THE FULL RFI TEXT AND ADDITIONAL SECTIONS.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION - Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) Software Application Storefront, Pipeline and Tailorable Warfighting Applications Synopsis

The following Request for Information (RFI) is to gain an understanding from Industry on the capabilities offered to support Project Manager for Command and Control Applications (PM C2 Apps) entire portfolio. The Government is considering an acquisition strategy that uses a "teaming" model to consolidate the PM C2 Apps portfolio under a singular lead, tasked with managing a unified development pipeline and application storefront. This approach mirrors the Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) "clean-slate" methodology, which emphasizes Agile and Development, Security and Operations (DevSecOps) environments to rapidly deliver and iterate on mission-focused software. By partnering with a lead entity to integrate a mix of Government-Off-The-Shelf (GOTS), Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS), and tactical solutions, the strategy aims to provide the Warfighter with a flexible, modular, and interoperable suite of applications that can be updated at the "speed of relevance". The Government is particularly interested in solutions offered by entities with direct control over the capability's development and innovation. Respondents should clearly describe whether they are the original capability provider or an intermediary (reseller/integrator), and demonstrate their ability to drive innovation, influence product roadmaps, and provide direct technical support. The government envisions mission success by establishing group collaboration among all industry partners for the overall success of the program to include the application development/oversight from various partners (GOTS/COTS/etc) through pipeline/DSO to the storefront for User Access. The government intends to conduct an industry day to provide an overview to further support and enhance market research.

Understanding this is a new concept, the Government welcomes feedback on the feasibility of this approach from Industry as well as the specific questions detailed in later sections of this

RFI.

Description

1. Description

1.1 PM C2 Apps seeks industry interest regarding the availability of a software application storefront, pipeline and tailorable warfighting application solutions. This Request For Information (RFI) is being issued to conduct market research for solutions using an Agile and

DevSecOps environment. Furthermore, this advanced notice is being issued to obtain insight and responses from Industry regarding some or all of the questions and requests listed in Table 1. These responses will help PM C2 Apps shape requirements, understand capability gaps, and/or understand Industry provided solutions that PM C2 Apps may pursue through the Army Open Solicitation (AOS) during 3rd quarter (Q3) Fiscal Year (FY) 2026.

1.2 THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION: The Government is not obligated to pursue any procurement as a result of this request. This RFI is for informational purposes only; this is not an Invitation for Bid (IFB), Request for Proposal (RFP), or Request for Quotation (RFQ). All information contained in this RFI is preliminary as well as subject to modification and is in no way binding on the Government. The Government will not pay for information received and is in no way obligated by the information received in response to this RFI. Responders to this invitation are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI and will NOT be reimbursed. The information provided will be used by the Government for the purpose of conducting market research and this RFI will be the basis for collecting information on capabilities available. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. It is the responsibility of the interested parties to monitor SAM.gov for additional information pertaining to this RFI.

1.3 The information provided may be used by the Army in developing its acquisition strategy or developing system Performance Specification. The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 541511 with a Small Business Size Standard of 1250 employees.

2. Background The expected operational mission of PM C2 Apps is to deliver and continuously update the foundational platform that enables rapid, secure, and continuous software delivery for the Army's Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) ecosystem. While navigating the requirements below, the initial set of features will focus on establishing an end-to-end "thin thread" of capability: a basic Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline for onboarding software applications and a rudimentary storefront interface to display it. This established the foundation for PM C2 Apps to support their primary mission to provide warfighting function applications.

3. Responses

3.1 Responses: Interested parties are asked to respond to this RFI with the enclosed Attachment 1 – Response Form. The Attachment 1 Response Form shall be submitted as one

(1) document in Microsoft Word for Office 2000 compatible format. Respondents are asked to use the template “Attachment 1 Response Form” to identify their solution(s) that could answer the requests and inquiries in section 3.3, , 3.41 (table 1), and section 3.4.2. The Government will not consider inserted textboxes/pop-ups or internet links to additional information as part of the response. Responses shall be limited to no more than twenty-five

(25) pages using 11-point font for the entire submission (including company information, answers to technical questions, supporting documentation, ROM, notional schedule, etc.).

Respondents are permitted to replace the cover page in the template with their own but it must be one (1) page and shall only include what is outlined in Section 3.2 and 3.3.

Responses are due NLT 27 MAY 2026, 1200, Eastern Time (ET) and must be submitted via e-mail to the following email address: PM_C2_Apps_RFI@army.mil with the email subject line “PM_C2_Apps_RFI_Response_Form”

3.2 Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. In addition to Government civilians, Government support contractors may review and evaluate the whitepaper submission. As of now, PM C2 Apps has not identified the need for contractor support personnel to review RFI response(s). Should a need be identified, the RFI will be updated to include Proprietary Data Protection Agreement (PDPA) instructions.

