RFI_27-00076.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

ALQ-161 Countermeasure Defensive Avionics System

The Government is conducting market research to identify potential sources that possess the expertise, capabilities, facilities, and experience to manufacture and deliver the following ALQ- 161 Countermeasure Defensive Avionics System components:

NSN P/N Noun 5930-01-199-1073 439505-1 Switch Assembly, Transfer 5996-01-268-8577 439501-1 Sector Summer Assembly 5895-01-218-4258 441726-1 Switch Assembly, RF

The AN/ALQ-161 is an advanced, fully integrated Radio Frequency (RF) Countermeasure Defensive Avionics System installed on the B-1B Lancer bomber. It provides 360-degree simultaneous receive, warning, and active RF jamming/countermeasures coverage and consists of numerous Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) and subassemblies. The items listed above are critical components of the ALQ-161 system.

The Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for these items is L3Harris (CAGE 00752). The Government is in possession of specification control drawings that establish the essential form, fit, function, and interface requirements for these items, as well as the old Bill of Materials list with drawings. The Government does possess full manufacturing-level Technical Data Packages (TDPs) for the existing configurations. New sources must demonstrate the expertise, capabilities, and/or data necessary to manufacture items that meet all form, fit, function, and interface requirements.

Contractor shall furnish all material, support equipment, tools, test equipment, and services. The contractor is responsible for providing, maintaining, and calibrating all support equipment required at their facility or a subcontractor’s facility. Contractor furnished material or parts used for replacement shall equal or exceed the quality of the original material or parts.

Contractors responding to this market research are placed on notice that participation in this survey may not ensure participation in future solicitations or contract awards. The government will not reimburse participants for any expenses associated with their participation in this survey.

FAR 52.215-3, Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (Oct 1997) applies to this request for proposal:

(a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this request or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as provided in subsection 31.205-18 Bid and Proposal (B&P) Costs, of Federal Acquisition Regulation

(b) Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal.

(c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of: informational planning and budgetary forecasting by the government.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. The document(s) below contains a description of the ALQ-161 Countermeasure Defensive Avionics System requirements and a Contractor Capability Survey. The Survey allows Contractors to provide their company’s capability.

2. If, after reviewing these documents, you desire to participate in the market research, you should provide documentation that supports your company’s capability in meeting these requirements. Failure to provide documentation may result in the government being unable to adequately assess your capabilities. If you lack sufficient experience in a particular area, please provide details explaining how you would overcome the lack of experience/capabilities in order to perform that portion of the requirement (i.e., teaming, subcontracting, etc.)

a. Identify any areas of work that your organization believes should be broken out exclusively for Small Business.

3. Both large and small businesses are encouraged to participate in this Market Research.

Joint ventures or teaming arrangements are encouraged.

4. Questions relative to this market survey should be addressed to Tamia Brown, Program Manager, tamia.brown.1@us.af.mil and Victor Henderson, Contracting Officer, victor.henderson.2@us.af.mil.

CONTRACTOR CAPABILITY SURVEY

ALQ-161 Countermeasure Defensive Avionics System

Part I. Business Information

Please provide the following business information for your company/institution and for any teaming or joint venture partners:

• Company/Institute Name:

• Address:

• Point of Contact:

• CAGE Code:

• Phone Number:

• E-mail Address:

• Web Page URL:

mailto:tamia.brown.1@us.af.mil mailto:victor.henderson.2@us.af.mil

• Size of business pursuant to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code:

NAICS Code 336413 – Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment

Based on the above NAICS Code, state whether your company is:

• Small Business (Yes / No)

• Woman Owned Small Business (Yes / No)

• Small Disadvantaged Business (Yes / No)

• 8(a) Certified (Yes / No)

• HUBZone Certified (Yes / No)

• Veteran Owned Small Business (Yes / No)

• Service Disabled Veteran Small Business (Yes / No)

• System for Award Management (SAM) registered (Yes / No)

• A statement as to whether your company is domestically or foreign owned (if foreign, please indicate the country of ownership).

Part II. Capability Survey Questions

A. General Capability Questions:

1. Describe briefly the capabilities of your facility and nature of the goods and/or services you provide. Include a description of your staff composition and management structure.

2. Describe your company's past experience on previous projects similar in complexity to this requirement. Include contract numbers, a brief description of the work performed, period of performance, and agency/organization supported.

3. Describe your company’s experience with the ALQ-161 Countermeasure Defensive Avionics System or its sub-components (e.g., RF Amplifiers, IF Controllers, Countermeasure Controls).

4. Describe your company's capabilities for generating, handling, processing and storing classified material and data.

5. What is your company’s current maximum capacity per month for this particular type of requirement? Provide information on any facility reserves you may possess to increase capacity in the event of an immediate need due to critical operational mission requirements.

B. Procurement Questions:

1. Describe your capabilities and experience in repairing existing systems/equipment (hardware and software) to solve maintenance and support problems in the depot environment.

2. Describe your configuration management processes and how you identify and resolve parts obsolescence and diminishing manufacturing sources problems?

