L-5 NSS Question and Answer List - Responses 2NOV2022.pdf

Notes Responses are subject to change. Any responses to subsequent question sets shall superceed responses herin.

Nothing in these responses superceeds requirements as stated in the solicitation.

Item # Subject Question/Comment/Request/Recommendation Reference(s) Date Government Response Date Response

Posted

A-1 RFP Request revision to RFP section L.2.4.1 to 21 days after RFP release (05 October 2022). Section L 2.4.1 18-Oct-22

The RFP states "All questionnaires should be forwarded within 14 calendar days from the RFP release date." The 14 days is not a requirement, as it does not state shall, rather it is a guideline to ensure PPQ's are submitted timely for the evaluation.

11/2/2022

A-2 RFP What is the due date for PPQ's? Section L 19-Oct-22 There is no specific due date. The Government recommends the Offerors to send the PPQs out as soon as practical. As stated in L-1 Vo1 2 PPQ.docx, the Government requests the return "within 2 weeks from the receipt of this questionnaire."

11/2/2022

A-3

Annex A - Supporting

Documentation for Past Performance

Requirement: Offeror shall only provide the following for each contract reference noted in Attachment PP-1 (Contract Summary): 1) conformed contract document; and 2) complete SOW or PWS, and/or complete Performance Specification; and if applicable 3) subcontract agreement.

Comment: Under a JV, one party is the managing partner and submitting required ANNEX A reference documents on behalf of both JV Partners.

Question: Due to the sensitive nature of confidential data appearing in the required response documents that both JV partners would be able to see as part of the ANNEX A proposal submission, would the Government allow submission of certain contract reference documents as separate, password protected PDFs in order to maintain the confidentiality of competitive information? Alternatively, would the Govenment allow a JV partner to summit a separate ANNEX A to the government directly?

2.5 Past Performance

Relevancy Instructions; Section

2.5.2 | page 87 of 112; Requirement text: 1) conformed contract document;

and 2) complete SOW or PWS, and/or complete Performance Specification; and if applicable 3) subcontract agreement.

24-Oct-22

Offerors may submit password protected PDF files as part of the submission process IAW Section L, Part A, 4.2. Offerors shall provide the passwords to David Kors and Duane Drury no later than the submission receipt date provided in Section A of the solicitation. Offerors are reminded to include the Authorization Letters for each JV Team Member as instructed in Section L, 2.2 Autherization Letters.

11/2/2022

A-4 Pricing

With respect to shipping/travel locations, in previous iterations of this RFP the USG either identified CONUS and OCONUS locations for shipping/travel (in order to standardize between offerors), or the USG stated that shipping/travel costs would be negotiated separately (upon approval to ship). For this RFP, does the USG plan to do either of these (standardize or negotiate) or shall offerors price shipping/travel without such guidance?

L-2 Vol 3 Price Attachment -

Protected - Att J- 3_System Pricing Tab

21-Oct-22

Shipping/travel will not be separately negotiated for catalog items and need to be included in proposed catalog item pricing.

Historical pricing has indicated that the time and resources required for both the Government and contractor to conduct negotiations for travel costs for different locations has exceeded any potential cost savings.

11/2/2022

A-5 Delivery of Laptop Are there specific markings or delivery requirements for shipping the laptop? Are hand deliveries of the laptop allowed?

Section L, Part A, Paragarph 4.3 24-Oct-22

Hand deliveries are strongly preferred. If offerors are shipping the demonstration media, this should be coordinated with David Kors and Duane Drury. The laptops shall be password protected with the password to be provided to David Kors and Duane Drury. A tracking number shall also be provided. Deliveries must be made no later than the date and time of the solicitation due date provided in Section A of the solicitation.

11/2/2022

Posted

A-6 RFP

What is the evaluation for the technical demonstrations? Are they pass / fail or rated like the other technical sections?

Industry Day 10/26/2022

The technical demonstrations will be evaluated IAW Section (M)(II)(A)(1.1). The tech demonstrations are not evaluated as a pass / fail. Additionally, Section M(I)(B) states "Elements within the Technical Factor are not weighted or rated sub factors." The technical volume will be given a combined technical / risk rating IAW Section M(II)(A)(2.0).

11/2/2022

A-7 Proposal due date A request has been made to exted the due date of the proposal to 15 December 2022.

Industry Day 10/26/2022

The Government is discussing a proposal receipt extension.

Information will be forthcoming in a solicitation amendment. 11/2/2022

A-8 Proposal due date A request has been made to exted the due date of the proposal 60 days beyond the current proposal receipt date of 5 December 2022. 24-Oct-22 See the response to A-7. 11/2/2022

A-9 TEP quantities

Does the Government view a change in quantity in the TEP as a change in requirements which might trigger an opportunity to reassess catalog pricing?

