tasking Order (ATO).

c. MSSV (not an acronym)

i. MSSV is a data fabric designed specifically to handle large entity counts (10M+) and associated interactions in a DoD simulation environment.

ii. Provides proven support of M&S protocols required to integrate with internal and external simulation partners.

iii. MSSV code base is built using Java.

d. Web Unified Model Control (WebUMC)

i. Built on a modern web framework, WebUMC supports connections to a modern simulation backend and is used in both the legacy, AFMSTT, and modernization, C2SET.

ii. It is a consolidated, web-based user interface which provides a geospatial (map) display, tabular display of game data (WebASTABs), system administration tools, and a display of user documentation.

iii. The WebUMC front end is built using Angular JavaScript (Typescript) and the backend is Java.

e. M&S Platform

i. Built on top of the Kessel Run tool suite, this is a foundational software delivery platform completely optimized from development to deployment to enable rapid fielding of DAF M&S capabilities to the environments and networks necessary for execution.

ii. Cloud-based development, test, integration, and staging environments built using Platform One’s Big Bang and Iron-bank hardened images.

Questions for Industry

1. Maximum Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Capacity: Please provide the maximum number of FTEs your business can support under your current operational structure.

2. Current FTE Utilization: What is your current FTE count? This includes a breakdown by department or function, if applicable.

3. Scalability: Can your organization scale to support additional FTEs if necessary? If so, please outline any constraints or considerations that may impact this scalability.

4. Timeframe for Adjustments: Should an increase in FTE support be required, what would be the expected timeframe to achieve this increase?

5. Development, Sustainment, and Operational Support: What FTE mix would you recommend to best support development, sustainment, and operational support with one contract team?

6. How would you manage a system of systems approach leveraging partnerships with team members, potential subcontractors, and government personnel to support overall design, architecture, and integration of a KR M&S suite of products to include M&S Platform, AFSIM, MSSV, C2SET components, PTT, ACE-IOS, AFMSTT and other systems as required.

7. How would you manage a Systems Engineering approach to gather requirements, document the architecture, and identify additional features, then perform integration and test activities to support accreditation of the system to be used in exercises, wargames, and experiments as required.

Responses

Responses to this RFI are requested to be submitted either by e-mail to christian.hedengren.1@us.af.mil and angela.lynch.3@us.af.mil or through the DoD Secure Access File Exchange (SAFE) website (https://safe.apps.mil/) to the same email addresses NO LATER THAN 29 OCTOBER 2024. Responses should be single-spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point font, with one inch margins all around, compatible with MS Office Word 2016, with a total page count not to exceed five (5) pages. Individual responses including attachments shall not exceed five (5) MB. Each page of your package shall be printable on 8 x 11 paper. Cover, tab dividers, title pages, glossaries and table of contents are not required. Please submit the final version to the Government in PDF file format. Please note that some email systems may block file types such as .zip or other macro-enabled extensions; respondents should verify legible receipt by email.

Responses shall include the following information (information provided will be on a separate page and not included in the five page count):

1. Company / Institute Name:

2. Address:

3. Point of Contact:

4. CAGE Code:

5. Phone Number:

6. E-mail Address:

7. Web Page URL:

8. Current FCL Level:

9. Government has chosen NAICS Code 541512. Please identify your NAICS Business Size

(ie: Small, Large, Other):

Any response submitted by respondents to this request constitutes consent for that submission to be reviewed by military personnel, Government civilians, and DoD contractors. The responses may be forwarded to other Government entities in consideration for applicability to other programs. Respondents should indicate which portions of their response are proprietary or competition sensitive and should mark them accordingly.

mailto:christian.hedengren.1@us.af.mil mailto:angela.lynch.3@us.af.mil https://safe.apps.mil/