M795_Melt_Pour_IAAAP_Sources_Sought_FINAL 2025-02-27 AMND 2.pdf

SOURCES SOUGHT FOR 155mm and 105mm ARTILLERY LOAD, ASSEMBLE, PACK (LAP) CAPABILITY AT IAAAP

Amendment 2

27 February 2025

DESCRIPTION

The Army Contracting Command-Rock Island (ACC-RI) Rock Island, IL on behalf of the Project Lead Joint Services (PLJS) is seeking information from foreign and domestic sources interested in designing, constructing, and commissioning an efficient and modern Load, Assemble, and Pack (LAP) facility capable of loading/filling, assembling, and packing the 155mm and 105mm projectiles at Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (IAAAP), a Government Owned, Contractor Operated facility in Middletown, Iowa as shown in the table below:

Munition Insensitive Munition Fill Conventional Fill Artillery, 155mm M795 (IMX 104)

M1128 (IMX 104)

XM1113 (IMX 104)

HE Canister Round (IMX 104)

M795 (TNT)

HE Canister Round (TNT)

Artillery, 105mm M1 (IMX 104) M1 (TNT) M1 (Comp B)

GOVERNMENT INTENT

1. Interested sources are hereby notified that due to the urgency of this requirement, the Government intends to utilize the information submitted in response to this sources sought notice to award a non-competitive, sole source undefinitized contract action (UCA) under the temporary acquisition authorizations provided in Class Deviation 2024-O0005, paragraph B (1), for covered contracts related to Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel.

2. ACC-RI intends to issue any UCA resulting from this notice with a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) ceiling, not-to-exceed (NTE) value, based upon vendor’s responses to this notice and/or other appropriate rationale. Interested vendors are advised that the definitized value of the action shall not exceed the stated FFP ceiling/NTE per Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.217-7027(e).

Therefore, interested vendors are advised the values provided in response to this notice shall represent the total estimated amount for performance of the requirement in its entirety.

3. The Government's intent is to award the proposed contract(s) based on the capabilities demonstrated in response to this sources sought notice; therefore, any interested source is responsible for fully identifying capabilities believed necessary to perform the requirements included in this, and any subsequent notices. The Government reserves the right to conduct a facility capability review which includes study of financial, organization, and operational status made prior to contract award to determine a prospective contractor’s responsibility and eligibility for Government procurement. Interested sources are hereby notified that responses to this notice shall, and any resultant contract will, include unlimited data rights.

4. Submissions should be limited to no more than 100 pages.

5. The Government's intent to execute a sole source contract action(s) as a result of this sources sought notice is subject to availability of funds. The Government reserves its right to amend this notice and/or its acquisition strategy at any time, as determined in the Government's best interest.

The facility should have an optimized sustaining rate of 36,000 rounds per month for M795 (TNT); the Government encourages capacity solutions that maximize operating efficiency for both low and high-rate production.

The Government has identified a tentative site location at IAAAP. The site includes up to approximately 240 acres available for the construction of the facility. Respondents can assume water, sewer, natural gas, and electrical service is available adjacent to the site, but respondents shall ensure appropriate connection of the utilities to the physical building locations.

Upon project completion, the Government will take ownership of the facility. The IAAAP GOCO contractor will operate the facility.

The priorities to the Government are, but not limited to, schedule, technical risk in the design, build, and commissioning of a LAP facility, total costs of commissioned facility, and planned operational efficiency.

RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS

Individual companies, teaming arrangement(s), or partnerships of companies are invited to respond to this notice. Interested respondents shall address the following:

1. Describe team members and roles including any teaming arrangements (letters of commitment, JVs, etc.). If a respondent does not have adequate resources (technical, manufacturing, personnel, etc.) available, the respondent must be able to demonstrate its ability to obtain those resources, to include, but not limited to, modern automation practices in an explosive environment.

2. Describe the respondent's background and experience in each of the following essential areas, to include dates and locations:

a. Explosive Safety Site Plan preparation IAW DoD 6055.09-M (Defense

Explosive Safety Regulation)

b. Process design related to LAP (105mm/155mm/other similar items) and other related processes

c. Environmental permitting and compliance (local, state, federal)

d. Large scale facility construction

e. Energetic LAP facility operations and commissioning

f. Munitions loading/filling, assembling, and packing facility design experience

g. Munitions loading/filling, assembling, and packing construction and commissioning experience

3. Describe the proposed technology process, and waste treatment solutions including:

a. Technical description of relevant technology(ies) to be utilized

b. Representative layout of an artillery LAP production facility with the following operations/facilities:

Facility Concept Technical Description of the Process Process Flow Diagram Facility Layout Diagram Facility and Process Drawings Facility and Building Size (Square Feet)

c. Overall annual throughput including operational availability basis of the calculation. Note, the Government typically considers 85% operational availability against design capacity as reasonable for explosives manufacturing lines. Describe the turn-down capacity of the processes and the minimum throughput to maintain efficient operations.

d. Utilities requirements, specifications, and consumption (e.g. electricity, process water, cooling water, natural gas, compressed air).

e. Evidence provided that the proposed solution can be operated at sufficient scale to verify operating feasibility and reliability.

f. Ability to meet U.S. standards, if using a foreign design.

