UNCLASSIFIED

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

N00024-26-R-5445 Evolved SEASPARROW Missile (ESSM)

Next Significant Variant (NSV) Sources Sought

1. Background/Program Details:

The NATO SEASPARROW Project Office (NSPO) Program Executive Office Integrated

Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) 12.0, transitioning to Program Acquisition Executive (PAE) Munitions

NSPO, is conducting market research to identify capable sources for the development, production, and in-service support of a Next Significant Variant (NSV) of the ESSM missile, at the level of a Guided

Missile Assembly (GMA) or missile subsystems. The NSV end item and data deliverables required to support integration, maintenance, production, flight evaluation, and operational use must be releasable to all 12 NSPO consortium nations and be designed to enable long-term affordability, rapid capability insertion, and international cooperation.

To meet these goals, NSPO expects the missile design to follow an open, modular, and standards-driven architecture and to incorporate open-source principles and deliverables wherever feasible. This approach will simplify future upgrades, promote interoperability across consortium platforms, and outpace evolving threats.

The NSPO is the program office responsible for the Evolved SEASPARROW family of missiles. NSPO is a twelve-nation consortium consisting of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Türkiye, and the United States. Our mission is to provide a platform for international cooperation and innovation to manage the development, production, integration, and sustainment of effective, reliable, and affordable weapon systems to protect consortium and partner nation forces from current and future threats. More information on the NATO

SEASPARROW Surface Missile System Project can be found at this link;

https://www.natoseasparrow.org/.

The pace by which adversarial weapons systems evolve challenges the consortium community’s development and acquisition cycle timelines. Therefore, to reduce the number of acquisition cycles, a modern, open, flexible, and modular design is vital for NSPO to outpace our adversaries.

This Sources Sought is seeking concept descriptions for a GMA design that satisfies the operational needs described below. Figure 1 is an example of the operational view for the missile system.

https://www.natoseasparrow.org/

Figure 1: Distribution Statement A. approved for public release: distribution is unlimited. Example Operational View

2. Requirements for NSV

The NSV assembly should have capability against current and future threat classes spanning a variety of threat characteristics including velocity (low-speed to high-speed), altitude (sea skimming to high diver), maneuverability (non-maneuvering to high Gravitational (G)-Force maneuvers), and signatures. The missile should be able to work in complex natural, contested, Radio Frequency (RF), Electro-Optical

(EO), and/or Infrared (IR) environments. The missile should have the capability to discriminate and resolve between multiple closely spaced targets and to provide threat track measurements to support missile guidance, navigation, and lethality functions. The missile should have the capability to handle threat countermeasures.

Further information on the NSV requirements can be requested from the government. Instructions on the request process are found in section 3.

The NSV must be limited to a 10” diameter to fit into a Mk 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) tactical module, or equivalent launching system, in a quad-pack canister. . Design considerations should be made to minimize weight but maximize performance of the NSV.

Respondents shall address their capability to provide a complete missile system, including, but not limited to:

• Airframe

• Propulsion

• Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC)

• Seeker

• Kill mechanism

• Control actuation for maneuvers

• Datalink / communications

• Software architecture

While integrated GMA system solutions are desired, clearly marked subsystem-focused responses are also encouraged.

The missile and any associated technical data/technology as described in this section must be releasable to the entire NATO SEASPARROW Consortium (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Türkiye, and the United States.)

To support the NSV’s efficient and competitive development, manufacture, and sustainment, NSPO intends the missile acquisition and design, with supporting software/firmware, to align with a Modular

Open Systems Approach (MOSA). MOSA is a mandatory U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) strategy for acquiring adaptable, interoperable systems using modular components, open standards, and severable modules. The Government is seeking responses that describe architectures and deliverables that provide the Government maximum rights in technical data, computer software, and computer software documentation (including source code), design artifacts, and interface specifications under a license consistent with at least Government Purpose Rights under the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation

Supplement (DFARS), or a similar deliverable model. The Government anticipates that any future solicitation and/or source selection will emphasize data rights licenses pursuant to the DFARS.

