Flight Ops Market Research RFI.pdf

AIR FORCE LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT CENTER (AFLCMC)

COMMAND, CONTROL, COMMUNICATIONS & BATTLE MANAGEMENT (C3BM)

KESSEL RUN (C3C)

WING C2 BRANCH (C3CW)

FLIGHT OPERATIONS PORTFOLIO (FLIGHT OPS)

PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT AND REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

13 JAN 25

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This Program Announcement and RFI is for information and planning purposes only. In accordance with Part 10 of the Federal Acquisition

Regulation (FAR), the Government is conducting market research to improve its acquisition strategy and determine the availability and adequacy of potential business sources in providing the capabilities to meet the requirements of the Government. This RFI does not constitute a solicitation for bids or proposals, and it is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. Further, the Air Force (AF) is not seeking proposals, nor will it accept unsolicited proposals at this time.

All information submitted by respondents to this request is strictly voluntary. The information herein is subject to change and in no way binds the Government to solicit for or award a competitive contract.

The issuance of this RFI does not restrict the Government as to its ultimate acquisition approach.

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. 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 nonproprietary information. Any proprietary information submitted should be identified as such and will be handled accordingly and protected from disclosure in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. 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. Please note, there is no solicitation available at this time and any requests for solicitation will not receive a response. Not responding to this request does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if any is issued. Funds are not currently available for this effort.

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 Air

Force AFLCMC/C3C Kessel Run program – unless respondent clearly objects in writing to the release of this information to FFRDC and/or A&AS Contractor employees supporting

AFLCMC/C3C 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.

1. Flight Ops Background:

The Program Management Office (PMO) at AFLCMC/C3C, Kessel Run, is seeking information for a comprehensive flight operations management application aimed at streamlining workflows and efficiently utilizing resources for peacetime and wartime operations. This RFI presents a unique opportunity for companies to showcase their product(s) and/or capabilities in meeting user needs and operational requirements.

As a portfolio within Kessel Run, Flight Ops leverages industry best practices to rapidly deliver capabilities while posturing for future information technology (IT). Flight Ops is looking for a production and/or solution that will meet the needs of our Users across the globe while embracing

Agile principles, Development Security Operations (DevSecOps), and Lean product management practices to continuously integrate and deliver software capabilities. Flight Ops embraces a culture of rapid feedback loops, e.g., build, measure, learn, and user-centered design managed by

Government-led teams to rapidly develop, produce, and deploy software across the Department of the Air Force (DAF) Battle Network, while continuously iterating and improving upon those software applications.

The Flight Ops PMO is currently working to develop an Enterprise solution leveraging the best of the current fielded legacy products (Patriot Excalibur and Puckboard). Flight Ops will provide an

Enterprise scalable capability optimizing aircrew, pilot, and Guardian human and materiel mission readiness through learning management, currency management, allocation, and scheduling. Flight

Ops will ensure data-driven tactical readiness, strategic situational awareness, and combatant decision advantage. Flight Ops will combine scheduling, training, and standardizations / evaluations (stan/eval) applications, supporting Mobility Air Force and Combat Air Force sorties, as well as scheduling for Space Force and Joint Users. Scheduling matches aircrew to missions and equipment, including airframes, for the purpose of conducting operational and training missions, evaluation of training, and development of evaluation standards, etc.

Flight Ops seeks information on capabilities from interested contractors to support the subject requirements to facilitate market research and determine the best strategy and approaches for fulfilling user needs and operational requirements.

2. Market Research Approach

Through responses provided to this RFI, and subsequent Market Research Engagements, the

Government intends to obtain 1) Industry’s input and suggestions on refining requirements; 2)

Recommendations on the Government’s acquisition and contracting approach; and 3) Industry’s capabilities to meet the above requirements.

Respondents to this RFI may be invited to participate in further market research activities, including Virtual One-on-One activities, Product Demonstrations, and Question-and-Answer sessions.

2.1. Requirements Background and Objectives

2.1.1. Flying units require the ability to organize, train, and equip ready forces to support a Combatant Commander’s operational needs. A comprehensive picture of operational resource data is needed to aid unit-level decision-making to support the organize, train, and equip activities, as well as Air Tasking Order (ATO) /

Dynamic Tasking Order (DTO) execution requirements.

