75-063H-16_Specifications.docx

The NRL requires an end-to-end, complete gimbal mounted electro-optical (EO) surveillance system ready for installation and operation on US Navy aircraft, as well as on ships or surface stations. The system must be DoD operational (sensors and gimbal system required to be identical with operational military systems, though full mil-spec certification is not required), and must be aircraft certified.

Capabilities shall include:

1. Sensors enclosed in an NAVAIR certified (for airworthiness), aircraft mountable turret

a. Turret (with sensors inside) must be airworthiness cleared by NAVAIR for military fixed wing aircraft and helicopters (primary deployment mode), but must also be useable for at sea (ship) and land based operations (DoD and civilian ops).

b. Turret must provide stable environment for internal sensors (sealed against moisture and contamination), with heat exchanger for surface or low air flow operations.

2. Turret must be pointable and zoomable

a. require both software control option (via laptop or computer), as well as a handheld controller unit to allow user to select and track targets, as well as zoom in or out on targets of interest.

b. Turret must be pointable and stabilized for image and data collection

i. pan 360°,

ii. tilt +90° through -120°,

iii. line of sight stabilization, 5 microradians

iv. pointing accuracy, 2.5 milliradians

v. slew rate > 45° per second

3. GPS positioning and location tracking,

a. system must continually track and record GPS position (at data recording rate – typically 1 Hz or faster) as well as pointing angle and direction.

b. Require internal inertial measurement units (IMUs) to facilitate integration with aircraft

4. Sensors in turret must be models used in operational military, continual and/or step zoomable (except the laser range finder), and must include:

a. high definition (HD) visible daylight imager (400 – 700 nanometer)

b. high definition (HD) color low-light imager (400 – 700 nanometer)

c. high definition (HD) mid-infrared thermal imager (approx. 3.6 – 5 micron)

d. visible/short wave infrared standard definition (SD) imager (approx. 700 – 2000 nanometer)

e. eyesafe laser range finder (Class 1, range >15 km)).

5. The system must output all sensor data in both analog and digital formats

a. metadata must be output and recorded for system housekeeping, image quality, sensor settings, GPS location, etc.

6. The system must have the capacity to record and store video and data during operations (HD video and data recording, 2TB minimum storage)

7. The system must provide live and post-mission playback and extraction of system and image file metadata.

8. The vendor must provide operator training on system maintenance and operation due to system complexity and unfamiliarity.

9. Vendor must provide ground test kit, as well as operations maintenance kit.

The NRL intends to use the system for research directly applicable in improving existing DoD and National Intelligence Community surveillance system operations. Our anticipated applications include development of EO performance surfaces and tactical decision aids (TDA) for mission planning for DoD Electronics Maneuver Warfare (EMW) and the National Intelligence community.

Because predictions of EO system performance, the NRL requires the ability to develop prototypes using systems actually used by the Navy operational aviation community. NRL Monterey requires a military-specific system model:

1) Currently used in military and intelligence operations, and

2) Certified for use on DoD aircraft (NAVAIR airworthiness certification).

These requirements significantly limit potential vendors because research done using systems not used by the operational Navy and DoD community would be of no value for prototyping and testing our operational capabilities. We realize that our scientific and operational requirements (and budget) greatly limit the potential vendor pool, but this is why we have detailed our requirements and emphasized especially the requirement for operational military model sensors and hardware.

Delivery required NLT August 2017, or 6-9 months after the contract is signed.