SDA RFI_Final 12Jul2021.pdf

Expendable Hypersonic Multi-Mission Air-Breathing Vehicle (Mayhem) Program

Special Notice - Request for Information (RFI)

RFI Number: RFI-AFRL-RQKP-2021-0002

Agency: Department of the Air Force

Office: Air Force Materiel Command

Location: AFRL – Air Force Research Laboratory

CONTRACTING OFFICE ADDRESS

Department of the Air Force, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) – Wright Research Site, Aerospace Systems Directorate, AFRL/RQKPA, Attn: Mr. John McClellan (Contracts), 2130

Eighth St., Bldg 45, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7541.

PURPOSE:

This Request for Information (RFI) is issued for planning purposes in accordance with FAR

15.201(e):

a) The Government is conducting additional market research to identify, as potential sources, companies that may possess the expertise, capabilities, and experience to competently and competitively respond to requirements for the Expendable Hypersonic Air-Breathing Multi-

Mission Vehicle (Mayhem) Program as either a prime contractor (integrator) or a Systems Design

Agent (SDA).

b) Responses to this RFI notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the

Government to form a binding contract. Contractors/Institutions participating in this initial market research are advised their participation in this survey does not ensure participation in future solicitations or contract awards. Moreover, the Government will not reimburse participants for any expenses associated with preparation for or participation in this survey. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Please provide written answers to the questions listed below. The Government will utilize the answers to inform the acquisition strategy. Answers to these questions may be proprietary, and if so should be marked as such to keep the information for official use only with distribution authorized to DoD Components only (Distribution Statement E).

WRITTEN RESPONSES:

Electronic format is required and must be received no later than 1600 EST on 31 August 2021.

Responses may be encrypted and password protected. Please email responses to

John.McClellan.2@us.af.mil and charles.brink@us.af.mil and george.chambers.2@us.af.mil.

Additionally, responses may be submitted via DODSAFE, (https://safe.apps.mil/), or other encrypted file transfer sites.

mailto:John.McClellan.2@us.af.mil mailto:charles.brink@us.af.mil https://safe.apps.mil/

FORMAT & PAGE LIMITATION

Your submittal should be provided on standard letter size 8-1/2 by 11 inch paper, limited to a maximum of 2 single-sided, double-spaced pages. The font for text should be Times New

Roman 12-point or larger. The Submitted responses should be in Microsoft Word or Adobe

Acrobat format. Existing commercial documentation and product literature can also be submitted and is not subject to a page limitation. Note: Responses must be unclassified.

Reponses may contain proprietary information but must be appropriately marked.

To protect such data, each line or paragraph on the pages containing such data must be specifically identified and marked with a legend similar to the following:

“The following contains proprietary information that (name of Responder) requests not be released to persons outside the Government, except for the purposes of review and evaluation.”

Note: See Format and Page Limitations and Submission of Documentation paragraphs for additional instructions. Responses are preferred in the following format:

TITLE: Identify the technology area.

SUBMITTER INFORMATION: Responses should include the company name, potential work location(s), and the title, telephone number, and mail and e-mail addresses of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss the submission.

OPERATIONS SECURITY (OPSEC) REQUIREMENTS:

All contractors shall follow appropriate OPSEC measures required for this particular contract. This is required in an effort to reduce program vulnerability from successful adversary collection of possible sensitive unclassified and/or proprietary information, and violations of export control requirements. The prime contractor will ensure that all subcontractors, if applicable, conform to these requirements as required by the prime contractor. Guidance can be provided by AFRL/RQ Security as needed.

Program Protection Plan (PPP) - Any potential critical program information (CPI) generated as part of this effort will be reviewed to determine the need for a PPP.

INFORMATION:

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is interested in the research and development needed to enable an intermediate scale expendable air-breathing hypersonic multi-mission flight vehicle.

The Mayhem vehicle will need to be capable of carrying larger payloads over distances further than current hypersonic capabilities allow. The payload bay will be modular and capable of carrying/delivering multiple payload options in order to execute multiple Government-defined mission sets. AFRL has previously accomplished similar research under multiple efforts including the Enhanced Operational Scramjet Technology effort (Broad Area Announcement BAA-12-07-

PKP), Enabling Technologies for High-speed Operable Systems (BAA-FA8650-17-S-2002), High

Speed Strike Weapon Program, and Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept Program.

To ensure the Mayhem system becomes a core capability for future hypersonic development, the

AFRL’s goal is to design the System in a way that allows rapid technology insertion, lowers the technical barriers for entry, encourages contributions from a variety of industry partners, and incentivizes rapid innovation and iterative designs as a primary means of profit. The AFRL believes that a possible way to achieve these goals is to employ a Systems Design Agent (SDA) during the Mayhem development.

An SDA is significantly different than a traditional systems integrator or a contractor who performs advisory and assistance services (A&AS) for the United States Government (USG).

Unlike those entities, a SDA serves as an independent organization that manages the designs, prototypes, and tests of a system with the goal of producing designs, architecture, and ultimately a technical data package that could later be provided to an acquisition organization for rapid prototyping or system development. An SDA is closely tied to the Program Office and selects, awards, and manages subcontracts to domain experts at a speed that the Government cannot match.

The SDA also performs the required component system engineering and programming tasks to ensure the system can transition to an operational system.

The SDA will ultimately be responsible for delivering a vehicle system design that meets the USG requirements. A preliminary list of the major components that will constitute the Mayhem System include, but are not limited to: air frame, propulsion system, booster, avionics, and vehicle subsystems. At a minimum, the USG will own the technical baseline of the system, any of its key interfaces, and any SDA developed technical data. Sub‐component proprietary data rights will be granted by exception only by the USG.

To ensure no conflict of interest and focus the SDA on delivering a “Best of Breed” product to the

Government, the Mayhem SDA will be restricted from competing for any follow on prototype system. Organizations that participate in the Mayhem Program, as a subcontractor to the SDA, will not be prohibited from competing for any follow on prototype activities and any resulting effort progressing beyond prototype activities including system fielding, etc. The SDA should identify anticipated data rights as part of their submittals.

QUESTIONS:

1) Is your company interested in providing a proposal as a subcontractor to the SDA for major component design (e.g. airframe, propulsion, avionics, etc.) of the Mayhem program?

2) Is your company interested in participating in the Mayhem program as the SDA?

3) If not interested in the SDA role, what technical areas, subsystems, or components of the

Mayhem program would your company be interested in participating as a sub-contractor?

4) What issues or risks, if any, does industry identify with the proposed SDA approach?

REQUESTS FOR CLARIFICATION / POINTS OF CONTACT:

A responder may request clarification in writing from the Contracting Office for any requirement that is unclear by sending an e-mail to the Contracting Point of Contact:

John.McClellan.2@us.af.mil

Any requests for clarification must be received no later than 1600 EST on 6 August 2021 to ensure a timely response. Clarifications may be posted on the RFI announcement website to benefit all interested responders. Interested responders are encouraged to periodically check the website during the response period for clarifications.

mailto:John.McClellan.2@us.af.mil