For example, if the vendor prices quantity 1 in the solicitation pricing attachment for year 2 on NSST-3 but the Government decides to order a quantity of 4 NSST-3's in year 2. Will the contractor be provided the opportunity to re-quote to take advantage of quantity pricing?

Industry Day 10/26/2022

The Total Evaluated Price (TEP), calcuated in accordance with Section M, is only used during the evaluation of proposals. The estimated quantities provided in Solicitation Attachment L-2 are only estimates of the quantity of items to be ordered and when those orders may take place. The estimates do not represent firm quantities that will be ordered. The proposed prices for the catalog pricing items will be incorproated as Attachment 3 of the catalog and will not be re-negotiated regardless of the quantity of items ordered.

11/2/2022

A-11 Pricing

Per RFP Attachment L-2 DO 1 CLIN Pricing (0001) the NSST Baseline 2 system will be developed and implemented using a firm-fixed price contract.

and DO1 SOW para 3.2.1.1.1 (pg 3) states “contractor shall modernize and reestablish the NSST software baseline using current generation state-of-the-art software technology” and follow full lifecycle practices per IEEE 11207-2017 to develop the NSST 2 software baseline including requirements analysis through implementation and T&E.

Question. Why is the Government choosing to use a rigid fixed price contract approach that is contrary to current DoD AAF software acquisition policies that recommend a flexible and modular contract strategy that enables software development teams to rapidly design, develop, test, integrate, deploy, and support software capabilities?

Question. Will the Government reconsider using a cost reimbursable contract that provides needed flexibility to develop the software baseline and is aligned with current DoD Adaptive Acquisition Framework pathway policies?

Attachment L-2 Vol 3 Pricing Attachment

IDIQ DO1 SOW

210024 Sec.3.2.1.1.1

28-Oct-22

The comment is noted. The Government has decided to solicit Delivery Order 1 as Firm Fixed Price as it believes the requirements are well defined enough to allow for a firm fixed price.

Posted

A-12 Pricing

In accordance with the SOW [3.2.1.1.1] (pg 3) and Government stated responses that contractors shall use of current state-of-the art software technology that is “open to interpretation” [B-13] and MOSA as “enhancement to previous contract requirements” [C-25] without a defined interoperability profile of required standards to modernize the current baseline nor any specified system improvement requirements [C-2].

Additionally, the Government requires the contractor adhere to lifecycle development practices [SOW 3.2.2.2] (pg. 5) and states, “a complete requirements analysis needs to be performed” [B-4] and the “product baseline is not established until the critical design stage” [B-6] is complete.

Until the open-ended requirements are decomposed, refined, validated and the baseline is established contractors cannot reliably provide a firm fixed-price contract to develop, implement and deploy the NSST 2 baseline.

Recommendation: Per FAR Subpart 16.103 (b) Contract Type and 16.301- 2 Application, we recommend the Government include a cost-reimbursement contract to design and develop the NSST 2 baseline and use the firm-fixed price contract to implement and deploy the system to the required sites.

IDIQ DO1 SOW

210024 Sec.3.2.1.1.1 and 3.2.2.2

NSS QCRR

Government Response (31 Aug 2022) Items B-4 & C- 2, C-25

NSS QCRR

Government Response (19 Sep 2022) Item B-6, B-13

28-Oct-22 The comment is noted. The Government has decided to solicit Delivery Order 1 as Firm Fixed Price. 11/2/2022

A-13 Pricing Does the “Anticipated Number of Systems Per Year” in Attachment L-2 Att J-3 System Pricing indicate the ordering period or delivery/acceptance?+C4 Attachment L-2 Att J-

3 System Pricing 28-Oct-22 The prices indicated are for each ordering period. 11/2/2022

A-14 Pricing (CLIN 1001)

Per RFP Section C.1: CLIN 1001 para 2a (pg 4) states “Catalog Pricing IAW SOW 210023 and PRF 210025. Detailed catalog pricing requirements are found at SOW 210023 paragraph 1.3.2 and section 3.3, and PRF 210025.

and Per RFP Section L: 3.1.1 (pg 94) Offerors shall “use Attachment L-2 which represents catalog pricing to be attached to the IDIQ as Section J Attachment 3 pricing”

Question: As product quantities are a “theoretical scenario” in Attachment L-2 and do not include definitive minimum total quantities or lot quantity orders per year, does the Government recognize industry has no reasonable method to amortize non-recurring costs (SOW 210023 Section 3.3 catalog detailed requirements) or apply “economies of scale” discounts into a contractually bound “per unit” price?

