Request for Information W911SR-26-RFI-PCAD.pdf

Request for Information (RFI) Proximate Chemical Agent Detector Non-Trace (PCAD-NT)

W911SR-26-RFI-PCAD

1.0 DISCLAIMER

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. No solicitations are currently available, and requests/questions for a solicitation will not be answered. The U.S. Government is not obligated to contract for any supply or service as a result of this RFI.

The Government is issuing this RFI to identify potential solutions, assess commercial capabilities, and gauge market capacity and pricing structures for a planned procurement of approximately 2,500 PCAD systems.

All information submitted in response to this RFI is voluntary; the Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the Government. Non-response will not preclude future participation in any potential RFP. If a competitive solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on SAM.gov. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

Information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. Mark proprietary or confidential information;

accordingly, access will be limited to authorized Government personnel. DO NOT SUBMIT

CLASSIFIED MATERIAL.

The results of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement if a requirement materializes. Based on the responses to this RFI/market research, this requirement may be set-aside for small businesses (in full or in part) or procured through full and open competition. Multiple awards may be made. All small business set-aside categories will be considered. No feedback will be provided, and telephone inquiries will not be accepted.

2.0 INTRODUCTION & PURPOSE

The Joint Project Manager for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Integrated Early Warning (JPM CBRN IEW) is responsible for the development, production, and fielding of CBRN detection and identification systems. The JPM CBRN IEW is conducting a market survey to identify potential industry sources capable of manufacturing a system that will provide the Joint Force with a standoff non-contact handheld instrument to perform the identification of both visible solid and liquid material at safe, non-contact or standoff distances.

The industry source(s) must have expertise in the production of handheld systems, be capable of supporting first article testing, integrated logistics support, software support and general support of various Government test activities. The system will provide the Joint Force the capability to perform real-time presumptive identification of visually detected chemical materials, including solid and liquid Chemical Warfare Agents (CWA), Non-Traditional Agents (NTA), Pharmaceutical Based Agents (PBA), Fourth Generation Agents (FGA), Toxic Industrial Chemicals (TIC), Toxic Industrial Materials (TIM) and explosive hazards including Homemade Explosives (HME).

Potential NAICS Code: 334516 Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing PSC Code: 6630 Chemical Analysis Instruments

3.0 GENERAL CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS (PUBLIC)

AND DETAILED PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS (CUI ATTACHMENT)

Encouragement of Alternative Technologies: The Government explicitly encourages responses from vendors whose systems may not currently meet every specific metric of the PSPEC. The Government is highly interested in evaluating alternative technologies, novel form factors, and different spectroscopic methods that achieve the overarching mission of safe, standoff chemical identification. If your system deviates from the listed specifications, please submit a response anyway to highlight its unique operational advantages, future development trajectory, and commercial pricing structure.

3.1 High-Level General System Characteristics (Public)

Standoff Detection Capability: The system must provide non-contact presumptive identification of solid and liquid materials at safe standoff distances. It must allow dismounted forces to rapidly interrogate surfaces and classify chemical hazards without requiring physical sampling, swabbing, or direct contact. This capability is critical to maximizing warfighter safety by keeping the operator at a distance from potentially highly toxic or volatile agents.

Laser & Optical Safety: If the system utilizes an active laser for chemical interrogation, it must incorporate rigorous engineering controls to ensure complete operational safety. The active excitation laser must be design-optimized to present a low risk of ocular injury to the operator and any downrange personnel under standard operational conditions. Crucially, the laser energy must be controlled to ensure it is incapable of heating, igniting, or detonating sensitive energetic materials (such as black powder, dark compounds, or primary explosives) during interrogation.

Lightweight Design (SWaP): The system must be optimized for ultra-lightweight, low-burden dismounted operations. The entire system (including its operational battery source) must be compact, highly portable, and ergonomically balanced to allow easy carrying and single-handed operation for extended missions. The physical weight and size constraints are intended to minimize warfighter fatigue and ensure the device can be easily wielded by a dismounted operator outfitted in full protective gear.

Environmental & Detection Robustness: The system must reliably detect and identify CBRN agents, non-traditional agents, toxic industrial chemicals, and explosive hazards over a wide range of rigorous military operational environments. The system must provide rapid, high-confidence threat identification and allow for field-level modifications/updates to the compound identification chemical hazard library to address emerging threats with a minimal logistics burden.

Contamination Survivability: The system must be capable of resuming operations after exposure to liquid or solid chemical threats. It must be capable of being decontaminated using standard military non-corrosive decontaminants and procedures to reduce the hazard to personnel, without experiencing significant degradation in identification performance or reliability.

3.2 Access to Detailed Performance Specifications (CUI Attachment)

The highly specific, validated Joint Performance Requirements (JPRs) including exact standoff distances, weight limits, throughput times, cyber survivability attributes, and laser classification thresholds—are contained in the restricted PCAD-NT Performance Specification (PSPEC) attachment.

The PSPEC attachment contains Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Please see Section 5.0 below for instructions and security prerequisites required to request access to this document.

Vendors may choose to submit a response based on the general public information in this RFI if they do not meet the restrictive requirements of the CUI PSPEC, but they must clearly state so in their submission.

4.0 REQUESTED INFORMATION OF INTEREST

Note for Vendors without CUI Access: If your organization does not possess the requisite cybersecurity certifications (e.g., CMMC Level 2) to access the CUI PSPEC attachment, you are still highly encouraged to submit a response and pricing data. For questions c, d, m, n, and o below, please base your answers and gap analysis on your system's ability to meet the qualitative, general operational characteristics outlined in the public Section 3.1.