3. Sources Sought Process

The NSPO is conducting market research to assess opportunities to develop and produce a GMA releasable to all NATO SEASPARROW Consortium navies that meets the restrictions and provides the capabilities listed above.

This special notice is an advanced notice for information, market research, and planning purposes. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP). There will not be a solicitation available at this time. This announcement is for the purpose of market research and may or may not be translated into actual procurement. There is no funding associated with this announcement.

The Government intends to assess information submitted in response to this notice to plan for a future acquisition. This may include, but is not limited to, the use of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)-based contracts or the award of a prototype Other Transaction (OT) under 10 U.S.C. § 4022.

Respondents are advised that the Government may use any appropriate authority to make such an award if it is determined to be in the Government's best interest.

There is an additional component to this notice that may be requested to better understand the requirements. To request the additional materials, please send an email to Contracting Officer, Megan

Galloway, at Megan.e.galloway2.civ@us.navy.mil and Contract Specialist, Allie Mullin, at alexandra.j.mullin.civ@us.navy.mil with “N00024-26-R-5445 Sources Sought- Request for additional

Requirements” in the subject field. Please note that instructions for marking and classification of responses are also contained in the additional component of this solicitation.

To receive the additional component of this solicitation, respondents must first sign and deliver a Non-

Disclosure Agreement/Terms of Use Agreement (NDA/TOUA) to receive ESSM Project Technical

Information. As further defined in the NDA/TOUAOUA, this information will only be furnished upon the condition that it will not be released to another nation without specific authority of the NATO mailto:Megan.e.galloway2.civ@us.navy.mil mailto:alexandra.j.mullin.civ@us.navy.mil

SEASPARROW Project Office, that it will not be used for other than military purposes, that intellectual property rights in the information, whether patented or not, will be respected, and that the information will be provided substantially the same degree of security afforded it by the Department of the Navy of the United States.

4. Response Requirements

4.1 General

Interested parties shall submit, on company letterhead, one Capabilities Statement including the name, telephone number, mailing address, email address of one point of contact, and all subsequent data listed in section 4.5 below. Please send the Capabilities Statement via email to

Contracting Officer, Megan Galloway, at Megan.e.galloway2.civ@us.navy.mil and

Contract Specialist, Allie Mullin, at alexandra.j.mullin.civ@us.navy.mil with “N00024-26-R-

5445 Sources Sought” in the subject field. Failure to provide a response does not preclude participation in any possible future RFP, if issued.

4.2 Statement of Capabilities

The Capabilities Statement shall be written in English and describe the company's ability to design, test, and manufacture hardware; design and qualify software and firmware; and build and maintain a Modeling & Simulation tool set for trade studies and performance prediction / assessment, to include in-house and/or out-sourced capabilities.

4.3 Page Format

The Capabilities Statement shall be submitted in Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) and reference “N00024-26-R-5445 Sources Sought”. Page size must be 8.5 x 11 inches. The top, bottom, and side margins must be at least 1 inch. Pages must be numbered sequentially. The text must be no less than 12 points and use Times New Roman font.

4.4 Page Limitations

The Capabilities Statement shall not exceed 15 single-sided pages. Each page must be counted except for the following:

Cover Page

• Company Information

• Company Size and Status

An additional supplement with higher classification than the unclassified capabilities statement may be submitted and shall not exceed 10 single-sided pages. Each page must be counted except for the following:

• Cover Page/Cover Slide

4.5 Organization & Content

The Capabilities Statement shall be organized into the following sections with the following information:

4.5.1 Introduction - Provide a brief company introduction and relevant details of the mailto:Megan.e.galloway2.civ@us.navy.mil mailto:alexandra.j.mullin.civ@us.navy.mil company/organization, including any potential teaming approach. Additionally, interested parties shall identify if their company has the capability to be a prime contractor or if it is only interested in subcontracting opportunities. Ensure responses include the following information:

• Company name

• Company primary and alternate points of contact (title, email and phone)

• Company address

• Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number / SAM.gov Unique Entity