RFP Section C.1:

CLIN 1001 para 2a

RFP Section L: 3.1.1

28-Oct-22

The Government is not offerring a minimum guarantee beyond delivery order 1.

The Government is not seeking special discounts for lot orders.

Posted

A-15 Pricing

In accordance with SOW [Section 3.3] (pg 33) and Government response [B- 1] where “Offerors need to account for all costs to deliver products in conformance with the specified requirements in the proposed catalog pricing.”, there is no method to allocate non-reoccurring engineering costs using a “per unit” catalog pricing schedule without establishing system lot order quantities.

Recommendation: We recommend the Government establish a separate CLIN to price the IDIQ SOW 3.3 non-reoccurring engineering costs.

IDIQ Base SOW 210023 Sec. 3.3

NSS QCRR

Government Response (31 Aug 2022) Items B-1

28-Oct-22

NRE enabling catalog approach deliveries should be included in DO1 effort. The Government may solicit additional NRE work in future delivery orders using the SOW approach for negotiated requirements IAW solicitation Section C.1.2.(b) and C.2.2.(a).

11/2/2022

A-16 Pricing

DO1 SOW para 3.2.1.1.1 (pg 3) states “contractor shall modernize and reestablish the NSST software baseline using current generation state-of-the-art software technology” and lifecycle practices per IEEE 12207-2017 to develop the NSST 2 software baseline including requirements analysis through implementation and T&E.

Question: If the Catalog Services pricing is not used for "evaluation purposes only" as indicated in cell I4 of the Attachment L-2 spreadsheet, then how does the Government expect the Offeror to provide contractually bound FFP catalog prices if the development and implementation of the NSST 2 system baseline is not approved until DO 1 is completed?

Recommendation: Government use the catalog prices for evaluation purposes only.

IDIQ DO1 SOW

210024 Sec.3.2.1.1.1

L-2 Pricing Worksheet and Evalution

28-Oct-22

The "Evaluation Purposes Only" statement in cell I4 on the Att J- 3 System Pricing Tab is in reference to the estimated quantities provided that will be used for the Total Evaluated Price (TEP) calculation as desribed in Section M.II.C.1.0. Section L, Part B,

3.1.1 states "Attachment L-2, Price Attachment, which represents catalog pricing to be attached to the IDIQ as Section J Attachment 3 and Delivery Order 1 pricing" refers to the actual unit prices to be provided by the Offerors. This approach establishes price predictability for budgeting and reduces administrative effort needed by both the Government and contractor to solicit and award delivery orders.

Offerors may assume award of catalog priced items depend on DO1 effort.

Posted

A-17 General

Submitting a response requires a great deal of clarity and additional information from the Government. Once we have this information, it takes time to build the price. The current due date is right before the holiday period. Moving the due date to Jan 31 allows all parties to ensure all the information needed for a low-risk bid is available and worked into a response.

Additionally, Government pre-solicitation guidance informed industry that offerors would be provided 90 days to prepare and deliver the required demonstrations. To properly prepare for the demonstrations and avoid additional costs with a shortened time period we request the extension to the solicitation submittal date.

Request: Extend due date to Jan 31 2023.

SF33 Box 9 28-Oct-22 The 90 day comment was made when a more substantial technical demonstration was contemplated. See response A-7. 11/2/2022

A-18 CPAR period

Many customers refuse to submit PPQs stating that the CPAR process is supposed to replace PPQs and suffice for evaluating performance. In addition, we do not control when a CPAR is issued and most customers only do them once per year. The 6-month requirement eliminates many possible Past Performance references. Such a narrow timeline unnecessary restricts potential relevant references.

Request: As CPARS are provided on a yearly basis, we request the Government extend the eligible reporting period to within 12 months from the date of issuance of the solicitation as shown in block 5.

RFP Section L, Part B, 2.4 Past Performance and

CPARS

28-Oct-22

The Government will clarify in a forthcoming amendment Section L, Part B, 2.4.1(b): "Past performance contracts with CPARS Reports where the evaluation period ended more than six months prior to the RFP’s release date where contract performance is still ongoing." For example, the solicitation was issued on 5 October 2022. Ongoing contracts with the most recent CPARS evaluation period ending prior to 5 April 2022 shall have PPQ's submitted. The Government will not consider Offeror initiated PPQ's if the most recent CPARS evaluation period is 6 April 2022 or later IAW Section L, Part B, paragraph 2.4.2.

Posted

A-19 Pricing

Has the program anticipated the necessary Government personnel requirements to complete the T&E requirements (CPI, Ready-to-ship evaluation, regression testing, TRRs, conformance inspections FCAs/JFIs, and PCAs, etc.) for 80+ system configurations, 80+ additional stations and 66 system updates (DO 1) in year 3 of the contract?