2.1.2. A system is needed to efficiently match personnel and other assets with operational needs and actively capture data to support mission and resource planning decisions. Optimized training, certification and qualification management, tracking, and reporting capabilities are required for personnel management. Also, an accurate and live tracking system for suitability, availability, and location of other resources will provide an enhanced common operating picture.

2.1.3. The sought capabilities will augment Wing operators with an integrated, cloud-based, distributed system that will provide Wings the ability to organize, train, and equip operational units, while simultaneously tracking readiness, suitability and availability of their resources.

2.1.4. The current objectives for this acquisition include:

2.1.4.1. Personnel Management

2.1.4.1.1. Scheduling

2.1.4.1.2. Availability

2.1.4.1.3. Standardization/Evaluation

2.1.4.1.4. Qualifications and Certifications Tracking/Management

2.1.4.1.5. Go / No-Go

2.1.4.2. Operations

2.1.4.2.1. Operations long-range

2.1.4.2.2. Weapons/Standard Configuration Load (SCL)

2.1.4.2.3. Short-range Scheduling

2.1.4.2.4. Checkerboard

2.1.4.2.5. Execution

2.1.4.2.6. Materiel Availability

2.1.4.3. Unit / Resource Management

2.1.4.3.1. Asset Availability

2.1.4.3.2. Asset Scheduling

2.1.4.3.3. Operational Readiness

2.1.4.3.4. Operational Risk Management

2.1.4.4. Training

2.1.4.4.1. Syllabus (Learning Management System)

2.1.4.4.2. Create / Assign / View Certificates

2.1.4.4.3. Career Field Education and Training Plan / On-the-Job Training

2.1.4.4.4. Examination building, Testing, and Proctoring

2.1.4.5. Data

2.1.4.5.1. Flight Ops

2.1.4.5.2. Data Layer

2.1.4.5.3. Business Intelligence

2.1.4.5.4. Machine Learning

2.1.4.6. Integration

2.1.4.6.1. Air Resource Tool Enterprise Mission Information System

(ARTEMIS); ARTEMIS is the Aviation Resource Management

System (ARMS) replacement

2.1.4.6.2. Envision

2.1.4.6.3. Department of the Air Force Battle Network

2.1.4.7. Enterprise Scalability

2.1.4.7.1. Ability to deploy to various security fabrics and networks (Non-secure Internet Protocol Router (NIPR), Secure Internet Protocol

Router (SIPR), Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communication System

(JWICS), DoD Agency, Joint Services, & Coalition Interoperability)

2.1.4.7.2. Cross-domain solutions

2.1.4.7.3. Denied, degraded, intermittent, or limited (DDIL) support

2.1.4.8. Guidance, Governance, and Compliance

2.1.4.8.1. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) IL-4 and higher

2.1.4.8.2. Government-owned Certificate to Field (CTF) / Authority to Operate

2.1.4.8.3. Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0 Compliant

2.1.4.8.4. International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) Compliant

2.1.4.8.5. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)

Compliant

2.1.4.8.6. Compliant with Guidance/Governance for Foreign Nationals

2.1.4.8.7. Company and company personnel hold appropriate clearances

2.1.5. The products/services of respondents shall

2.1.5.1. Be, at a minimum, in process of achieving FedRamp or DISA IL-4 certified to be eligible for evaluation.

2.1.5.2. Be in-production and ready for adaptation to DoD needs immediately to be eligible for evaluation.

2.1.5.3. Be registered in the DoD Special Air Mission (SAM) system and have an active Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code and Data

Universal Numbering System (DUNS) for evaluation.

2.2. Note to Respondents

As an Agile organization, Flight Ops welcomes and encourages innovative inputs.

2.3. Instructions for RFI Response

2.3.1. Responses to this RFI are requested to be submitted no later than close of business on 4 April 2025 at 1700 EDT; early responses will be accepted.

2.3.2. Marketing materials are not requested, nor desired.

2.3.3. This RFI is solely for market research; do not include information such as rates within your RFI response.

2.3.4. Responses shall:

2.3.4.1. Be in 12-point font typed with at least 1” margins.

2.3.4.2. Be legible when printed on 8.5” x 11” paper.

2.3.4.3. Include a cover page; title pages, glossaries, and tables of contents are not required.

2.3.4.4. Be emailed in both Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF format

2.3.4.5. Not exceed thirty pages; excluding the cover page.

2.3.5. Cover pages shall include the following:

2.3.5.1. Company/Institute Name

2.3.5.2. Address

2.3.5.3. Point(s) of Contact

2.3.5.4. Email Address

2.3.5.5. Telephone Number

2.3.5.6. Web Page URL

2.3.5.7. CAGE Code and UEI (if applicable)

2.3.5.8. Intended NAICS Code: 541511 (Custom Computer Programming Services)

2.3.5.9. Whether you agree with the NAICS code or would another NAICS be more appropriate; include your rationale.

2.3.5.10. Specification as to whether the company is a Large Business, Small Business under the intended NAICS, a Small Disadvantaged Business, Woman-owned

Business, Historically Underutilized Business Zone, Veteran-owned Small

Business, or Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business based on the stated NAICS and corresponding size standard.

2.3.5.11. Current Facility Security Clearance Level

2.3.5.12. A statement as to whether your company is domestically or foreign owned; if foreign, please indicate the country of ownership.

2.3.5.13. A list of all Enterprise Level Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract or other contract vehicles you have participated in, within the last five years, or currently participating in, along with your level of participation, e.g., Prime Contractor, Subcontractor.

3. RFI Questions/Prompts:

Please include your answers to the following questions/prompts in your response.

3.1. Programmatics

3.1.1. What is the status of your Intellectual Property data rights?

3.1.2. For your product/service, do you provide standard commercial rights, limited rights, government purpose rights, or unlimited rights?

3.1.3. Would your company be open to entering into a bailment agreement, e.g., a ‘try before you buy’ trial period, with the PMO?

3.1.4. Please provide any relevant contracts including Contract Number, Amount, and

Point-of-Contact.

3.1.5. Are you FedRamp approved? In the process of achieving FedRamp approval?

3.1.6. Are you DISA IL-4 certified? In the process of achieving DISA IL-4 certification?

3.1.7. Are you DISA IL-6 certified? In the process of achieving DISA IL-6 certification?

3.1.8. With which Government entities does your company currently work?

3.1.9. Provide a listing of any partnerships supporting your product/service.

3.1.10. Do you offer Enterprise or Severable license(s) for your product/service?

3.1.11. Please provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) for the cost of your product/service? Please provide itemization in the ROM addressing 1)

Development/Integration costs, 2) Licensing costs, and 3) Support/Sustainment costs.

3.1.12. What is your company’s and/or product’s business model, i.e., flat fee, by tail, etc.?

3.2. Product/Service

3.2.1. Scheduling

3.2.1.1. Does your product/service support secure, e.g., Multi-Factor Authentication

(MFA), mobile access to an individual’s schedule and training status?

3.2.1.2. How does your product/service support tracking and reporting of crew availability?

3.2.1.3. What types and number of crews does your product/service support?

3.2.1.4. What number and types of airframes and/or materiel does your product/service support?

3.2.1.5. How does your product/service support crew requests to be on an event/flight?

3.2.1.6. How does your product/service optimize scheduling, e.g., reducing the time it takes to select the qualified and available crew for an event?

3.2.1.7. How does your product/service ensure that only crews that are current on training/evaluations can be selected for an event?

3.2.1.8. Does your system allow exceptions and/or waivers? If so, how does your system process exceptions and/or waivers?

3.2.1.9. What aircraft status does your product/service report? How current is the status?

3.2.1.10. How does your product/service integrate weather into its scheduling process?

3.2.1.11. How does your product/service support a Go/No-Go board for personnel at the unit level? At the squadron level? What restrictions are used to determine the status for an individual? How is the board configurable for units?

3.2.1.12. How does your product/service support shift scheduling?

3.2.1.13. How does your product/service capture crew intangibles, such as relationship conflicts between crew members?

3.2.1.14. How does your product/service support data segregation for use with allies while maintaining necessary security levels?

3.2.1.15. Using your product/service, how long does it take for the average scheduler to build a month of scheduling for their unit/squadron, including training/currencies/qualifications?

3.2.1.16. How does your product/service support quick rescheduling due to personnel or aircraft changes in availability?

3.2.1.17. How does your product/service support dual qualifications, e.g., qualified on more than one Mission Design Series (MDS)?

3.2.1.18. How does your application’s scheduling service track and integrate crew intangibles, i.e., rest, availability, interpersonal friction, etc., into its availability criteria for crew scheduling?

3.2.1.19. Describe how your product/service enables crew to respond to disruptions, i.e., manning issues, weather delays, maintenance needs, etc.

3.2.1.20. Describe how your product/service creates, manages, displays, and notifies for a Flight Schedule and associated non-flying events, i.e., ground training, simulator training, etc.

3.2.1.21. Does your product/service automatically match pilots to sorties to reduce the time required to generate a flying schedule and reduce the number of sorties required to maintain currencies?

3.2.1.22. How does your product/service leverage automation to optimize the scheduling process?

3.2.1.23. How does your product/service support real-time collaboration and/or coordination between schedulers and crew?

3.2.2. Currency and Stan/Eval

3.2.2.1. How does your product/service notify Users and managers of overdue and coming due currencies?

3.2.2.2. How does your product/service allow an individual user to view their currency status? How can a unit view the entire unit’s currency status?

3.2.2.3. How does your product/service access currency data? Is it stored internally, or accessed from an external authoritative source, e.g., ARMS?

3.2.2.4. Describe how your product/service supports filing, routing, approving, and storing documents, such as waivers, approvals, etc.

3.2.2.5. Describe how your product/service tracks and conveys pilot currencies and flight hours, etc.

3.2.2.6. Describe how your tool captures and conveys post mission or flight data to support logging or reporting requirements.

3.2.2.7. Does your product provide a personalized records management system?

3.2.2.8. How does your product enable units to effectively analyze aggregate training performance over time?

3.2.2.9. How does your product enable units to adjust their standards for evaluation, if needed?

3.2.3. Training

3.2.3.1. Describe how your product/service provides for generating, facilitating, and managing Aircrew Rostering.

3.2.3.2. Describe how your application or service can capture, track, and facilitate

Pilot/Crew Training, to include syllabus generation and tracking progress towards completion / ready state.

3.2.3.3. Does your product/service manage training and certifications by the individuals it tracks/manages (not the Users)? If so, how?

3.2.4. Mobile Access / Logging

3.2.4.1. Does your product/service support secure mobile access to an individual’s schedule and training status?

3.2.4.2. How does your tool capture mission data / reports?

3.2.4.3. What Air Force or Space Force logging forms does it currently capture, i.e., 8, 781, etc.?

3.2.4.4. Is logging supported on mobile devices? If so, which ones?

3.2.4.5. Can your product/service function in a desktop or mobile environment?

3.2.5. Mission Readiness

3.2.5.1. How does your product/service fit into Major Theater Warfare and how do you see it being a key asset in the Great Power Competition?

3.2.5.2. Does your product/service generate a Combat Mission Readiness report for a unit? Wing?

3.2.5.3. How does your product/service measure combat readiness?

3.2.5.4. How does your product/service handle workflow management?

3.2.6. Quality Assurance

3.2.6.1. Does your company have a registered Quality Management System, e.g., ISO 9001, or IT Service Management System (ISO 20000)?

3.2.6.1.1. If not, how do you meet FAR Clause 46.202-3 standard inspection requirements?

3.2.6.1.2. If you have an ISO 9001 or ISO 20000 registration, please provide a copy.

3.2.6.2. Does your company:

3.2.6.2.1. Provide and maintain an inspection system that is acceptable to the

Government;

3.2.6.2.2. Give the Government the right to make inspections and tests while work is in process; and

3.2.6.2.3. Keep complete, and make available to the Government, records of its inspection work?

3.2.6.3. For GOTS product/services: what is your quality assurance management system? What are the processes/frameworks you use to provide quality assurance?

3.2.6.4. How does your product/service facilitate data interfaces with other tools/systems, such as maintenance and weather?

3.2.7. Product/Service Management

3.2.7.1. Describe your Product/Service Management methodology, to include Design

Research, User Acceptance Testing, and Continuous Delivery and

Integration Process.

3.2.7.2. Describe your Engineering / Software Quality process, Test and Evaluation criteria and process, and Cybersecurity Compliance process.

3.2.7.3. Describe your ITSM process, and mission/customer support process, including user training, onboarding, adoption, and service desk response.

3.2.7.4. What is your product’s business model, i.e., SaaS, self-hosted, etc., and how is it priced, i.e., by user, by aircraft, etc.? what is the pricing model, i.e., by user, by aircraft, etc.?

3.3. Engineering / Technical

3.3.1. What support does your product/service have for DDIL situations? What functionality is still available, and how does communication occur between modes at the same location?

3.3.2. How does your product/service ensure that when data reaches a Secret level, i.e., aggregated readiness data, Air Tasking Orders, etc., it is controlled accordingly?

