Request for White Paper_ATLSS_Amendment 02.docx

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

HEADQUARTERS AIR FORCE TEST CENTER

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE CALIFORNIA

NOTICE TO: Velocity Alliance Consortium Members and Industry Partners via SAM.gov

Request for Whitepapers (RWP)

541614 — Process, Physical Distribution, and Logistics Consulting Services

*Primary NAICS code will be used to establish business size.

1.0 Introduction and Purpose

The Department of the Air Force is issuing this Request for Whitepapers to establish an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) under 10 U.S.C. § 4022. The purpose of this project is to develop and demonstrate a centralized, agile, and highly responsive Business Process Prototype to support the 704th Test Group (704 TG).

Critical national defense testing and experimentation require uninterrupted, rapid, and highly flexible support structures. Traditional acquisition processes introduce administrative and logistical bottlenecks that can delay testing of high-value systems. This prototype project aims to design, develop, and test an integrated workflow and logistics management system to streamline test support procurement, equipment maintenance, secure material shipment, and rapid ad-hoc test support. By eliminating supply chain bottlenecks, this effort directly enhances the readiness and lethality of the Department of War's advanced testing programs.

Potential for Follow-on Production Contract or Transaction In accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 4022(f), upon the successful completion of this prototype project, the Government may award a follow-on production contract or transaction to the vendor that developed the prototype. This follow-on award may be made without the use of competitive procedures, contingent upon the prototype being successfully completed and satisfying the criteria established in the Other Transaction Prototype Agreement.

For the purposes of a potential follow-on production award, "successful completion" will be determined by the Government based on the performer's ability to meet the technical and performance milestones defined in Section 5.0 of this RWP and the subsequently negotiated Other Transaction Prototype Agreement.

The follow-on production agreement would be for the full-scale, sustained delivery of the services that were successfully demonstrated during the prototype phase.

· The Prototype is: "Prove to us that you can build a system and a network to solve our logistics problems on a limited, demonstration basis."

· The Follow-on Production is: "You proved it. Now, do it for real, at full scale, for the long term."

The follow-on production agreement would specifically be for:

Full-Scale Operational Service Delivery Instead of just demonstrating the capability, the vendor would become the ongoing service provider for the 704th Test Group's logistics needs. This would involve:

· Handle tasked procurement actions: They would be the day-to-day entity executing the ad-hoc procurement of metals, sensors, and other materials.

· Handle tasked maintenance and repair: They would be responsible for the continuous uptime of critical equipment (CNCs, cranes, etc.) by managing the entire repair lifecycle.

· Execute tasked material shipments: They would become the de facto logistics partner for all required CONUS and OCONUS shipments of test articles.

· Provide tasked continuous emergent support: They would be on call to provide rapid solutions for any unforeseen test execution support needs.

Ongoing Operation and Enhancement of the OWMS The Online Workflow Management System (OWMS), which was developed and proven during the prototype, would transition from a demonstration tool to the primary operational platform. The production agreement would fund the vendor to:

· Host, maintain, and secure the OWMS for daily use by Government personnel.

· Provide user support and training.

· Potentially enhance and add new features to the OWMS as the 704th TG's needs evolve over time.

Expanded Scope and Volume The production agreement would cover a much larger volume of activity than the prototype. While the prototype will handle a few dozen transactions to prove the concept, the production agreement would be scaled to handle the full, real-world workload of hundreds or thousands of transactions per year.

In essence, the follow-on production agreement is the end goal of the prototype. It allows the Government to move seamlessly from a successful demonstration to a fully operational capability.

2.0 Project Scope and Key Objectives

The Performer shall design, develop, and demonstrate an innovative, efficient, and cost-effective end-to-end logistics and test support prototype system, anchored by the virtual Online Workflow Management System (OWMS) portal.

Core Objectives:

· Objective 1: Test Support Procurement: Rapid, ad-hoc procurement of critical materials, services, and equipment (metals, raw fabrication materials, specialized instrumentation, GPS/PNT equipment, and test-specific consumables) required to sustain dynamic test environments. All requests must be routed, triaged, and tracked through the OWMS portal.

· Objective 2: Service, Repair, and Maintenance (MX) for Test Equipment: Ensure high availability and reliability of critical test and fabrication infrastructure (heavy equipment, Shuttlelift cranes, CNC machines, lathes, waterjets) through rapid repair services.