4. Provide a cost estimate for the design, construction (broken down by building/facility), and commissioning of a complete artillery LAP manufacturing facility. Provided cost estimate should include all assumptions.

5. Provide a notional list of buildings/facilities with approximate size and net explosive weight by hazard class (e.g. 1.1, 1.3) in each and include QD Arc requirement.

6. Provide a breakdown of manufacturing and engineering personnel required (numbers, experience, specialized skill sets).

7. Provide an estimate for the scrap rates of artillery LAP rounds and explosive scrap material.

8. Discuss commissioning and transition plans for the facility.

9. Provide an Integrated Master Schedule outlining top-level activities and milestones to design, construct, commission, and transition the facility.

10. Describe any potential solutions that would allow the Government to configure/re-configure the facility to support HE melt pour fills of different caliber munitions (i.e. 120mm / 81mm, and 60mm mortars).

11. Discuss assumptions and major cost drivers of the proposed technology solutions and building design and construction.

Respondents should provide sufficient details to allow the Government to make a reasonable assessment of the respondent's capabilities to build a CONUS loading/filling, assembling, and packing facility including all relevant assumptions.

All interested sources are hereby informed that the Government intends to assess the information submitted in response to the sources sought and thereon make a determination as to which response, including all aspects logically encompassed therein, would be in the public’s best interest for the award and execution of a sole source contract for the design, build, and commissioning of a LAP facility.

As part of its assessment of the responses, the Government will take into consideration the following:

1. The respondent/proposed team’s demonstrated capability of, and recent experience with, designing, constructing, fabricating equipment for, and commissioning a LAP or similar production facility. The demonstrated capability of, and recent experience with, providing the proposed technologies. The respondent/team’s demonstrated capability of designing and constructing buildings with an expected 25+ year lifecycle and equipment with an expected 20-year lifecycle.

2. The proposed technology and associated risks and benefits.

3. The proposed projected schedule for the design, construction, and commissioning of the facility, and the extent to which the team has demonstrated the achievability of that schedule. The Government will consider the benefits and risks associated with the projected schedule, including the extent to which the vendor/team’s commitment to achieving the schedule and benefits to the Government will be secured by, and risks to the Government will be mitigated by, any proposed terms and conditions submitted by the interested party for inclusion within the prime contract and reinforced in relevant subcontracts.

4. The estimated total cost/price to the Government for the proposed solution, to include, but not be limited to, the design and construction of the facilities, and capital investment; the extent to which the vendor/team has demonstrated the proposed process and plant operating model and all cost-related assumptions for construction (for example: make or buy decisions, on-site versus off-site hazardous waste treatment) and identified or anticipated factors that could impact construction cost/price. If applicable, the party’s demonstrated commitment to performing the contract within a not-to-exceed price ceiling; and the extent to which that commitment and benefits to the Government will be secured by, and risks mitigated by, any proposed terms and conditions submitted by the interested party for inclusion within the prime contract and reinforced in relevant subcontracts.

5. The teaming arrangement being proposed and intended contractual relationships (e.g. joint venture, prime/subcontractor, lessor/lessee) between the interested party submitting the response (i.e. the intended prime contractor), the technology provider (if not the submitting party/prime contractor), the entity(ies) who will design and build the facility, the entity who will commission the facility (if not the submitting party/Prime Contractor), and, transition to the operator of the IAAAP.

The Government will consider the benefits and drawbacks or risks associated with the proposed teaming arrangements and expected contractual relationships, including the extent to which benefits to the Government will be secured by, or risks to the Government will be mitigated by, any proposed terms and conditions submitted by the interested party for inclusion within the prime contract and by the terms and conditions of legally-binding commitment letters, Joint Venture agreements, subcontracts, leases, or third-party contracts.

6. The viability of, and benefits, drawbacks, and risks associated with the proposed solution. The Government’s consideration will include, but not be limited to:

accessibility of supporting infrastructure; size and type of available space; the planned footprint of the facility and potential for expansion; projected cost differentials; projected cost savings (savings on this project and subsequent LAP, and on other relevant DoD contracts); impacts on current production-related activities at the site; impacts on production activities across the DoD footprint;

impediments to implementing hazardous waste disposal or treatment; necessary environmental permits; availability of a capable workforce; competing programs;

the Government’s ownership of the facility and equipment; the Government’s continued access to, and control over, the facilities and equipment; and, national security concerns. The Government will consider the extent to which benefits to the Government will be secured by, and risks to the Government will be mitigated by, commitments from all proposed teammates, proposed terms and conditions submitted by the interested party for inclusion within the prime contract, and inclusion of those terms and conditions in any subcontract, lease, or other legally binding agreement.