Does your product/service provide a means for Low to High communication of information?

3.3.3. Is your product/service CMMC compliant?

3.3.4. What is your product/service’s specifications for the number of concurrent Users and maximum number of surge Users?

3.3.5. Does your product/service support offline use and syncing of data once online?

3.3.6. Is there an offering or support for an offline instance of your product/service? If yes, how long can it work disconnected?

3.3.7. Does your product/service support multi-national user locations?

3.3.8. What are your hosting locations? Can you provide a list of hosting locations world-wide?

3.3.9. Can you provide system architecture diagrams for your product/service?

3.3.10. Can you provide artifacts to support an Authority to Operate, i.e., Bill of

Materials, scans, etc., for your product/service?

3.3.11. Is this a holistic solution or modular/pieced solution?

3.3.12. Please provide a list of your data partners.

3.3.13. What is the method used by your product/service to transfer data?

3.3.14. Please provide your metrics on uptime, Mean Time to Restore, and any other pertinent metrics for your product/service.

3.3.15. What is the outage time to first response for your product/service?

3.3.16. Please provide your process for data removal or addition.

3.3.17. Is your product/service a canned standardized model?

3.3.18. Can your product/service support data interoperability with external systems?

3.3.19. Can your product/service read/write to ARMS, ARTEMIS, and Envision now? If not, can your product/service support a connection?

3.3.20. Does your product/service include data analytics and reporting, or is that a separate module?

3.3.21. What security and authentication features are built into your product/service, including SSO and MFA support?

3.3.22. Please provide a list of current products/services/application/systems to which your product/service is integrated.

3.3.23. Has your product/service been approved for use on Government systems/networks, specifically AFNET?

3.3.24. What is your product/service’s approach to user and data authentication?

3.3.25. Can your product/service store/process Personal Identifiable Information?

3.3.26. Can your product/service integrate with external software systems, both with and without API support?

3.4. Design

3.4.1. Does your company have experience with user-centered design? If so, please describe your process.

3.4.2. What user-centered design methods and artifacts were used during the design process for your product/service?

3.4.3. Does your product/service utilize a design system?

3.4.4. Is your product/service compliant with MIL-STD-1472?

3.4.5. What user observability do you provide and why?

3.4.5.1. Does this include the ability to conduct A/B testing?

3.4.5.2. Does this include the ability to set thresholds and notifications by phone/chat/SMS?

3.4.5.3. How does your tool measure user satisfaction?

3.4.6. Does your product/service use Domain-driven design concepts?

3.4.7. What User metrics are available/built into your product/service? How are these metrics accessed?

3.4.8. What usability and/or learnability metrics does your product/service collect?

3.4.9. What performance metrics are available/built into your product/service? How are they reported?

3.4.10. Does your product/service have the ability to customize information displays?

3.4.11. How satisfied are Users with your product/service?

3.4.12. What is the User retention rate for your product/service?

3.4.13. Describe your processes for usability testing.

3.4.14. Does your product/service create and administer tests? Store the results?

3.5. Sustainment / Day 2

3.5.1. Does your product/service offer a service desk? Hours, tiers, conditions, Service

Level Agreements?

3.5.2. What are your standard Service Desk Level Agreements?

3.5.3. What standard Service Level Agreements do you offer/propose for your product/service? If there are tiers, e.g., Bronze, Silver, or Gold, please provide, as well as the applicable costs.

3.5.4. How does your product/service support Knowledge Management for your product/service?

3.5.5. What is your product/service’s Mean Time to Repair for the last year?

3.5.6. What is your product/service’s overall system availability over the last year?

3.5.7. What is your product/service’s longest outage/degradation of service that impacted more than 50% of Users?

3.5.8. What are the maximum number of concurrent Users your product/service can support using the system at once?

3.5.9. How many Users do you currently support? Do you have the ability to scale to support 100K+ Users across the globe?

3.5.10. How are changes released? How often? What is your rollback plan, if any?

3.5.11. What Service Desk support does your company offer for Users?

3.5.12. What Service Desk support does your company offer for your product/service?

4. Additional Points

4.1. Confidentiality

Responders may only provide unclassified RFI responses.

4.2. Proprietary

Respondents must indicate whether their responses contain proprietary information if the respondents wish for the responses to be handled as such.

4.3. This is a RFI Only

The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government.

The Air Force has not made a commitment to procure any of the services 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.