· Objective 3: Material Shipment for Test Support: Secure, compliant, and timely transportation of high-value, sensitive test articles and equipment (including electronic warfare jammers and Directed Energy equipment) to domestic (CONUS) and international (OCONUS) locations, specifically including Australia and New Zealand.

· Objective 4: Ad-Hoc & Emergent Test Support: Sourcing and deploying flexible rapid-response environmental and infrastructure bridging solutions (e.g., temporary portable generators and HVAC/AC units) to resolve unpredictable, emergent test shortfalls and prevent schedule slippage.

DISCLAIMER: This Section 2.0 provides a high-level conceptual overview of the project objectives and does not override or supersede the detailed requirements set forth in the DRAFT STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES (SOO) ATLSS.

3.0 Instructions for Performer's Response

The Performer's response must include the following distinct parts:

3.1 Technical Competency

The Performer must describe their capability and proposed methodology to execute the objectives, focusing on:

· Designing and implementing the AFNET-accessible Online Workflow Management System (OWMS) portal. The performer shall describe how they plan to onboard with IL2 Unclass OWMS and provide a plan/timeline to transition to a PKI/CAC enabled, FEDRAMP certified IL4 enclave.

· Establishing rapid-response supply chains and maintenance dispatch networks.

· Implementing compliant international logistics for sensitive electronic warfare and Directed Energy equipment.

· Sourcing and deploying ad-hoc infrastructure bridging solutions under emergency conditions.

Note: The Performer's proposal must focus on demonstrating their capability to perform and execute the workflows, rather than presenting a pre-award completed prototype design or technical solutions.

3.1.1 Cybersecurity Accreditation, Hosting, and Government Sponsorship To ensure Offerors can accurately propose technical solutions and timelines for the Online Workflow Management System (OWMS), the Government provides the following clarifications regarding cybersecurity accreditation and hosting:

· Government Sponsorship: The Government will serve as the official agency sponsor for the Offeror’s OWMS to achieve the required FedRAMP authorization and DoD Impact Level (IL) accreditations. This Government sponsorship applies to both the 24-month prototype effort and any potential follow-on production contract or transaction. The Government will identify the responsible Authorizing Official (AO) upon award to initiate the formal accreditation process.

· Hosting Environment: Offerors are permitted, and encouraged, to host the OWMS within their own commercially managed, FedRAMP-authorized Government Cloud environment (e.g., Azure Government, AWS GovCloud). The system is not required to be hosted on a Government-owned physical enclave, provided the Offeror's proposed commercial cloud architecture can meet the requisite DoD security controls and AFNET-connection requirements.

· Offeror Responsibilities: While the Government will provide the required agency sponsorship and AO oversight, the Offeror remains entirely responsible for developing the System Security Plan (SSP), implementing all required technical and administrative security controls, funding any necessary third-party assessment organizations (3PAO), and executing the technical transition plan to achieve the final required accreditation level.

3.2 Intellectual Property

The Performer shall specify their proposed Intellectual Property (IP) and data rights assertions. The Government requires, at a minimum, Government Purpose Rights (GPR) for the OWMS software database structure and transactional schemas and expects unrestricted rights to historical procurement data (such as raw CSV exports on demand) to ensure the DoW retains full ownership of historical transactional data for future planning.

3.3 Appropriate Use of Authority (10 U.S.C. § 4022(d))

The Performer must meet the statutory requirements of 10 U.S.C. § 4022(d). To be eligible for award, the Performer must certify compliance with at least one of the following conditions:

(A) There is at least one nontraditional defense contractor or nonprofit research institution participating to a significant extent in the prototype project.

(B) All significant participants in the transaction other than the Federal Government are small businesses (including small businesses participating in a program described under section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638)) or nontraditional defense contractors.

(C) At least one-third of the total cost of the prototype project is to be paid out of funds provided by sources other than the Federal Government.

NOTE 1: Non-Traditional Defense Contractor (NDC) = An entity that is not currently performing and has not performed, for at least the one-year period preceding the solicitation of sources by DoD for the procurement or transaction, any contract or subcontract for the DoD that is subject to full coverage under the cost accounting standards (CAS) prescribed pursuant to section 1502 of title 41 and the regulations implementing such section (see 10 U.S.C. §3014). A nontraditional defense contractor is considered a nontraditional defense contractor for the duration of the prototype project/agreement’s period of performance, or for any in-scope work modified under the same agreement.

NOTE 2: Non-profit research institution is validated by reviewing the vendor’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, which is required by the Internal Revenue Service.

