NSS Industry QCRR Tracker Set 3.Final.092622.pdf

Notes Responses are subject to change. Any responses to subsequent question sets shall supersede responses herein.

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

Many questions have been consolidated and paraphrased from the numerous submissions. Some questions are anticipated to be addressed by the subsequent release of information and have not been directly responded to here.

Item # Subject Question/Comment/Request/Recommendation Reference(s) Government Response A-1 A-2 A-3 A-4 A-5 A-6 A-7 A-8 A-9

A-10 A-11 A-12 A-13 A-14 A-15 A-16 A-17 A-18 A-19 A-20

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

B-10 B-11 B-12 B-13 B-14 B-15 B-16 B-17 B-18 B-19 B-20

C-1 Statement of Compliance

The NSST Special Notice Released on August 1st 2022 contains the following statement: “As part of the Technical volume, Offerors must provide certification that their proposed maritime simulation software has an active Class A statement of compliance (SOC) for Bridge Operation in accordance with DNVGL-ST-0033. Failure to provide this SOC with the proposal will render the proposal ineligible for award.”

In reviewing the Statement of Compliance and Certification Principles (Sections 1.2.2 and 1.2.3) of the DNVGL-ST-0033 standard, the requirements are at the total system level, similar to the FAA level D Flight Simulator standard, not just at the software level, and include document evaluation (hardware and software) and approved test programs to validate functional requirements. The required documents include simulation philosophy, including how training and assessment is accomplished, layout drawings, instructor functions and menus etc. This implies that, for NSST, the certification would be based on specific core NSST configurations and information which would only be possible for the incumbent contractor to perform.

The Government disagrees with the statement that only the incumbent can obtain the required Statement of Compliance certificaion. The Government is aware of multiple potential Offerors who possess the certificate. The required Statement of Compliance provides an entry criteria threshold for competition using a common international standard in conformance with updated U.S. Navy policy and guidance related to Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) for Seafarers.

The Government's selected approach provides a clear and definitive criteria that must be satisfied by offerors. The Government provided notification of this intent on 07 Jul 2021.

C-2 Statement of Compliance

Do all of the devices within the current NSST IDIQ, including those being delivered under Delivery Order #5, meet the requirement of an “active Class A statement of compliance (SOC) for Bridge Operation in accordance with DNVGL-ST-0033?

The Government has not and is not requiring a Product Certificate. No Statement of Compliance has yet been provided to the Government for the technology used in the NSST Baseline 1.

C-3 Statement of Compliance

If the intent of the government is to ensure that the core simulation software is capable of meeting the training intent outlined in the standard, and that it meets the government surface warfare training requirements (i.e. not a development project), then reuse of software already in the government inventory providing surface warfare/bridge operations training would appear to meet that requirement. What form of certification does the government require in the technical proposal to meet the compliance requirement?

The Government requires a copy of the Statement of Compliance (SOC) that has been signed and sealed by DNV-DL and dated within the last 5 years. The Government is not accepting technical equivalencies. The intent of this requirement is to validate that the offering team is proposing technology that is presently and actively conforming to the specified international standard and is practiced in the satisfaction of the specified international standard. The Government is not assuming that past certifications equates to present and sustained certifications.

C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7 C-8 C-9 C-10

D-1 D-2 D-3 D-4 D-5 D-6 D-7 D-8 D-9 D-10

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

E-10 E-11 E-12 E-13 E-14 E-15 E-16 E-17 E-18 E-19 E-20