Identifier (UEID)

• Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code

• Business size

• Status

4.5.2 Experience - This section should describe specific capabilities demonstrated. This includes the knowledge and experience that the company/organization possesses for

“Requirements for NSV” as described in Section 2. Identify any demonstrated expertise and experience that can be directly applied to the development and evaluation of missile system capabilities. Identify any experience working on international military development programs. Identify any experience with model-based systems engineering. Detail the applicable missile GMA or subsystem technology Verification, Validation, and Accreditation (VV&A) history as well as any VV&A efforts currently underway. Please provide examples of relevant and recent (within three years before the date of this Sources Sought posting) past performance of all topics in this section. Please include contracts and Government sponsor points of contact where the experience described was completed.

4.5.3 Compliance - State whether you can comply with all applicable export controls that may apply to your chosen technical data and/or technologies (in particular, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration

Regulations (EAR), and how you will comply with any U.S. domestic sourcing restrictions, for example, the Buy American Act and the DFARS clause 232.225.7007

(Prohibition on Acquisition of Certain Items from Communist Chinese Military

Companies). Describe your company’s understanding of any risks associated with disclosing your technologies to the 12 consortium nations, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Türkiye, and United States. All submissions shall be marked with any export control restrictions and in accordance with all export control laws, so that the Government is on notice of any export control restrictions that apply. Please see Section 6

“DISCLAIMER” below for the list of nations whose personnel will be provided any submissions.

4.5.4 Use of Subcontractors - State whether you will be the actual producer of this item, or if you intend to subcontract all or a portion of the requirement. If you are not the actual producer, indicate what development operations you intend to subcontract.

4.5.5 Cost - A description of the Rough Order of Magnitude (cost) for designing and building a prototype.

4.5.5.1 Projected or potential major cost drivers and mitigations to control costs in design and development.

4.5.6 Schedule - Provide a notional anticipated development timeline to achieve prototype design.

4.5.7 Technical - Responses to this Sources Sought should provide:

4.5.7.1 A description of the proposed missile’s concept overview to include the following:

• Top-level system description that includes a macro-level architecture illustrating how the proposed concept will meet requirements

• Physical dimensions and weight

• Operational scenarios (speed, environments, signatures, engagement envelopes) in which the GMA is capable.

• Lethality, including mechanism and performance

• Accuracy

• Maneuverability

• Reliability

• Survivability

• Performance o Adverse RF, EO, and IR environments (cluttered and contested) o Adverse natural environments considering phenomena such as weather and particulate matter (dust, smoke, etc.)

• Controlled Material or Technology Usage o Identification of controlled materials under Restriction of Hazardous

Substances (RoHS) and Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and

Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) guidelines o Source-limited materials or components (e.g. subject to export restrictions, potential supply chain risks, source limited to one nation/company)

4.5.7.2 An assessment of the system’s maintainability. If proposing a specific technology or missile subsystem, please provide a description of how the proposed technology or subsystem impacts the overall GMA’s concept characteristics as listed above. A description of the risk areas in the missile development, integration, demonstration and manufacturing program phases, including risks introduced by third-party/open-source components.

4.5.7.3 An assessment of the Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) of the missile concept or specific subsystem/technology.

4.5.7.4 An assessment of the Manufacturing Readiness Levels (MRLs) of the missile concept or specific subsystem/technology.

4.5.7.5 A description of how the missile concepts or specific subsystem/technology align with a MOSA and how digital engineering, including model-based systems engineering and modeling & simulation, has been or would be leveraged for its development.

4.5.7.6 A description of any GMA subsystems or components that will not be fully government-owned or open-source licensed. Include the intended deliverables (source code, design drawings, interface control documents).

Include expected compatibility with common open standards and the upgrade/replacement strategy for individual modules.

4.5.7.7 Identify any restrictions regarding proprietary information, such as any intellectual property restrictions (e.g. data rights licenses), or releasability of the GMA and/or its subsystem(s)’ design to the entire ESSM

Consortium including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Türkiye, and the United

States.

4.8 Business Size and Status

Responses shall indicate whether you are a large business, small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, Historically Underutilized Business Zone

(HUBZone) small business, small disadvantaged business, woman owned small business, or other form of protected business status under a specific North American Industry Classification System

(NAICS) code. Large businesses and all small businesses are highly encouraged to respond.

4.9 Data Rights Assertions

The government anticipates that the source for the development of all the technical data, training material and software deliverables, including all components of same, would-be

Government funded under a contract effort, with the result that the Government will receive unlimited rights in all such deliverables consistent with the DFARS. A level 3 Technical Data

Package (TDP) provides the information necessary to fully define the item and enable the procurement or manufacture of an item. The product shall be defined to the extent necessary for a competent manufacturer to produce an item, which duplicates the physical, interface, and functional characteristics of the product. The product data shall reflect the approved, tested, and verified configuration of the defined delivered item. If to be delivered with less than unlimited rights as defined under the DFARS, please identify every deliverable or every component of every deliverable, that will be delivered with a restriction on the Government’s rights; for this request for information, please follow the procedure and format for Assertions of Restrictions in DFARS 252.227-7017, which the government will consider to be a notional Assertion.

Indicate in this notional Assertion any uncertain entries, and the basis of that uncertainty, that might change in a formal Assertion if a contract were awarded to the respondent. For any software deliverable or deliverable component, identify any portions of software that come from existing commercial software or from open-source software.

4.10 Deadline

Interested parties shall submit one electronic response via appropriate channels identified in

Section 3 by 17:00 Washington, DC local time, Eastern Time (ET) on [60 days after posting] with mailed paper or CD response packages bearing a post-mark of the same date.

5. Specific Focus Areas for Responses As mentioned in Section 3, The NSPO encourages all respondents to include the following Focus Area data:

5.1 Cost & Schedule

• Potential cost of the capabilities is identified in the proposal.

• Potential schedule required to achieve the proposed capability.

5.2 Programmatic:

• Releasability- The ability for all data related to the hardware, TDP, tactical software, and modeling tools required for the integration, maintenance, production, flight evaluation, and operational use of the end item to be released to the consortium.

• MBSE- The use of model-based systems engineering principles.

• Technology Readiness Level (TRL)- The self-evaluation of the technology’s TRL level in accordance with ISO 16290.

• Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL)- The self-evaluation of the technology’s MRL level in accordance with DoD instruction (DoDI) 5000.02.

• Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA)- The ability to deliver a capability that meets modular and open system architecture requirements.

• Supply Chain- The proposed solution for potential supply chain risks or limitations including the risk of obsolescence.

5.3 Technical:

• GMA Design- The ability to meet the maximum required dimensions and weight either at the

GMA level or the All-Up-Round (AUR) level including any required canister redesign that may be required.

• Operational Performance- The ability to meet the minimum and maximum ranges of the planned engagement space, the lethality required for the various threats of interest, the requirements datalink, communications, and/or handling of cueing data from external sources, and electrical survivability of the proposed design.

• Operational Environment- The capability to perform in the presence of electronic warfare; in

High-G force environments; and in stressing natural environments like dense fog, heavy rain, high Sea-State, and extreme hot/cold environments

• Logistics and Reliability- The capability to meet standard requirements for operational availability and system reliability, that the system is scalable for maintenance, recertification, and test without the need for proprietary test sets, algorithms, or processes, and the planned service life of the proposal.

• Salvo Capability- The number of interceptors theoretically possible simultaneously in-flight while maintaining performance thresholds.

5.4 Sub-System Assemblies:

• Sub-System proposals should include relevant information for the relative GMA criteria noted above.

- E.g. A Seeker Sub-System proposal should include information related to operational search performance, operating environments, modality (if applicable), and the number of seekers capable of operating in flight simultaneously without seeker-to-seeker interference, among other relevant information.

- E.g. A warhead sub-system proposal should include information related to its operation performance relative to Lethality among other relevant information.

- E.g. A propulsion sub-system should include information to meet required dimensions, minimum and/or maximum range, etc.