NOTE 3: “Significant extent” and “significant participants” may be defined by the vendor providing rationale to one or more of the following variables:

a. Has a significant role / level of involvement in the development, production, or delivery of a product or service.

b. Has a significant impact on the design, development, or production of the product or service.

c. Has significant level of material interest in the success of the product or service.

d. Has significant level of company's financial interest in the success of the product or service.

e. Has Significant level of control over the development, production, or delivery of the product or service.

f. Other significant rationale provided by the vendor.

3.4 Pricing and Schedule

The pricing proposal must be structured as firm, fully priced milestones. No unpriced or optional milestones shall be included in the milestone pricing structure. The schedule must align directly with the project phases and the core objectives detailed in Section 6.0.

3.4.1 Financial Treatment of Materials, Equipment, and Shipping (Pass-Through Costs) For the formulation of the firm, fully priced milestones, Offerors shall only include the costs associated with labor, software development, systems integration, network management, and the administrative execution of the required services. These firm-fixed-price milestones must represent the cost to build, manage, and operate the prototype business system and its associated supply chain networks.

Offerors shall not include the actual, variable costs of physical test materials (e.g., raw metals, sensors), third-party freight and shipping tariffs, or physical repair parts within their fixed milestone pricing.

These variable, tangible material and freight costs will be funded separately by the Government as reimbursable, pass-through expenses under a dedicated Not-To-Exceed (NTE) funding allocation. Once the prototype is awarded, the Performer will utilize the Online Workflow Management System (OWMS) to submit individual material and freight estimates for Government approval prior to purchase. The OWMS burn-rate dashboard will be the centralized tool used to track these pass-through expenditures against the NTE allocation to ensure 100% financial visibility and prevent unauthorized cost overruns.

3.4.2 Period of Performance and Milestone Scheduling

The anticipated Period of Performance (PoP) for this prototype effort is twenty-four (24) months from the date of award.

While the Government has established the mandatory, sequential milestones (Milestones 1 through 8) required for this prototype, the Government does not dictate the duration of each individual step. Offerors are required to propose a realistic, detailed schedule defining the timeline for each milestone. The total combined duration of all proposed milestones—from initial design (Milestone 1) through the final data turnover and operational demonstration (Milestone 8)—must not exceed the 24-month PoP.

The Government will not publish an estimated budget ceiling or funding profile for this prototype effort. To assist Offerors in appropriately sizing their technical and management solutions, the Government anticipates that the steady-state, follow-on production effort will require a sustained management workforce of potentially a range of five (5) to twelve (12) Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) to operate the OWMS and manage the logistics networks.

For this 24-month prototype phase, the staffing level is left entirely to the discretion of the Offeror. Offerors must propose the specific labor mix, staffing levels, and firm-fixed milestone pricing they determine necessary to successfully design, build, and demonstrate the system. However, the proposed prototype solution (particularly the OWMS automation and workflow efficiencies) should be designed with the understanding that it must ultimately be operable at full scale by a lean workforce of potentially a range of five (5) to twelve (12) FTEs during the production phase.

3.4.3 Notional Transaction Baseline for Milestone Pricing

The Government acknowledges that actual operational volumes will fluctuate based on test schedules and emergent requirements. However, to ensure price realism and allow for an equitable comparison of Offerors' proposals, all Offerors must base their firm-fixed milestone pricing on the following Notional Annual Transaction Baseline.

Offerors shall assume their prototype system (OWMS) and management team must possess the capacity to efficiently process, track, and manage the following estimated volume of support requests per year:

· Test Support Procurement: Two hundred (200) individual procurement actions annually managing an estimated total pass-through value of $4.5M. This ranges from low-cost raw materials to high-value, specialized test instrumentation.

· Equipment Service & Maintenance (MX): Six (6) dispatch tickets annually, managing an estimated total pass-through value of $250k in third-party repair services and parts. Offerors should assume 17% of these will require the accelerated 96-hour critical fault response.

· Material Shipment: Four (4) individual shipments annually. Offerors should use the following locations: Southern California, Florida Panhandle, New Zealand, and Northern Australia. To accurately estimate logistics management effort, Offerors should assume these shipments consist of six (6), 20-foot containers. For OCONUS locations, Offerors should expect to navigate ITAR and import/export requirements.