TECHNICAL DATA PACKAGE (TDP)

The Government will provide a TDP to interested vendors for this announcement;

however, interested sources must have an approved DD form 2345, Military Critical Technical Data Agreement on file with the Joint Certification Program (JCP) to be granted access to the technical information. Sources not already certified that wish to become certified as data custodians and receive the technical information for this notice, must complete the registration form at:

https://www.dla.mil/HQ/LogisticsOperations/Services/JCP/DD2345Instructions/ and https://public.logisticsinformationservice.dla.mil/PublicHome/jcp/default.aspx#

Once certified, the interested source must request explicit access through the "attachments/links" tab in Beta.Sam.gov under source sought notice ID W519TC-25-R- 0032. Restricted technical data will not be available to an interested source who has not been certified.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

1. Interested contractors must be registered in the System of Award Management

(SAM).

2. Submissions for this notice must be provided no later than 12:00 PM CT March 27, 2025 at no cost to the Government by electronic mail (e-mail) to Mr. Beau Bixler at beau.j.bixler.civ@army.mil and Mr. Corey Schaefer at corey.m.schaefer.civ@army.mil.

3. If the file size of the response to this Sources Sought exceeds 5 MB, then respondents may email Mr. Bixler and/or Mr. Schaefer to request a drop off via DoD Safe. All inquiries shall be made via e-mail ONLY. TELEPHONE INQUIRIES

WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

4. All information provided will not be returned and will be held in confidential status.

If a formal solicitation is generated later, a solicitation notice will be published.

https://public.logisticsinformationservice.dla.mil/PublicHome/jcp/default.aspx mailto:beau.j.bixler.civ@army.mil mailto:corey.m.schaefer.civ@army.mil

5. Provide company name, address, telephone number, email address, technical point of contact, web URL (if applicable), and company size (please specify as either a Large Business, Foreign-Owned Business, Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Woman-Owned Small Business, Historically Underutilized Business Zone concern, Veteran-Owned Small Business, or Service-Disabled Small Business).

6. Response shall include Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), Commercial and Government Entity Code (CAGE), and business type/size based on NAICS. If small, please indicate any applicable socio-economic status such as: Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), 8(a), HUB Zone, etc.

7. Response shall include documentation of technical expertise and capability in sufficient detail for the Government to adequately assess the capabilities of your company. It is imperative that business concerns responding to this sources sought articulate their capabilities clearly and adequately.

8. Classified material and material samples will not be accepted.

INDUSTRY DAY INFORMATION

The ACC-RI and PL JS hereby offers interested parties with capabilities to meet the requirements of this Sources Sought notice an opportunity to participate in an Industry Day at IAAAP. The purpose of the event is to ensure interested vendors have an understanding and uniform interpretation of the requirement. The Government intends to hold Industry Day February 19, 2025 and February 20, 2025, at IAAAP, which will include a tour of the site as well as one-on-one meetings and open forum Question and Answer (Q&A) session. The Government will limit each one-on-one meeting to no more than 30 minutes. The Government will consider questions at any time prior to or during the event; however, respondents are required to submit any questions asked verbally during the Q&A, or otherwise at the event, thereafter in writing. Offerors are encouraged to submit all questions in writing at least five days prior to the industry day. Respondents shall send all questions, prior to and after the event, to the PCO and contract specialist listed below. After the event, the Government will amend this notice to attach an abstract of the Q&As as well as a list of attendees.

To facilitate preparations, vendors shall complete the Industry Day Form attached to this announcement and submit it to Mr. Beau Bixler at beau.j.bixler.civ@army.mil and Mr.

Corey Schaefer at corey.m.schaefer.civ@army.mil by January 29, 2025. Attendees shall note, the number of persons per respondent/teaming arrangement is limited to a maximum of 4 attendees.

Vendors are cautioned that, while attendance is not mandatory, information presented during the event may be valuable and the Government cannot guarantee equal mailto:beau.j.bixler.civ@army.mil mailto:corey.m.schaefer.civ@army.mil dissemination of all commentary to interested vendors. An interested vendor that does not participate does so at its own risk. The Government staff at IAAAP will vet all attendees accessing the facility using the National Crime Information Center.

DISCLAIMER

The Government does not intend to reimburse any contractors for any information or administrative costs associated with responding to this notification. Participation in this effort is strictly voluntary and any of the information stated above is subject to change.

Respondents are responsible for appropriately marking any proprietary information.