Attachment L-2 Vol 3 Pricing Attachment 28-Oct-22 Yes. The Government routinely executes this process. 11/2/2022

A-20 Pricing

Does the Government intend to order 230+ system configurations and 240+ additional stations in years 3 through 5 as indicated in the Att J-3 System Pricing spreadsheet tab? RFP Section L, Part

B, 3.1.1 Price Proposal Instructions

Attachment L-2 Vol 3 Pricing Attachment

28-Oct-22

As stated in note 1 on Attachment L-2: "The delivery order quantities noted reflect a theoretical scenario for efforts that may be awarded via this IDIQ contract." See response to A-16 for additional information on the estimated quantities on this attachment.

Posted

A-21 Pricing

In accordance with SOW [Section 3.3] (pg 33) and Government response [B- 1] where “Offerors need to account for all costs to deliver products in conformance with the specified requirements in the proposed catalog pricing.” There are large unknowns that must be accounted for in firm-fixed pricing for overseas installation work (e.g., travel, site surveys, shipping, storage) over a five year period.

Recommendation: The Government establish a separate CR CLIN for this work. This lowers the risk to the contractor which will be reflected in the price.

IDIQ Base SOW 210023 Sec. 3.3

RFP Section B

28-Oct-22 The recommendation is noted. The Government does not plan to add a cost reimbursement CLIN. 11/2/2022

A-22 General

This is a complex bid that requires upfront financial investments and the performance is full of risk.

Recommendation: The govt should require small businesses to put vehicles in place that will verify financial viability, such as a surety or performance bond.

RFP Section L, Part B Specific Instructions, Volume and Section M Evaluation Factors

28-Oct-22 The recommendation is noted. The Government does not plan to add additional requirements beyond the normal responsibility determination.

11/2/2022

A-23 Proposal Format

RFP Section L, Part A, 2.1 (pg 77) states,“Graphs and tables shall be presented in no smaller than 10 pt font and should contain a grid.”

Question: Please explain how Offerors should include a grid in graphs and tables.

RFP Section L, Part A, 2.1 Electronic Submission of Proposals

28-Oct-22 Grids in graphs provides a means to more easlily associate the data in the graphs to values on the axis.

Grids in tables effectively mean borders around cells.

11/2/2022

A-24 Past Performance

Relevancy Instructions

RFP Section L, Part B, 2.5.4 (pg 88) states, "To enable the Government to perform a comparison of the past performance contract’s product or service similarities to the instant solicitation’s work for each past performance contract, the Offeror shall only provide the following for each contract reference noted in Attachment PP-1 (Contract Summary): 1) conformed contract document; and 2) complete SOW or PWS, and/or complete Performance Specification; and if applicable 3) subcontract agreement." and "Information necessary to substantiate the relevancy of a past performance contract must be clear through a plain reading of the conformed copy of the past performance contract, its Statement of Work, the Performance Work Statement, the Specification, and / or subcontract agreement without further explanation. Offerors shall submit the entire Statement of Work, Performance Work Statement, Specification, and/or subcontract agreement."

Question: To comply with this request for clearly identified relevancy, could the government provide a recommended means to identify relevant work, such as through highlighting text or other means?

RFP Section L, Part B, 2.5.2 Past Performance Compliance

28-Oct-22

Column C on each Tab of the PP-2 file shall contain the specific reference. For example, the specific reference could read as "SOW #1000, Paragraph 3.1, Page 10" or "Contract XXX, Section B, all CLIN values". Offerors may highlight the corresponding paragraph in the SOW, contract, etc. but it is not required to do so.

Posted

A-25 Past Performance

Relevancy Instructions

RFP Section L, Part B, 2.5.4 (pg 89) states, "An Offerors’ proposal will be considered as noncompliant when the Offeror submits a past performance proposal that repeatedly fails to provide specific, pinpointed pages and paragraphs for the past performance Statement of Work, Performance Work Statement, the Specification and/or subcontract agreement, or fails to submit the fully executed conformed past performance contract and its Statement of Work, the Performance Work Statement, the Specification and / or the subcontract agreement. "

Question: Please confirm that Offerors are expected to attach each of these documents - a fully executed contract and SOW/PWS, the specification, and/or the subcontract agreement. Are these items to be included in our response, as part of and in addition to, Past Performance Contract Data (PP- 2)? Are these items excluded from the volume page count?