· Ad-Hoc & Emergent Support: Five (5) rapid-response infrastructure bridging events annually, to include the following: temporary power/HVAC deployment for 20k square foot high-bay facility; rapid rental/delivery of 200-ton crane; exercise support to Southern California to support 20 people; potable water delivery equivalent to 100k-gallons; and, impact target demolition and disposal of 300k pounds of reinforced concrete. Assume the management of an estimated total pass-through value of $3M across all five demonstrations.

Important Pricing Note: As established in Section 3.4.1, the physical costs of these materials, repair parts, and freight tariffs will be funded separately. Offerors must use this Notional Baseline only to estimate the labor, software capacity, network management, and administrative effort required to process this volume of work during the operational demonstration milestones, and to demonstrate how their system can be scaled to be managed for up to twelve (12) FTEs during follow-on production. These figures are for evaluation purposes only and do not constitute a guaranteed minimum or maximum volume of work.

3.5 Cybersecurity and CMMC Compliance

The Performer must demonstrate compliance with Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2. The OWMS portal must remain accessible and secure, maintaining a 99% uptime while protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and tracking data in strict compliance with NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC Level 2 data security requirements.

4.0 Evaluation Details

The Government will evaluate the Performer's whitepaper based on the following criteria:

· Technical Merit: The feasibility, innovation, and effectiveness of the proposed technical approach to meeting the four core objectives, and the maturity of the proposed OWMS business process.

· Capability to Execute: The Performer's demonstrated corporate experience, personnel qualifications, and resource availability to successfully execute rapid procurement, repair services, international shipment, and ad-hoc emergency bridging.

· Cost and Price Realism: Evaluation of the proposed milestone pricing to ensure alignment with the technical scope, realistic cost estimates, and lack of unapproved cost overruns.

· Cybersecurity and Compliance: The adequacy of the Performer's plan to meet CMMC Level 2 standards and secure critical test/logistics transaction data.

5.0 Successful Prototype Definition (10 U.S.C. § 4022(e)(5))

A successful prototype is defined as the physical, virtual, or business process demonstration that successfully achieves key operational and technical milestones. For the ATLSS project, the prototype is a Business Process Prototype supported by a virtual Online Workflow Management System (OWMS) portal.

The success of the prototype will be evaluated based on the following specific, measurable, and testable success criteria:

• 100% raw CSV export of historical procurement database on demand.

• 98% accuracy on item specifications.

• 90% first-time fix rate.

• 100% compliance with ITAR and customs export regulations.

• Zero unapproved cost overruns.

6.0 Program Milestones

The project milestones are structured linearly to track the execution of the business process prototype and the four core objectives. No optional or unpriced milestones are included.

· Milestone 1: Project Kickoff Meeting

· Milestone 2: OWMS System Architecture and Interface Design Review (Draft database structure and AFNET integration plan)

· Milestone 3: OWMS Phase 1 Release (Centralized Intake, Automated Triage, and Funds Authorization Workflow)

· Milestone 4: Operational Demonstration of Procurement Supply Chain & OWMS Tracking (Specialized metals, GPS/PNT, instrumentation)

· Milestone 5: Operational Demonstration of Service & Maintenance Dispatch Workflow (CNC, Crane repair ticketing and dispatch within 48 hours)

· Milestone 6: Operational Demonstration of Logistics & Material Shipment Tracking (CONUS/OCONUS compliant shipping dashboard for sensitive articles)

· Milestone 7: Operational Demonstration of Ad-Hoc Emergent Support Capability (Emergency HVAC/generator sourcing and rapid proposal tracking)

· Milestone 8: Full Prototype Demonstration and OWMS Database Export Verification (End-to-end integration and final export of raw CSV transaction data to the Government)

7.0 Submission Details

· Submission Deadline: 10 August 2026

· Submission Format: Electronic submission via email/portal in PDF format, not to exceed 20 pages (excluding cost proposal and certifications).

· Government Point of Contact (POC): Brooke Vandeman, brooke.vandeman@us.af.mil

8.0 Virtual Industry Day

· Interested vendors should plan to attend a government-hosted Virtual Industry Day on 23 July 2026.

· During the event, additional information about the requirement will be provided and a live Question-and-Answer session will be conducted.

· To receive an invitation to the event, please send an email to the Government POC listed in section 7.0 above requesting participation. Your request must be received no later than 23 July 2026.

9.0 Attachments

· Attachment 1: DRAFT STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES (SOO) ATLSS.docx One AFMC…Powering the World’s Greatest Air Force image1.png