RCIS_Acq_Strategy_Notice_2016.docx

ROUTE CLEARANCE & INTERROGATION SYSTEM (RCIS) ACQUISITION STRATEGY NOTICE

PURPOSE

The purpose of this summary is to provide interested industry parties an understanding of the Route Clearance & Interrogation System (RCIS) Type I capability and the Government’s planned acquisition approach to achieve this capability. This information is supplementary to the previous 2015 Request for Information (RFI) and is for informational purposes only. There will be no contract award as a result of this announcement. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) nor does this announcement imply or guarantee a forthcoming solicitation will be issued in the future. Also, this summary is not a request seeking contractors interested in being placed on a solicitation mailing list. The Government is not requesting responses to this notice, this posting is for informational purposes only. It is not necessary to respond to this announcement in order to be eligible for future contract awards. The Government will not reimburse any costs associated with providing information in response to this notice or for any follow-on information requests.

CAPABILITY SUMMARY

The RCIS Type I will provide the Army with a capability to optionally man, or operate in an unmanned mode, the Army-legacy High Mobility Engineering Excavator (HMEE) Type I vehicle. The RCIS Type I also provides additional interrogation features to be used on the HMEE vehicle and is intended for use primarily by the Army Combat Engineer during Route Clearance operations. In the unmanned mode, the RCIS Type I will be wirelessly controlled by an operator located in a Mine Protected Clearance Vehicle (MPCV)/Buffalo control vehicle.

LEGACY VEHICLE MODIFICATIONS AND GFE/GFI

The HMEE platform requires modifications (platform modifications) not currently in the design configuration, which will enable the vehicle to accept and be operated by a robotic kit. It is the Government’s intent to modify six HMEE vehicles in order to enable the vehicle’s major functions (steering, braking, excavation, and throttle) to be controlled electronically through a central robotic interface control point on the HMEE (robotic interface). For planning purposes, the Government intends to provide Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) and Government Furnished Information (GFI), as following: six HMEEs with platform modifications; six MPCV/Buffalo control vehicles; a Technical Data Package for the platform modifications, to include interface data necessary to interface to the robotic interface point as well as design information relative to the platform modifications.

ACQUISITION APPROACH

The Government intends to perform a full and open competition to award a contract with options that support the Total Lifecycle System Management (TLSM) for the RCIS Type I: a base contract for Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase, with additional priced options for Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) and Full Rate Production (FRP). As part of the Request for Proposal, the Government will provide the GFI as described above, including design and interface data relative to the HMEE platform modifications. After contract award, the six modified HMEEs and six MPCV/Buffalo’s will be provided to the awardee as GFE. As described below, the Government will provide the HMEE modifications only for the six HMEEs provided as GFE for EMD; it will be the contractor’s responsibility to integrate and deliver the platform modifications, in addition to the Semi-Autonomous Control (SAC) system (i.e. robotic kit), for all RCIS Type I’s beyond the first six EMD systems.

The EMD phase will consist of a series of event-driven technical reviews, including Systems Requirements Review (SRR), Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), Test Readiness Review (TRR), System Verification Review/Functional Configuration Audit (SVR/FCA), and Production Readiness Review (PRR). These reviews will coincide with the contractor’s design and integration of the robotic kit to the HMEE and MPCV/Buffalo vehicles, and subsequent delivery of those six RCIS Type I’s to the Government for Pre-Production Qualification Testing (PPQT). The PPQT will be a Government-led, contractor-supported, series of test events to verify performance in accordance with contractual requirements. EMD will culminate with the SVR/FCA and a Production Readiness Review.

Upon successful completion of EMD, the Government intends to award production options for the RCIS Type I, beginning with (LRIP, with additional options that would carry the program through FRP. Initial LRIP assets will be used for Production Qualification Testing and Operational Testing, which will be Government-led, contractor-supported events to verify the production configuration meets contractual requirements.

Starting with LRIP, it is the Government’s intent to provide HMEE’s to the contractor in an unmodified configuration; it will be the contractor’s responsibility to upgrade all LRIP and FRP HMEE’s with platform modifications and further apply the robotic kit to the vehicles, delivering back to the Government a fully integrated and completed RCIS Type I. The integrated RCIS Type I will be delivered back to units as defined by the Government’s fielding plan, along with the components necessary for integration into the MPCV/Buffalo control vehicle. Starting with the First Unit Equipped (FUE), the Government plans for the MPCV/Buffalo’s to be integrated on-site at the units’ locations during fielding.

Additional intended options on this contract will support the TLSM approach for the RCIS Type I, including: production options to achieve the total Approved Acquisition Objective (AAO) of 266; option for Total Package Fielding Support; option for System Technical Support (STS) to support any emerging system technical needs during production; option for Interim Contractor Support (ICS) for some period immediately following the start of fielding and prior to the RCIS Type I transitioning to organic Army maintenance and sustainment support; and an option for a separately priced Technical Data Package (TDP) for the RCIS Type I.

PLANNING SCHEDULE

The following is a projected RCIS Type I program schedule for planning purposes only and is subject to change: