Attachment_5_-_Request_for_information_16Mar.pdf

ATTACHMENT 5

NOTICE TO PROSPECTIVE OFFERORS

DEEP SPACE ADVANCED RADAR CAPABILITY (DARC)

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

1.0 Description

1.1 The United States Space Force (USSF), Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), Special

Programs Directorate (SP), Ground Radars Portfolio (SMC/SPGR) is seeking information from industry to determine potential strategies and industry capabilities to execute the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability Program of Record (DARC-PoR) design, systems engineering and integration, development, test, production, fielding, operations, and transition to sustainment under USSF responsibility.

1.2 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is part of the overall market research activity to collect, organize, maintain, analyze and present data in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, USSF is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondees 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 party’s expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFI or RFP, if any are issued.

If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the https://beta.sam.gov/ website. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

1.3 (U) The DARC-PoR effort will build and install a pseudo-monostatic ground radar system. It will coherently combine It will coherently combine the pseudo-monostatic array of steerable parabolic antennas. The DARC system will affordably field an advanced, 24/7, all-weather capabilities, not supported in any existing ground-based radar.

2.0 Background

At the 26 March 2019 Air Force Review Board (AFRB), SAF/AQ designated DARC as a Middle Tier of Acquisition (MTA) activity under the 2016 NDAA Section 804 procedures. DARC Program Office will leverage the Johns Hopkins University Advanced Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) design and expertise gained from the DARC Technical Demonstration (DARC-TD) activity at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), allow for innovation, and will result in a streamlined Initial Operating Capability (IOC).

https://beta.sam.gov/

3.0 Requested Information

Responses should address any or all of the following enabler-related questions.

3.1 Engineering

3.1.1 What is your company’s overall qualification for executing the DARC program?

3.1.2 What experience do you have with deploying developmental radar capabilities on a global scale?

3.1.3 What are your engineering approaches, teaming agreements, contracting structure, system sustainment transition issues, and lessons learned for similarly complex systems?

3.1.4 What are the engineering benefits, challenges, and risks for an acquisition strategy where a single prime has DARC-PoR full mission-system performance responsibility (to include all design, build, test, and transition to sustainment scope)?

3.1.3 What are the engineering benefits, challenges, and risks for an acquisition strategy where: a single prime contractor, has DARC-PoR full mission-system performance responsibility with the support of an independent technical development agent (a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC)/current DARC-TD developer (JHU/APL) as a GRA Subject Matter Expert (SME)?

3.1.4 What specific low-risk innovations from your firm/team are applicable to DARC-PoR (areas such as mission processing/management, data, cyber, software, operations, hardware, human systems, life-cycle support) that you believe could be implemented with minimal impact to cost/schedule or degrading mission performance?

3.1.5 What approaches and risk mitigation would you recommend associated with transitioning DARC-TD, along with program content and lessons learned, to a follow-on contract(s) to design, develop and implement DARC-PoR design, build, fielding, operations, and initial transition to sustainment?

3.1.6 What are your recommendations to reduce engineering risk for the roles, responsibilities, and acquisition structure if the government approach included leveraging an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) contract type, where a Weapon System Integrator (WSI) and a directed nontraditional contributor, such as a UARC, had a substantive technical role to build a prototype for Site 1 and the control center?

3.1.7 What level software Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) certification would you recommend for this acquisition?

3.1.8 The government is contemplating release of the DARC-PoR GRA or other DARC-TD documents to allow for industry innovation. What is the minimum set of technical documentation that a Weapons System Integrator needs to facilitate innovation approaches to the GRA?

3.2 Civil/Construction

3.2.1 What is your experience determining facilities and infrastructure requirements, as well as, executing those requirements?

3.2.2 What is your process in complying with ICD/ICS-705, Technical Specifications for

Construction and Management of Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities both CONUS and OCONUS?

3.3 Logistics

3.3.1 What innovative services/solutions do you offer in regards to initial supply chain establishment and long term sustainment?

3.3.2 Who are your trusted service providers/suppliers?

3.3.3 What rate of production we might expect you can achieve for components of a ground based radar system? Of particular interest are production rates of steerable parabolic antennas and transmitters.

3.3.4 What continuous improvement methodology do you practice? (TQM, Lean, Six Sigma, etc.)?

3.4 Cybersecurity

3.4.1 Have you ever certified a system (Authority to Operate (ATO)) utilizing Risk

Management Framework (RMF)? Of particular interest is agile software development (DevSecOps) or achieving ATO within an MTA acquisition type?

3.4.2 Are there any RMF methodologies you would recommend to expedite or accelerate schedule?

3.5 Contract

3.5.1 Do you intend to prime this contract?

3.5.2 If responding as a large business, what is the amount of possible subcontracting and areas where small businesses and subcategories of small business can have meaningful opportunities?

