N00173-13-R-PW10-0003.pdf

N00173-13-R-PW10-0003

The purpose of this amendment is answer questions from potential offerors and extend the closing date.

The closing date of this solicitation is hereby extended to 20 August 2013, 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

The following are answers to questions received from vendors. The numbering of the questions is continued from the previous amendment.

Q. 11. Section I, Page 26—Can the Government delete FAR 52.215-10, “Price Reduction for Defective Cost or Pricing Data” and FAR 52.215-11, “Price Reduction for Defective Cost or Pricing Data” as Certified Cost or Pricing Data is not required by the solicitation?

A.11. Clause FAR 52.215-10 will be deleted from the contract if necessary, i.e., the government receives adequate price competition in response to this solicitation.

Q. 12. Section K, Pages 63–65—Can the Government delete FAR 52.230-1, “Cost Accounting Notices and Certification” and FAR 52.230-7 “Proposal Disclosure—Cost Accounting Practice Changes” as CAS is not required by the solicitation?

A. 12. Provisions FAR 52.230-1 and FAR 52.230-7 will not apply and will not be considered if the government receives adequate price competition in response to this solicitation.

Q. 13. Reference SOW paragraph 7.1.1.2 OX-404-001—The SOW indicates the SE shall support calibration. Does this imply that a complete calibration procedure plan needs to be developed, or only that the design of the SE should be such that calibration is possible if needed?

A.13. The design of the SE shall support potential calibration of the SE – and shall also support system-level calibration and diagnostics. For example, power-level indicators and/or threshold power level detectors in input/output legs can facilitate this function.

Q. 14. Reference SOW paragraph 7.1.1.2 OX-413-001—The SOW indicates the system will be in use, 24/280, but makes no estimate of how often switch positions are changed. Since Electromechanical switches are rated in terms of number of switching cycles, this would be useful information in selecting the appropriate switches.

A. 14. During its use, the Unit Type 1 (9x8 RFSM) could be switched at rates on the order of once every 10 microseconds. Note that based on our understanding of switching times for state-of-art RF switches, it is unlikely that an electromechanical switch could meet the requirements for this unit type, making the issue moot. For Unit Types 2 and 3, it’s rather difficult to estimate as the switch rate can vary significantly depending on the operational scenario. Our best estimate is a switching rate on the order of once per minute.

Q. 15. Reference SOW paragraph 7.1.1.2 OX-414-001—There is an indication of jeopardizing the safety of ship or crew, yet there is no indication of the normal environmental requirements associated with shipboard systems. Further, the temperature specifications provided later indicate lab ambient conditions. Please clarify.

A. 15. Requirement 0X-414-001 no longer applies to the equipment sought in this solicitation, but was not removed from the list of specifications. The threshold and objective temperature ranges specified are accurate.

Q. 16. Reference SOW Paragraph 7.1.2.1 OA-1-005—This RFSM is understood to have both direct hardware driven control as well as LAN control. It is unclear what the relationship between these control ports is. Does one overrule the other? Is the LAN port the normal method of control, and then control is turned over to the hardware controller? Please clarify the relationship between these two ports.

A. 16. The 9x8 RFSM shall have eight standard RF output ports. The input-output connectivity of up to three of these output ports shall be able to be controlled by a hardware-driven control interface. The specific output ports, if any, that are controlled by a hardware-driven control interface shall be configured via the LAN port. If a particular output port is configured so as to be controlled via hardware, the input-output connectivity of that port shall not be able to be modified by the LAN port (until they are decoupled from the hardware-driven control port via the LAN port).

Q. 17. Reference SOW Paragraph 7.1.2.2 OA-1-113—for standard outputs the RFSM will be full fan out and non-blocking, i.e. any input to any/all outputs. In a pure switching environment, connection to multiple outputs is possible but not recommended due to the impedance mismatch it causes. In some systems, single connections are the rule, and multiple connections are an exceptional case in which the mismatch issues are understood and accepted. Please clarify if this is the case.

A.17. The desire is that all three Unity Types would maintain a 50-ohm impedance match regardless of the configuration of the matrix (i.e., one input to one output up to one input to all outputs. Please note the following requirements that were intended to capture this characteristic: 0X-1-0010X-1-015, 0A-1-023, 0A-1-024, 0B-1-012, 0X-1-001. Our understanding is that this requirement could be satisfied by ensuring that the “off” ports of integral switches were terminated with 50-ohm loads. If we are mistaken, please respond with an explanation.

Q. 18. Reference SOW Paragraph 7.1.4.2 OC-1-005—for standard outputs the RFSM will be full fan out and non-blocking, i.e. any input to any/all outputs. In a pure switching environment, connection to multiple outputs is possible but not recommended due to the impedance mismatch it causes. In some systems, single connections are the rule, and multiple connections are an exceptional case in which the mismatch issues are understood and accepted. Please clarify if this is the case.

A.18. The desire is that all three Unity Types would maintain a 50-ohm impedance match regardless of the configuration of the matrix (i.e., one input to one output up to one input to all outputs. Please note the following requirements that were intended to capture this characteristic: 0X-1-0010X-1-015, 0A-1-023, 0A-1-024, 0B-1-012, 0X-1-001. Our understanding is that this requirement could be satisfied by ensuring that the “off” ports of integral switches were terminated with 50-ohm loads. If we are mistaken, please respond with an explanation.

Q. 19. Reference SOW Section 3.3.2.4 Support Services, All Unit Types and SOW Section 3.3.3 Support Services—In several places in the solicitation and in the Q&A, there is mention of work being performed in Washington, DC. SOW section 3.3.3 states that the contractor shall provide local support services at OCONUS locations. Is this a correct requirement and if so, will work be performed in hazardous or hardship locations? Should the contractor price both CONUS and OCONUS in CLIN 0008?

A.19. Support services could be CONUS and/or OCONUS. Work will not be performed in hazardous or hardship locations or conditions.

Q. 20. The solicitation contains an OCI clause (H-5) however, the effort includes the acquisition of hardware developed thereunder. If the Government where to request a re-procurement after the term of this effort, would the Contractor awarded the original effort be prohibited from bidding on future efforts?

Can this clause be deleted?

A.20. Clause H-5 puts offerors on notice that performance of the nature of work required by the current acquisition could result in a contracting officer in future acquisitions finding significant potential OCIs (as described in FAR 9.501-504). Nothing in the current solicitation in any way constrains the exercise of judgment by contracting officers in future acquisitions. In future acquisitions, the contracting officers will apply the guidance in FAR 9.5 to determine whether there are significant potential OCIs, and, if they determine there are, they will provide offerors the opportunity to secure an exemption through submission of an acceptable mitigation plan. Whereas Clause H-5 provides notice, there is no harm; it serves a useful purpose and will remain in the solicitation and contract.

Q. 21. Do we have to bid all 3 designs in order to be considered or only the ones we’re interested in at this time?

A. 21. Proposals are to include bids for all three designs to be considered responsive.

Q.22. One of the requirements states that “no subcontractor can perform a greater amount of the effort than the prime.” What does that mean in dollars and cents?

A. 22. Section M-2, Evaluation Factors for Award, at (c)6, Factor 4: Small Business Utilization, states that “Unlike small business set-asides, which require the small business prime to perform at least 50% of the proposed effort, this solicitation is not reserved for small business and therefore the 50% rule does not apply; however, no subcontractor can perform a greater amount of the effort than the prime.” This is calculated using the total dollar value of the offeror’s proposal.