PL BECS ACE LMR Sources Sought (BECS FINAL-20240723).docx

SOURCES SOUGHT

U.S. Army Product Director, Base Emergency Communications System (PD BECS) Army CONUS Enterprise (ACE) Land Mobile Radio (LMR) Deployment & Sustainment

RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS

Interested parties are requested to respond to this Sources Sought with a concise white paper. Submissions shall not exceed six (6) pages single spaced, 12-point type, arial font, with at least one-inch margins on 8 1/2” X 11” page size. The response should not exceed a 5 MB e-mail limit for all items associated with the RFI response. The following items will not be considered when calculating page limits: cover page, table of contents, glossary, executive summary and any cost estimation information. Page limitations shall not be circumvented by including text boxes/pop-ups or internet links to additional information; such inclusions will not be considered. Responses must specifically describe the Respondent Company’s capability and experience relative to meeting the Army’s ACE LMR requirement. Oral communication is not permissible. SAM.gov will be the sole repository for all information related to this RFI.

Companies who wish to respond to this Sources Sought should send responses via email no later than 31 July 2024 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time to Mr. Conrad Baker, Contracting Officer, (email: a.c.baker2.civ@army.mil), Owen Ridenour, Contract Specialist, (email: owen.g.ridenour.civ@army.mil, and Amanda Rockhold, Contract Specialist, (email: amandat.m.rockhold.civ@army.mil.

Other Government Points of Contact (POCs):

Mr. Clive Flores ACE LMR Assistant Product Manager Email: clive.j.flores.civ@army.mil

MAJ William McGinnis Taylor BECS Assistant Product Manager Email: william.m.taylor199.mil@army.mil

Mr. Owen Ridenour Contract Specialist Email: owen.g.ridenour.civ@army.mil

Ms. Amanda Rockhold Contract Specialist Email: amanda.m.rockhold.civ@army.mil

INDUSTRY DISCUSSIONS

U.S. Army Base Emergency Communications System (BECS) Product Office representatives may choose to meet with Respondents to conduct one-on-one follow up discussions. Such discussions would only be intended to obtain further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements, including any development and certification risks. Individual meetings with Respondents are solely at the discretion of the Government.

INDUSTRY QUESTIONS

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by e-mail by 26 July 2024 to Mr. Conrad Baker, (email: a.c.baker2.civ@army.mil), Owen Ridenour, Contract Specialist, (email: owen.g.ridenour.civ@army.mil, and Amanda Rockhold, Contract Specialist, (email: amandat.m.rockhold.civ@army.mil.

Verbal questions will not be accepted. The Government will not publicly post answers and does not guarantee that all questions will be answered. The Government will not reimburse companies for any costs associated with the submission of their responses.

DISCLAIMER

This Sources Sought is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals, nor will any award be made because of this synopsis. All information contained in the Sources Sought is preliminary as well as subject to modification and is in no way binding on the Government. FAR clause 52.215-3, “Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes,” is incorporated by reference in this Sources Sought. Accordingly, the Government does not intend to pay for information received in response to this Sources Sought. Respondents to this invitation are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this Sources Sought. This Sources Sought will be the basis for collecting information on capabilities available. This Sources Sought is issued solely for information and planning purposes. Proprietary information and trade secrets, if any, must be clearly marked on all materials. All information received in this Sources Sought that is marked “Proprietary” will be managed accordingly. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned, nor will the receipt be confirmed. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this Sources Sought are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.

PURPOSE

The BECS Product Office is seeking information for Deployment & Sustainment of the U.S. Army CONUS Enterprise Land Mobile Radio (ACE LMR) System.

All responses should include the Respondent Company’s capabilities and experience relative to the design, engineering, program management, preparation, installation, configuration/optimization, system certification support, testing, documentation, training, and sustainment tasks required to deploy and manage a modern ACE LMR system. Cost Rough Orders of Magnitude (ROM) and Bill of Materials (BOM) recommendations may be considered and reviewed by the Government but are not required.

The information to be acquired by this Sources Sought will assist in PL BECS’ execution of this critical public safety program. For Respondents’ estimation purposes, notional fielding timeframes would be late Fiscal Year (FY) 24 through FY30.

ACE LMR Operational Overview Currently both primary and secondary LMR system hubs or “cores” reside at two locations: Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), Washington and Fort Drum, New York. Primary and secondary cores are separated per vendor between both locations. Vendor A has its primary core at JBLM while Vendor A secondary core is located at Fort Drum. Vendor B has its primary core located at Fort Drum and its secondary core is located at JBLM. Connectivity between the Installation Campus Area Network (ICAN) and the Primary and Secondary core connectivity is provided by the Department of Defense Information Network (DoDIN) Unclassified Network Multi-Protocol Labeling Switching (MPLS), making this LMR Enterprise a closed restricted network.

DoD Standards As the ACE LMR framework continues to be matured & modernized, specific technical requirements necessary to support the framework and its integration into the DoDIN must be captured and populated within the DoDIN Capabilities Requirements (DCR). This provides industry with a central location of requirements.

Approved Product List (APL) and Industry Standards As requirements are defined within the DCR, Contractor engineering support must collaborate with Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) to ensure the development of satisfactory test plans for testing candidate technologies for approval & incorporation into the APL.

Data Management Considerations ACE LMR systems may collect and hold a wide variety of data pertaining to events and personnel. Engineering objectives and rigor must ensure this data management is accomplished in a secure fashion to not violate Private Identification Information (PII) laws.

Reference Documents (not all-inclusive) Some documents referenced for DoDIN interoperability are as follows:

a. DoDI 8010.01 Unified Capabilities, 2012

b. DoDIN Transport, 2018.

c. DoD Directive 8100.02

d. P25 Standards

e. 3001.1-2019 IEEE System Grounding Codes

f. APCO 25 Standards

Specific Questions for Industry

a. Describe how your company's “turnkey”, holistic and fully-integrated solution meets ACE LMR requirements and standards.

b. Summarize your company’s relevant ACE LMR system capability and experience.

c. Describe how your company is unique in its ability to deliver ACE LMR products and services.

d. Describe your company’s approach to sustaining ACE LMR, to include any existing relevant teaming arrangements, industry partnerships, and resources.

e. Describe the type(s) of contracts your company believes would be the most effective in performing / meeting ACE LMR requirements and provide a brief supporting rationale for your recommendation(s).

f. Describe how your Company’s corporate experience and streamlined approach to meeting the Department of Defense’s Cybersecurity Risk Management Framework rigorous security requirements helps the Army avoid a lengthy Plan of Action and Milestone (POAM) remediation process.