3. Discuss your process for addressing any fit, form, and or function issues that may arise out of this effort.

4. Describe your process for maintaining inventory records and reporting on hand/work-in-process balances and repair status to your customer.

5. How will your organization address the limited availability of full manufacturing-level Technical Data Packages (TDPs), proprietary repair procedures, and test equipment/procedures (noting that specification control drawings defining form, fit, function, and interface are available)?

C. Commerciality Questions:

1. Are there established catalog or market prices for our requirement?

2. If you offer this product and/or service to both U.S. Government and commercial sources, is the same workforce used for both the U.S. Government and general public?

3. Describe your standard warranty and return process for goods and services furnished to the government for items similar in nature to this requirement.

D. Continuity of Operations and Cybersecurity

1. Does your company have an active Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) or equivalent in the event of a natural disaster or other catastrophic event that causes facilities or operations to be disrupted?

2. What mitigation strategies are in place for your company to resume operations and to prevent further disruptions?

3. What Customer Notifications/reporting processes are in place to provide company operations status customers?

4. Does your company have primary and secondary transportation modes to ship and track parts?

5. How does your company manage traceability for shipments (foreign and domestic)?

6. What procedures are in place in the event of a lost, damaged, and/or compromised asset?

7. What records management procedures are in place to ensure that the lifecycle knowledge of Government assets is not lost when key employees leave the company?

8. Is your company facing financial disruption, impending merger, acquisition and/or foreign investment?

9. Has your company ever experienced a disruption resulting in a threat to National Security?

E. Foreign Influence

1. Describe any affiliations your company has with foreign countries, or companies owned by entities in foreign countries, at the company and sub-vendor levels. Are any of your sub-vendors or affiliates in countries barred from doing business with the United States (U.S.)?

See link below for a list of countries/entities currently sanctioned from doing business with the U.S. https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/sanctions-programs-and-country-information

2. Describe any affiliations your company has with foreign nationals and/or blocked persons.

See link below for a list of individuals currently sanctioned from doing business with the U.S. https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/specially-designated-nationals-and-blocked-persons-list-sdn-human-readable-lists

3. If there is Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence (FOCI) of your company, what percentage of the company is owned by the foreign entity(ies)? Which foreign country(ies)/entity(ies) owns part or all of your company?

4. Are any of your company's primary functions performed in foreign countries? If so, is there an on-site Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) representative?

5. If functions are performed by an overseas vendor, what quality control, inspection processes, and export controls are in place?

6. How does your company incorporate risk management into their procurement and supplier selection processes?

7. How does your company handle supply chain disruptions and recovery processes in the face of unforeseen risks or emergencies?

F. CyberSecurity

1. Does your company have a policy/plan for preventing and mitigating risks associated with internal and external information systems security?

2. Identify actions your company has taken to prevent unauthorized access to information systems (e.g. servers, data lakes, data warehouses etc.) and any results of doing so.

3. Does your company have procedures to ensure server security in a cloud environment that utilizes Government information, if so is it in compliance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.239-7010?

4. Has your company implemented cybersecurity requirements given in DFARS clause 252.204-7012, "Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident Reporting"?

5. Does the company have a list of vendors providing commercial off the shelf (COTS) software to the company and for products and services offered to customers?

6. For products and services that contain software, what procedures are in place to securely upgrade software used by customers?

7. What procedures does your company (or your vendors) follow to perform software vulnerability assessments and mitigate any identified risks?

8. Provide a brief description of the strategy your company uses to continuously monitor the effectiveness of security controls to detect cyber attacks and defend against them to protect electronic information?

9. What is the schedule to perform assessments (annual, semi-annual, quarterly, etc.)?

Reference Department of Defense Instructions (DoDI) 8510.01

10. Does your company evaluate the Cybersecurity practices of lower tier vendors before making a decision to buy from or subcontract to them?

11. Is your company current w/ Contractor Self-Assessment against Basic National Institute of Standard Technology (NIST) SP800-171 controls & is that reflected in the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS)?

12. Does your company have a plan-of-action to remediate deficiencies related to the Basic NIST SP800-171 controls?

13. Has your company employed protections that manage risk in the supply chain for components or subcomponent products and services (e.g., integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), printed circuit boards) when they are identifiable (to the supplier) as having a Department of Defense (DoD) end-use? Reference: DoDI 5200.44, para 4.c.(2)

14. Is your company current with Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) status at the following CMMC level or higher: CMMC Level 1 (Self)? If so, is that reflected in the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS)

14a. Does your company have a plan of action and milestones (POA&M) identifying tasks to be accomplished to become current with CMMC status?

Responses to the Capability Survey Part I and Part II must be received no later than 30 days after the official posting date. Please ensure data is in a readable electronic format that can be received through a firewall. Attachments shall not exceed 10 MB per email. Multiple emails are acceptable. Responses must be sent via email to the following:

Tamia Brown (tamia.brown.1@us.af.mil) and Victor Henderson (victor.henderson.2@us.af.mil) mailto:tamia.brown.1@us.af.mil mailto:victor.henderson.2@us.af.mil