3.3 Company Information. The response should provide the following information:

i. Contact Information: Company name, mailing address, overnight delivery address (if different from mailing address), phone number, fax number, and e-mail of designated point of contact.

ii. Availability of your proposed solution for purchasing through an existing multiple award IDIQ contract vehicle, such as Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and Common Hardware Solutions (CHS).

iii. Business size and socioeconomic status for NAICS Code 541511.

iv. Status as a Traditional Defense Contractor or Non-Traditional Defense Contractor.

mailto:PM_C2_Apps_RFI@army.mil

3.4 Technical Questions. Respond to the following questions:

3.4.1 – Describe the ability of your solution to answer the questions and requests in Table 1 below. As a reminder from the synopsis, respondents should also clearly describe whether they are the original capability provider or an intermediary (reseller/integrator), and demonstrate their ability to drive innovation, influence product roadmaps, and provide direct technical support.

Table 1. Software Applications Storefront Platform, Pipeline and Tailorable Warfighting Applications Topic Row # Questions and Requests

Business Models &

Processes

Similar to NGC2 efforts, PM C2 Apps is considering a “teaming” arrangement for the entire portfolio on the assumption that a singular team lead could develop and/or partner with others to provide a pipeline and application storefront, while working with the Government in an Agile and DevSecOps environment to provide applications to the Warfighter. These applications would be based on approval from the Government and be brought on to existing efforts as a combination of Government, Commercial, and Tactical solutions. Please describe if you believe this approach seems feasible and/or would your solution support this concept?

1a Please identify which of the following solutions you already have available;

software application storefront platform, pipeline and/or tailorable warfighting application and are they commercial?

1b

For available solutions, please describe your integration process and include a timeline for implementation. This should incorporate a scenario where a data layer is provided by the Government and a scenario where a data layer is provided by a separate industry partner.

1c

For available solutions that need to be created, please describe your development process and include a timeline for implementation. This should incorporate a scenario where a data layer is provided by the Government and a scenario where a data layer is provided by a separate industry partner.

Would you be willing to operate as a lead vendor to incorporate approved applications into your proposed solution? Would you be willing to onboard applications to the Government as a container and maintain them?

3 What would your business model strategy look like if the Government requires the storefront provider to be a lead?

3a What additional costs would be associated with this requirement? If any, please provide the cost structure and pricing in Section 3.4.2 and reference Row # 3a in your response.

3b Please describe your expertise in being a lead.

4 Does your proposed solution allow cross-platform consistency for existing, new or partnering data layers? Please describe.

4a What is your proposed solutions minimum requirements for operating systems such as Windows, MacOS, Linux and Android? Please describe any limitations.

Please describe your proposed solutions software engineering maturity standard operating procedure in an Agile and DevSecOps environment.

(planning/developmental phase)

Please describe your proposed solutions process regarding an Agile and DevSecOps environment given iterative and continuous updates and feedback. (execution phase)

Is this product live and in use? Please describe your use case.

6 Please describe your proposed solutions Agile and DevSecOps software technical maturity process and workflows.

7 Please describe your proposed solutions software license structure in an Agile and DevSecOps environment.

Please describe how your proposed solution enables (CI/CD) Continuous integration and Continuous Delivery to capabilities based on user feedback and performance issues. Please include concepts of how the updates are managed and pushed to devices.

8a

What is an acceptable amount of times an upgrade or update is allowable for an application storefront platform?

Please describe your process for reverting to a prior known-good version if an application has a vulnerability.

8b Does cost change based on total updates, upgrades and/or reversions? If so, please provide the cost structure and pricing in Section 3.4.10 and reference Row # 8b in your response.

9 Please describe your release and deployment strategy upon development of the App store and any enhancements and updates.

10 Please describe how your solution’s flexible fielding strategies will ensure the continuous fielding of the latest advances in technology.

11 Please describe your software Technical Performance Measures (TPM).

12 Please describe your solution’s tiered support model (e.g., Tier 1, 2, 3).

12a What are the standard hours of operation for technical support, and is 24/7/365 support available for mission-critical issues?

13 Please describe your solution’s trouble ticketing process from the user's perspective.

13a How can a user submit a ticket, track its status, and provide feedback on the resolution?

Please describe your solution’s license management framework and how it accommodates the dynamic nature of an application storefront containing a mix of Government-Off-The-Shelf (GOTS), and third-party Commercial- Off-The-Shelf (COTS) applications.

What tools or dashboards are provided for monitoring real-time license utilization, tracking compliance across the enterprise, and generating reports to forecast future licensing needs and inform budget decisions?

Technology Stack Features 16 Please describe limitations of your solution if any (run time errors, crashes/downtime in Denied, Degraded, Intermittent, or Limited (DDIL) scenarios, quantity of applications in use and data output size per application.