RFP Section L, Part B, 2.5.4 Past Performance Compliance

28-Oct-22

As per Section L, Table G-2, and Section L, Part B, 2.5.1, Annex A should contain the Supporting Documentation for Past Performance. It is understood that not all past performance contract references will include each of the referenced documents. As per Section L, Part B, 2.5.2, offerors shall only provide the following for each contract reference noted in Attachment PP-1 (Contract Summary): 1) conformed contract document; and 2) complete SOW or PWS, and/or complete Performance Specification; and if applicable 3) subcontract agreement. As per Section L, Table G-2, Annex A does not have a maximum page count.

11/2/2022

A-26 Proposal Content and Volumes

Table G-2 (pg 78) Volume 2 Past Performance shows maximum page count of 10 pages.

Question: What is included in the 10 pages? What is excluded from the page count?

RFP Section L, Part A, 3.0, Table G-2 28-Oct-22

As per Section L, Table G-2, the past performance volume is comprised of a single file for PP-1, a single file for PP-2, and a maximum 10 pages to provide all other solicitation requirements within Section L, Part B, Paragraph 2.0 and its subparagraphs.

The 10 pages may include but not be limited to information that may be necessary to fulfill the requirements of paragraphs 2.2, 2.3, and / or 2.6.3.

11/2/2022

A-27 A-28

Posted B-1 B-2 B-3 B-4

Item # Subject Question/Comment/Request/Recommendation Reference(s) Date Government Response Date Response Posted

C-1

Ownship Model Requirements-- Tuning by hull number

Some of the sea trial data provided is for different hull numbers within the same class of ship. Does the Government wish to have each individual hull number tuned separately or just one tuning per class of ship called out in PRF section 3.1.7.2?

PRF 210025 3.1.7.2

page 43 21-Oct-22

Part of the task is demonstrating the generation of a single ship class model using data from sea trial data collected from different hull numbers in the ship class. 11/2/2022

C-2 Performance Match

The PRF states "Simulation performance shall match real world data within a 5% error unless the contractor submits and the Government accepts a deviation justification." It should be noted that some of the data points on the graphs have values close to zero, which means that a 5% error tolerance may be unachievable. Instead of writing a deviation justification for each value close to zero, would the government consider a fixed error tolerance band in addition to the 5% error tolerance band?

PRF 210025 4.3.3 a.

page 74 21-Oct-22

Please provide a reference to the specific data set and values of concern for the Government's review and consideration.

11/2/2022

C-3 DO-1 Yokosuka

Base Fire Requirements

Please provide base requirements for Yokosuka for the following:

1. Plenum Rated Cables

2. Wireways

3. Fire Suprresion

4. Shielding

Industry Day 10/26/2022

These are generally derived requirements. The system needs to meet the performance requirements in the environment in which it is installed. (REF: DO1 SOW 3.2.2.1.1, PRF 3.3.4) 11/2/2022

C-4 Desktop Ship Control Console

Does functionally compatible mean that it must support every available input across all of the ownships?

Section 3.1.3.5.12.2 (pg 19) 28-Oct-22 DSCC is not required to provide physical input interfaces that are unique to the SCS-GOV console or IBNS console. 11/2/2022

C-5 Remote Optical Sight (ROS)

Do the orientation cutouts need to be configurable at runtime or only prior to an exercise?

Section 3.1.3.10 (pg

24) 28-Oct-22 Not specified. Both approaches are acceptable. 11/2/2022

C-6 Validation of Simulation and Ownship Models

Requirement states "Deviations from real world data and contractor generated simulation design models will be at the discretion of the Government".

Please verify deviation data will be provided to the contractor for Systems Requirements Definition (DO-1 SOW Section 3.2.2.1).

Section 4.3.3.2 (pg 74)

28-Oct-22

No. SOW 3.2.2.1 is a pre-design process. Determination for the need to deviate will be determined during the onwship model validation in consultation with U.S. Navy Subject Matter Experts.

Item # Subject Question/Comment/Request/Recommendation Reference(s) Date Government Response Date Response

C-7

Training device software

Requirement states "Software modified to meet the requirements herein shall be classified as noncommercial software".

Please clarify the Government's position is " modifications funded by the contract shall be classified as noncommercial software" and does not apply to software funded outside the contract.

Section 3.3.11.3 (pg 69)

28-Oct-22

IAW DFARS 252.227-7014, noncommercial computer software means software that does not qualify as commercial computer software as defined in (a)(1) of this clause. The requirements of this contract are uniquely Government and noncommercial in nature. Any modification made to an Offeror’s vendor specific commercial computer software that is intended to meet a requirement of this contract and funded by the resulting contract would not meet the definition of minor modification as stated in (a)(1)(iv) of DFARS 252.227-7014 and defined at FAR 2.101.