6. Disclaimer

This Sources Sought as defined in FAR 15.201(e), is solely for informational and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as request for proposal, request for quote (or any type of solicitation), or as an obligation or commitment on the part of the Government to contract for any supply or service, or as a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. There will not be solicitations, specifications, or drawings available. This announcement may or may not translate into an actual procurement(s) in future years. There is no funding associated with this announcement. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e) responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals.

Respondents are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this Sources Sought notice; all costs associated with responding to this Sources

Sought notice will be solely at the respondent’s expense.

Failure to respond to this Sources Sought Notice itself does not preclude participation in response to any future solicitation, if any is issued. If a solicitation is issued, it will be publicized in accordance with law and policy. The information provided in this Sources Sought Notice is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. It is the responsibility of potential respondents to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

The Government intends to evaluate information submitted in response to this notice to plan for a future acquisition. This may include, but is not limited to, the use of FAR-based contracts or the award of a prototype OT under 10 U.S Code U.S.C. § 4022. Respondents are advised that the Government may use any appropriate authority to make such an award if it is determined to be in the Government's best interest.

The terms and conditions of any contract or agreement that may be awarded based on responses to this sources sought, as well as the process for any negotiation and award, shall comply with all applicable law and policy. These terms and conditions, as well as any process, may not be comprehensively or completely described in this notice. Such terms and conditions will be addressed during future negotiation of any contract or agreement, and are not expressly addressed in this notice. All terms and conditions are subject to further revision by the Government.

The information requested by this Sources Sought Notice will be used within the U.S Navy/Department of the Navy and NSPO to facilitate decision making and may be used in the development of the acquisition strategy and any future solicitations.

Respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and clearly identifying any export-controlled information, including a list of consortium nations eligible to receive the information. Any information provided by industry to the Government because of this Sources Sought Notice is voluntary.

Upon review of the Sources Sought Notice responses, the Government may invite selected capable sources to an industry day and/or 1-on-1 meetings, to address any or all Areas of Interest. No additional notices will be posted for the industry day or 1-on-1 meetings – capable sources should respond to this notice to be considered for any industry day and/or 1-on-1 meetings.

Proprietary information, if there is any, must be clearly marked. To aid the Government in its review and evaluation, please segregate proprietary information and label it as such page-by-page and paragraph-by-paragraph for appropriate handling by the Government. Respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and clearly identifying any proprietary information or trade secrets contained within their response. All information received that includes proprietary markings will be handled in accordance with applicable law and policy. An acknowledgement of receipt will be provided for all responses received. If you do not receive an acknowledgement within two working days, please notify the points of contact listed in this notice. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. Respondents that include in their submissions data that they do not want disclosed to any party other than the Government (including the Government of any Consortium nation, as noted below), or to be used by the Government for purposes other than consideration of Sources Sought responses, shall include in their submissions:

1) Mark the title page with the following legend: This response includes data that shall not be disclosed to the public and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed – in whole or in part – for any purpose other than to consider this response. The data subject to this restriction are contained in sheets [insert numbers or other identification of sheets]; and

2) Mark each sheet of data it wishes to restrict with the following legend: Use or disclosure of data contained in this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this submission.

All submitted materials will be designated for Government Use Only, which includes the U.S.

Government and other governments that are affiliated with the NATO SEASPARROW PROJECT

OFFICE; specifically: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Türkiye. Respondents shall clearly mark any materials that the Government may only disclose to Government personnel of these nations. Unless materials are unambiguously marked restricting review to only Government personnel, submitting materials in response to this sources sought notice shall constitute permission, pursuant to the Trade Secrets Act, for the Government to disclose the submitted materials to the Government support contractors, BAE Systems, Inc., Johns

Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (JHU/APL), Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Applied Research Associates (ARA), and Herren Associates. The support contractors will assist the

Government in consideration of the responses and are bound by Non-Disclosure Agreements with the government to prevent unlawful use of company data that may be present in submissions.

The Government shall not be liable for any consequential damages for proprietary information not properly identified. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with the applicable law.