3.5.3 If responding as a small business, where can you contribute to this acquisition, specifically?

3.5.4 As DARC is a new program and there is not a current operational capability to alleviate or mitigate program risk. What does industry see as the biggest program risk(s) that a contract process could mitigate and how would industry prefer to see these risks mitigated?

4.0 Responses

Do not submit generic corporate marketing materials for this RFI.

Responses to this RFI shall be submitted via e-mail to SMC.DirSP-G.DARC@us.af.mil and are due no later than 9 March 2020, 12:00 MDT.

Responses shall be double-spaced, minimum 12-point Times New Roman font (except graphics or tables in which font must be at least 8-pt)

Section 1 of the white paper shall provide administrative information described in Section 4.1 of this RFI.

Section 2 of the white paper shall provide responses to questions identified in Section 3 of this RFI (Attachment #5) and shall be limited to 20 pages.

The number of pages in Section 1 of the white paper shall not be included in the 20-page limitation for Section 2.

Number your responses in section 2 to follow the numbering system utilized in section 3.0 of this RFI.

Responses greater than 5 Megabytes (MB) should be submitted on CD-ROM or DVD in ISO 9660 format.

4.1 Section 1 of the white paper shall provide administrative information, and shall include the following as a minimum:

Company Name, Point of Contact, Address, Telephone and Fax Numbers, Email Address

DUNS Number, CAGE Code and/or Tax ID Number

Facility Clearance Level

All applicable socio-economic business/company profile (e.g., Large/Small Business (SB), Small Disadvantaged, 8(a), 8(m) (both Woman Owned SB and Economically mailto:SMC.DirSP-G.DARC@us.af.mila

Disadvantaged Woman Owned SB), Tribally Owned entity, Alaskan Native Corporation, Hawaiian Owned Organization, Service Disabled Veteran Owned SB, Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) SB, other, etc.)

Either copies of executed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with the contractors supporting United States Space Force supported PEOs and DRPMs in technical evaluations or a statement that the respondee will not allow the Government to release its proprietary data to the Government support contractors.

In the absence of either of the foregoing, the Government will assume that the respondee does NOT agree to the release of its submission to Government support contractors.

If any respondee does not currently have a Proprietary Data Protection Agreement (PDPA) that would permit the USSF support contractors listed below to review and evaluate white papers submitted in response to this RFI, the respondee is requested to sign PDPAs with these USSF support contractors for this purpose. The following is a list of Advisory and Assistance Support (A&AS) contractors that support the DARC program and will review the responses: The MITRE Corporation; The Aerospace Corporation; Odyssey Consulting, Inc.; Tech7 LLC; The Man Tech International Corporation; Tecolote Research Inc.; and Centauri.

Respondents and/or Prospective Offerors and its subcontractors/ suppliers relevant to this program must be U.S. firms/businesses and not foreign owned, controlled, or influenced

Recommended contracting strategy

To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Proprietary information should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

5.0 Industry Discussions

DARC Program Office representatives will meet with potential offerors and technical personnel March 16, 2020, 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. and March 17, 2020, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. for One-on-One sessions. The One-on-One sessions will be held at building 504 conference rooms, 290 Duluth Avenue, Peterson AFB, 80914. One-on-Ones will be limited to no more than 60 minutes and can be conducted up to Top Secret/Special Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) level. Instructions to request a One-on-One meeting are included in Attachment 3 and will be scheduled on a first come, first served basis. All personnel interested in attending a One-on-One session must pre-register by sending Visit Access Request (VAR). VARs must be submitted via JPAS utilizing the Security Management Office (SMO) Codes provided below:

• SMO: EP1SFSYG

• DARC PoR Program Manager: David “Greg” Carr, Phone: (719) 554-8949

• Security POC: Dean Blair or Joel Strait

Phone (719) 556-5780/556-8414 Fax (719) 554-2939 Email dean.blair.1.ctr@us.af.mil Joel.Strait.ctr@us.af.mil NOTE: Contractors must include their contract number in the POC block; VARs for contractors may not exceed end of current fiscal year.

VARs must be received no later than March 5, 2020, 12:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (MST).

Sorry no exceptions. No personnel will be admitted to a One-on-One session without a VAR.

mailto:dean.blair.1.ctr@us.af.mil mailto:Joel.Strait.ctr@us.af.mil

6.0 Questions

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to the Contracting Officer, email address. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Please direct questions regarding this notice to SMC.DirSP-G.DARC@us.af.mil.

7.0 Summary

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. United States Space Force has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

mailto:SMC.DirSP-G.DARC@us.af.mil