Therefore, an Offeror’s vendor specific commercial software modified to meet the uniquely Government requirements of this solicitation would be classified and delivered under DFARS 252.227-7014.

11/2/2022

C-8

Maintenance concept

Specification states "If the Government determines a delivered device and associated data are inadequate for COMS maintenance, shortfalls identified within one (1) year after device final acceptance shall be corrected".

Please clarify how "indadequate" is determined once the Government has performed requisite inspections (PRF 3.3.12.1.5), conducted a Maintainability Assessment (PRF 4.3.9.3), verified the system meets the requirements and has accepted the system.

Section 3.3.12.1.1 (pg 70)

28-Oct-22

This provides the contractor the opportunity to correct oversights missed by the contractor's quality assurance program and also provides a statue of limitations. Inadequate depends on the maintenance function but generally means the maintenance task cannot be successfully completed due to a shortfall in the device or data. Examples: If the maintenance function is executing a maintenance procedure and the procedure is not executable as written, then the maintenance procedure is inadequate. If the maintenance action is replacing a failed part and the maintenance documentation has wrong or missing information needed to order a replacement part, then the part data is inadequate.

Shortfalls that do not prevent a successful maintenance task completion (typos, formatting, maintainer preferences, etc.)

would not be considered inadequacies.

11/2/2022

C-9 C-10 C-11 C-12

Item # Subject Question/Comment/Request/Recommendation Reference(s) Date Government Response Date Response

D-1 D-2 D-3 D-4 D-5 D-6 D-7 D-8 D-9

Item # Subject Question/Comment/Request/Recommendation Reference(s) Date Government Response Date Response

E-1 GFI Request

Request for the Government to provide the current NSST Baseline 1 San Diego harbor OpenFlight source as GFI. <redacted>

L-7 GFI Package Notes to Industry

Paragraph 2 - Pg. 1 11-Oct-22

The Government will provide a copy of the San Diego OpenFlight source. Please note:

- This database was developed based on DNC data and the instant solicitation requirement requires databases based on ENC data.

- This database has not completed final Government conformance testing and did not satisfy NSST baseline 1 framerate requirements at preliminary test events.

-IAW previous statements, this GFS is provided without warranty of fitness or guarantee of conformance. Reuse of this GFS is optional. Offerors shall not submit proposals dependent on the Government providing conforming GFS.

10/17/2022

E-2 GFI Request

Request for GFI item Requirements Traceability and Verification Matrix (RTVM) for NSST Baseline 1. <redacted> L-7 GFI Package

Notes to Industry Paragraph 2 - Pg. 1

11-Oct-22

The Government will provide a copy of the latest NSST Baseline 1 PRF. The RTVM is not presently representative of proper requirements analysis and traceability as is required in the instant solicitation.

10/17/2022

Item # Subject Question/Comment/Request/Recommendation Reference(s) Date Government Response Date Response

E-3 GFI Request

Request for GFI item all PDAL drawings for NSST Baseline 1... <redacted>

L-7 GFI Package Notes to Industry

Paragraph 2 - Pg. 1 11-Oct-22

The Government has released the drawings in the initial L-7 GFI package that, on review, are evaluated as the most beneficial to establish scope of effort. The Government has reviewed numerous other drawings and determined they do not provide unique and/or accurate, representative data that would assist in proposal preparation.

The Government has scheduled an industry solicitation conference to provide access to an NSST site which will provide more current information about the NSST baseline 1 devices.

10/17/2022

E-4 GFI Request

Request for GFI item Bill of Materials (BOM) for NSST Baseline 1.<redacted>

L-7 GFI Package Notes to Industry

Paragraph 2 - Pg. 1 11-Oct-22

The Government has reviewed the BOM and determined that the SSDD contains a more accurate depiction of the design wth fewer misleading inaccuracies. However, offerors should be aware that the SSDD is also not fully representative of the the anticipated/as-built product. The Government has scheduled an industry solicitation conference to provide access to an NSST site which will provide more current information about the NSST baseline 1 devices.

Item # Subject Question/Comment/Request/Recommendation Reference(s) Date Government Response Date Response

E-5 GFI Request

Request for GFI item Test Procedure. <redacted>

L-7 GFI Package Notes to Industry

Paragraph 2 - Pg. 1 11-Oct-22

The Government is unable to release the existing Test Procedures for the following reasons:

- Latest submissions of Test Procedures are not presently conforming to DI-NDTI-80603A or to NSST baseline 1 PRF section 4 requirements.

- The instant solicitation PRF section 4 was significantly modified from the NSST basline 1 PRF section 4.

