Attch 11_DARC Questions to Offerors_SpEC.pdf

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QUESTIONS TO OFFERORS

for the

DEEP SPACE ADVANCED RADAR CAPABILITY (DARC)

The DARC program office kindly asks that you submit responses to the following request for information by close of business (COB) Mountain Standard Time (MST) on 11 February 2021.

Please submit responses directly to the DARC workflow at smc.spg.darc@us.af.mil.

The Government continues to consider industry feedback and explore DARC acquisition strategy options that will best meet program performance requirements and delivery dates, while maintaining competition. Towards that end, the Government is evaluating the potential for the Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC) Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) as the acquisition method to meet DARC requirements. The use of OTAs can significantly streamline the acquisition process and reduce the overall schedule risk associated with meeting program requirements, specifically addressing the rapid prototyping requirements for site 1. Additionally, the OTA may offer increased opportunity for innovation by increasing the period between contract award and site 1 completion.

Information on the SpEC OTA can be found at https://space-enterprise.org. There are currently hundreds of consortia members including large and small businesses, as well as many Non-Traditional (NT) members.

If SpEC is utilized as the acquisition method, in order to receive a solicitation and have the opportunity to compete for the DARC Rapid Prototype, prospective Primes would have to be a member of the SpEC consortia. Contractors who are not currently members but wish to join may do so. Information on that process is contained at the provided link. If the Government does chose to use the SpEC OTA, industry will be notified in a manner such that any contractors who wish to Prime on DARC, who are not currently SpEC consortia members, can join the consortia. This notice primarily impacts prospective Primes, as a Prime contractor may team with contractors who are not members of the consortia (i.e., specific hardware providers) as needed to enable their proposed approach to meet the OTA Request for Prototype Proposal (RPP) solicitation requirements.

In addition to membership in the consortia, there are OTA related requirements relative to cost-share and/or significant contribution by NTs that each proposal must meet. Information on these specific OTA related criteria can also be found at the above link.

The Government requests industry responses to the following four questions (primarily from prospective Primes):

1. If you are a prospective Prime for the DARC rapid prototype effort, are you currently a member of the SpEC consortia?

2. Do you have any concerns meeting the OTA criterion (10 USC 2371b(d)(1)) for SpEC proposals in response to a DARC Rapid Prototype solicitation? If so, please explain your concerns.

3. Does your company have experience with the SpEC OTA that you would like to share with the program office? If so, please provide relevant information as either a bidder or awardee and describe your experience, both positive and negative.

mailto:smc.spg.darc@us.af.mil https://space-enterprise.org/

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4. Is 4 weeks sufficient to prepare and deliver a proposal for this effort? If not, what is your recommended allotment of time?

The Government also requests general industry feedback from any/all potential industry partners on the potential use of SpEC OTA to implement the DARC Rapid Prototype. The Government requests responses within 2 business days of the posting, supporting final acquisition strategy development and approval.

QUESTIONS TO OFFERORS