17 Please describe how your solution will provide a IL5 up to IL6 secured network while also maintaining updates.

17a Please describe how you will maintain those updates from your commercial environment to a secured environment.

Does your proposed solution function in multiple environments to include hybrid-cloud, on-premise environment and DDIL environments? Does the solution require cloud-enabled services? Please describe.

19 Does your proposed solution include cloud-independent and cloud-enabled services? Please describe.

20 What is your commercial standard for providing Intellectual Property (IP)/Data Rights?

Please describe your cybersecurity testing strategy to include cybersecurity scanning with counterintelligence and software integration and functional test activities for items such as but not limited to; automated static and dynamic code analysis and automated fuzz testing.

21a What SAST and DAST tools are you using today?

22 What is the maximum data throughput and bandwidth your proposed solution can support on a network?

22a How much data can your proposed solution retain? Please provide pricing for any retainment policies. if applicable. in Section 3.4.2. and reference Row # 22a in your response.

22b How much user interface can the storefront manage without degraded connectivity?

Does your proposed solution have open, standardized, and extensible Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that enable modern approaches for orchestration both within and between data layers? Please describe your common APIs.

24 Does your proposed solution incorporate flexible ontology? Please describe.

25 Please describe how your proposed solution ensures uninterrupted operations when in a DDIL situation.

Please describe how your proposed solution includes data-centric warfare ensuring access from any hardware end device to include Android, IoS, Linux, and Windows.

26a Please describe any compatibility issues you see.

Please describe your solution’s software orchestration and how it transforms capabilities for operational demands of multiple warfighting units, such as different compute and transport needs for different echelons throughout the Army including legacy and modern hardware solutions.

28 Please describe how your solution shares and transports data through a single source of truth data layer.

Please describe how your solution relies on modern approaches for things such as: Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Software Development Kits

(SDKs), Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA), Natural Language Processing (NLP). Please include any other modern approaches not listed.

Please describe how your application and/or storefront solution will be developed with modern maximum reuse of composable core services within a data layer.

31 Please describe how your application solutions consume and publish data from and to a data layer.

31a Please describe how your application solutions application boundary.

Please describe how your application solutions consume and publish Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) models from and to a data layer using AI/ML data layer services.

32a Please describe your application solutions application boundary.

Please describe your application solutions compatibility with modern approaches for autonomous container orchestration for both cloud and Tactical Edge Compute (TEC).

Please describe your application solutions telemetry for data-centric warfare, to include the parameters that collect telemetry data to inform performance of the application, the layer, and between-layer orchestration to the storefront and throughout the development.

35 Please describe your application solutions central repository and its accessibility to developers, administrators and users.

36 Please describe your application solutions no-code/low-code options for tool or workflow integration.

Provide your current Interim Authority To Test (IATT) or Authority to Operate (ATO) approvals or ability to provide documentation to enable IATT or ATO approvals for your proposed solution.

Training 38 Provide your training plan, documentation, software package, and estimated timeframe as a full delivery.

38a Describe how your solution allows for local hosting, training video playback support, and document downloads.

3.4.2 The Government requests that respondents provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost estimate for the proposed software solution, including a breakout of anticipated licensing models, non-recurring and recurring integration hours, cybersecurity hours, training tool development, and sustainment. The ROM should identify key cost drivers, underlying assumptions, pricing variables, and any dependencies that may influence total lifecycle cost.

This information is requested solely for planning and market research purposes and will not be used for evaluation or source selection. Submit one (1) Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) and one (1) notional schedule demonstrating the solution/concept timeline milestones to maturity.

4. Meetings and Discussions The Government representatives may or may not choose to meet with respondents to this RFI. Such meetings and discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements. In addition, the Government intends to conduct a virtual industry day to facilitate a transparent exchange of information with interested parties on 05 May, 1100 (ET). Requests to participate in the Virtual Industry Day shall be submitted to the email address PM_C2_Apps_RFI@army.mil NLT 04 May, 1400 (ET). with the email subject line “PM_C2_Apps_RFI_Industry_Day” and include the names and email addresses of up to two participants per company. Upon approval, the participants will be provided a meeting link.

5. Questions Any questions regarding this announcement and requests that require a response that includes Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) shall be submitted in writing via e-mail, NLT 12 MAY 2026, 1200 (ET), to the email address PM_C2_Apps_RFI@army.mil with the email subject line: “PM_C2_Apps_RFI_Q&A”. Whenever applicable, please reference the RFI Table Row/Question number being inquired about. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information.

6. Summary THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY to identify sources that can provide a software application storefront, pipeline and tailorable warfighting application solutions in an Agile and DevSecOps environment. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. The Army has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.