- The Government does not want to provide documentation that could be misleading as to what is an acceptable/conforming standard for Test Procedures.

IAW previous statements, Government provided technical data will be provided without warranty of fitness or guarantee of conformance. Offerors shall not submit proposals dependent on the Government providing conforming technical data.

10/17/2022

E-6 GFI Request Request for GFI item Discrepancy reports for Baseline 1. <redacted> L-7 GFI Package

Notes to Industry Paragraph 2 - Pg. 1

11-Oct-22 Testing, defect discovery, defect correction, and defect adjudication are active and on-going processes. The final status of NSST baseline 1 discrepancies are still unknown.

10/17/2022

E-7 GFI Request

Request for GFI item Software Product Specification (SPS) for NSST Baseline 1. <redacted>

L-7 GFI Package Notes to Industry

Paragraph 2 - Pg. 1 11-Oct-22

The Government does not possess the SPS in a releasable state.

IAW previous statements, The Government anticipates providing to the awardee any relevant NSST software items and technical data to which the Government has rights when it becomes available (but no earlier than award). GFS* and Government provided technical data will be provided without warranty of fitness or guarantee of conformance. Reuse of GFS* and technical data is optional. Offerors shall not submit proposals dependent on the Government providing conforming GFS* or technical data. (*With the exception of GFS specified in PRF 3.1.3.5.12.3, 3.1.3.8, & 3.1.3.9)

10/17/2022

E-8 GFI Request Request for GFI item Operation and Maintenance Manual. <redacted> L-7 GFI Package

Notes to Industry Paragraph 2 - Pg. 1

11-Oct-22 The Government does not possess a version of the IETM that is suitable for release or that would provided any added benefit in excess of the data already provided.

Item # Subject Question/Comment/Request/Recommendation Reference(s) Date Government Response Date Response

E-9 GFI Request

The SSDD provides design concepts, the appendices do not appear to have been provided. Can the Government please provide the appendices and/or the BOMs for each of the NSST configurations that identifies parts with their associated part number?

L-7 and L-8 GFI package 18-Oct-22

Please provide an itemized list of which specific references/attachments are being requested with a justification of need, the Government will need to do an evalaution of releaseability for each specific item.

11/2/2022

E-10 Industry Conference

Are pictures allowed to be taken at the NSST site on the day of the industry solicitation coference? 19-Oct-22

Please submit an itemized and specific list of requests for photographs. The Government anticipates providing a photograph package based on requests.

11/2/2022

E-11 GFI Request The Comprehensive Review regarding ship collisions is requested to be provided for additional background informfation. Industry Day 10/26/2022

Please refer to the following open sources for more contectual information:

https://news.usni.org/2017/11/02/document-navy-comprehensive-review-surface-forces https://features.propublica.org/navy-accidents/uss-fitzgerald-destroyer-crash-crystal/ https://features.propublica.org/navy-uss-mccain-crash/navy-installed-touch-screen-steering-ten-sailors-paid-with-their-lives/

11/2/2022

E-12 Licenese Fees What are the current software annual maintenace fees or liceneses paid for by the Government on NSST? will these fees continue to be paid by the Government in the contract resulting from this solicitation?

Industry Day 10/26/2022

Licenses for software components installed on NSST baseline 1 devices are currently perpetual with no recuring fees.

There are some licenses on the NSST baseline 1 development seat that have recurring. Licenses that are needed for the sustainment of NSST baseline 1 software, but are not applicable to NSST baseline 2 software are not within the currently required scope of work.

11/2/2022

E-13 SSDD Are all computers used on a device located in the server room for that device? Industry Day 10/26/2022

For Mayport, Type 1 and Type 2 computers are only installed in racks located in the server rooms and in the sim control room.

Type 3 computers are portable. (REF: SSDD 4.1.2.1)

11/2/2022

E-14 GFI Please provide a list of the GFI drawings which the Government knows is immature as compared to the as-built components. Industry Day 10/26/2022

As these devices are currently in-process for delivery and conformance inspections, a complete list cannot be provided.

Information made available through the site tour and photographs provides the best available information at this time.

Item # Subject Question/Comment/Request/Recommendation Reference(s) Date Government Response Date Response

E-15 GFI Interface What protocols are currently used to inteface to the existing radars? Industry Day 10/26/2022

For BCG Radar, see SSDD 4.1.2.1.7 and 4.2.7.1.

For RDRFed (i.e. the GFS radar software), it is currently interfacing through VShip API (see SSDD 4.4.1). Note: The GFS radar and underlying simulation have been previously integrated with other training systems using DIS, HLA, and other proprietary interface standards.