If your organization has the potential capability to provide the required products/services, please provide the following information:

a. Organization name, address, primary points of contact (POCs) and their email address, Web site address, telephone number, type of ownership for the organization and Unique Entity ID (Created in SAM.gov).

b. Description of any experience supplying military hardware to include modifying commercial technology for integration into a military application.

c. A brief capability statement demonstrating your system's ability to meet the requirements in the CUI PSPEC (or the general characteristics in Section 3.1, if you do not have CUI access).

Description of the candidate technology with supporting information addressing the capability to comply with the requirements.

d. Gap Analysis & Path Forward (CRITICAL): Does your system currently meet the detailed requirements in the CUI PSPEC (or the public Section 3.1 requirements)? If you answered ‘no’ to any requirement - what is the path forward to meeting the spec? This can include engineering, alternate solution, development time, estimated ROM costs, etc. Description of the areas where the candidate technology does NOT comply, the potential in meeting the requirements, and the amount of engineering required to do so.

e. Relevant Experience and Test Data. Disclose any previous experience developing similar systems like PCAD-NT. Test reports, Reliability, Product Support, Sensitivity, Detection Data (including independent third-party, government, and internal tests). Test facility qualifications (certifications, accreditations).

f. The Government prefers solutions that are Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 8 or 9. For other solutions, provide a clear plan and timeline to achieve TRL 8 or 9. (Refer to DoD Technology Readiness Assessment Guidebook, ed. June 2023).

g. Description of any consumables needed, their shelf life, and storage requirements, to include the entire system.

h. Existing capability to manufacture PCAD-NT systems. If the technology has been funded in the past by the federal government, including SBIR or STTR programs, please indicate year awarded, Federal Agencies participating, phase, and project title.

i. Sales Information. Specifically, if this solution routinely sold to commercial customers and/or other government entities. Name of contract vehicle participation as a prime or subcontractor if any.

j. Pricing & Volume Discount Structure (CRITICAL): Provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) for base single-unit Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) price (inclusive of warranty).

Based on a planned total procurement quantity of approximately 2,500 units over a 4–5 year period, please explicitly define the estimated unit price AND the proposed percentage (%) discount off your base single-unit price for each of the following quantity tiers:

• Tier 1 (1 - 120 units): Proposed Unit Price __% Discount

• Tier 2 (121 - 500 units): Proposed Unit Price __% Discount

• Tier 3 (501 – 1,000 units): Proposed Unit Price __% Discount

• Tier 4 (2,500 units): Proposed Unit Price __% Discount

k. The average number of units per month currently produced (if any); the projected minimum and maximum number of units per month production capacity; If there is no current production capability, please provide the timeline to ramp up to production capacity (1,000 units a year). The time required to obtain critical component(s).

l. Describe any Intellectual Property and type of Data Rights. Please address a range of data rights.

m. If your system does not currently meet the minimum standoff distance specified in the CUI PSPEC (or lacks a true, non-contact standoff capability as described in Section 3.1), please describe how your company can achieve this standard through mechanical redesign, alternative integration methods, or auxiliary mounting configurations.

n. Describe your system's ability to meet eye safety requirements under operational conditions, specifically citing compliance with MIL-STD-1425A, ANSI Z136.1, or other applicable optical hazard standards necessary to achieve the safe optical rating specified in the CUI PSPEC (or how you mitigate ocular hazards and explosive ignition generally, if responding to Section 3.1 only).

o. If your system does not meet the minimum weight limit/requirement specified in the CUI PSPEC (or is not currently optimized for ultra-lightweight, single-handed dismounted use), can substitute materials be used to achieve the threshold weight without compromising structural integrity, survivability, or thermal performance?

5.0 SUBMISSION, PAGE LIMITATION AND DUE DATES

General RFI Submissions:

The Government is requesting that responses to this RFI do not exceed ten (10) total pages. Your response to this RFI, including any capabilities statement, shall be electronically submitted to Contract Specialist, Minhchau Nguyen (minhchau.t.nguyen4.civ@army.mil) and Contracting Officer, Gentian Mulla (gentian.mulla.civ@army.mil) in Portable Document Format (PDF), via email no later than 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on June 22, 2026 and reference “W911SR-26-RFI-PCAD” in the subject line of the email and on all enclosed documents.

Information and materials submitted in response to this request will become property of the Government and WILL NOT be returned. DO NOT SUBMIT CLASSIFIED MATERIAL. No phone calls will be accepted.

Requesting Access to the CUI PSPEC Attachment:

To receive the CUI PSPEC document referenced in Section 3.2, offerors must submit a request via email to the POCs listed above. Offerors MUST provide the following evidence of security compliance with their request:

• Joint Certification Program (JCP) Certification: A current JCP certification (e.g., an approved DD Form 2345).

• NIST SP 800-171 Assessment: Evidence of a current assessment (within the last 3 years) submitted to the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS).

• CMMC Level 2: A completed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2 (Self) assessment aligned with NIST SP 800-171 and reflected in the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS) for each contractor information system.

• DFARS Clause 252.204-7012: A statement from the offeror confirming its compliance with requirements for protecting sensitive information.

mailto:minhchau.t.nguyen4.civ@army.mil mailto:gentian.mulla.civ@army.mil

Questions:

All questions must be submitted no later than 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on June 10, 2026. Questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information. An unattributed list of questions and answers will be posted at the same location of this RFI.

Attachment: CUI PSPEC