11/2/2022

E-16 DO-1 Hardware Is the hardware at each site being re-used and can offerors assume all hardware is in working condition? Industry Day 10/26/2022

Reuse of hardware depends on the offeror's technical approach, but hardware in the NSST baseline 1 devices will be made available for reuse. Optimal reuse of hardware is recommended.

Offerrors may assume that repair or replacement of failed components delivered to the Government under a previous contract is out of scope provided that the failure is not caused by the offeror.

11/2/2022

E-17 GFI Is GFS available from the NSST contract being currently executed? Industry Day 10/26/2022

GFS specified in PRF 3.1.3.5.12.3, 3.1.3.8, & 3.1.3.9 will be made available to the awardee in its current form shortly after award.

There is some software in the NSST baseline 1 to which the Government does not have data rights.

There is some software in the NSST baseline1 to which the Government has data rights but the software may not be available for release at award.

As this involves an ongoing contract activity, specific details are not available.

As previously stated, The Government anticipates providing to the awardee any relevant NSST software items and technical data to which the Government has rights when it becomes available (but no earlier than award). GFS* and Government provided technical data will be provided without warranty of fitness or guarantee of conformance. Reuse of GFS* and technical data is optional.

Offerors shall not submit proposals dependent on the Government providing conforming GFS* or technical data.

(*With the exception of GFS specified in PRF 3.1.3.5.12.3, 3.1.3.8, & 3.1.3.9)

Item # Subject Question/Comment/Request/Recommendation Reference(s) Date Government Response Date Response

E-18 EPO Are there requirements to integrate EPO (emergency power off) capabilities into the devices? Industry Day 10/26/2022 The Government has not specified any Emergency Power Off requirement related to the NSST devices. 11/2/2022

E-19 Hardware How can vendors understand how facility commonality will be executed without a BOM or other GFI. Industry Day 10/26/2022

The Government is investigating the possible release of a curated BOM or equivalent information release.

Substantial facility differences are depicted in provided drawings. One of the notable differences not depicted is the facility lighting systems, which range from programable LED lighting to more traditional facility lighting which may have minor impacts on the fulfilment of PRF 3.1.10.1.1. Note: PRF

3.1.10.1.1 was not specified for NSST baseline 1.

See also DO1 SOW 3.2.11.

11/2/2022

E-20 Spares How are spares to be procured? Industry Day 10/26/2022

Existing spares will be controlled and managed separately (typically by the Government In service Engineers and/or the COMS contractor). The Government may use the NSS IDIQ or other means for the procurement of spares. If spares are procured under the NSS IDIQ, this is typically done on a provisioning CLIN solicited after PISC.

11/2/2022

E-21 Tech Refresh Are tech refreshes of the facilites with NSST systems part of the contract? Industry Day 10/26/2022 There are no tech refresh requirements that are part of DO1 but tech refreshes are within the scope of the IDIQ and may be solicited at a later time.

11/2/2022

E-22 Property What part of the facilities / devices fall under either real or personal property? Industry Day 10/26/2022

Generally, components in the SSDD are trainer equipment (personal property). The bridge structure is considered part of the facility (real property). The Projection screen is considered trainer equipement (personal property). Each facility comes with a unique overhead mounting structure for mounting the projection system. All equipment below that point (including the projector mounting ring) is considered trainer equipment (personal property).

11/2/2022

E-23 GUI's Are the contractors required to build weapon control GUI's? Industry Day 10/26/2022

The means of interface is not specified to allow flexibility and innovation in implementation. The system needs to support the participation of a Gun Liason Officer (GLO), Anti- Terrorism/Force Protection Officer (ATFPO), Bridge Tactical Action Officer (TAO), or equivalent type watchstander in training scenarios.

Item # Subject Question/Comment/Request/Recommendation Reference(s) Date Government Response Date Response

E-24 Parallax How does the system handle parallax? Industry Day 10/26/2022

For the NSST baseline 1 systems, the pelorus is in the geometric center of the display system and no paralax offset is applied.

The virtual binoculars have a static paralax offset applied at a designated eyepoint.

11/2/2022

E-25 Assignable Display's

During industry, there were multiple questions about what is displayed on a particular watchstander display. Industry Day 10/26/2022

The requirement is for student interfaces to be assignable to watch station displays. This is because every bridge in the U.S.

Navy is unique (both in terms of equiment layout and watch team setup) and this provides the functionality to configure the trainer to support the unque training needs of each student and crew that uses the trainer.

11/2/2022

E-26 VDS Is there interest in a 90-degree lookdown display? Industry Day 10/26/2022

The VDS requirements including the lookdown angle were established with balanced consideration for quality/immersiveness and the long term sustainability of the system.

11/2/2022

E-27 E-28