FY24 Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE) Engineering & Research Activities for Aging Systems

This announcement serves as a Sources Sought Notice (FA700024R0003) issued for the purpose of market research in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10 for an upcoming acquisition at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA). This sources sought is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation or a commitment or obligation on the part of the Government to issue a solicitation. DO NOT submit a quote or proposal in response to this notice. Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this notice is voluntary. The Government will not pay for any information submitted in response to this notice. 

The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) requests information from potential contractors that believe they have the capabilities necessary to perform engineering related tasks and research activities in support of the Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE). CAStLE is a research center in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (DFME) at the USAFA. The efforts performed by CAStLE cover a variety of tasks that follow aircraft and other structures through their life cycle from cradle to grave. CAStLE efforts cover a wide range of structure-related activities, spanning (1) basic development and characterization of materials, (2) mechanical testing, (3) material corrosion susceptibility and mitigation, (4) computer modeling and finite element analysis, (5) flight data acquisition, (6) structural teardown analysis, (7) analysis of damaged, failed and/or aged structure/materials, and (8) integration with the USAFA cadet/faculty curricular mission.

The type of activities that may be sought are sustainment engineering (review, assess, define, resolve technical deficiencies revealed in products and materials), structures teardown analysis, root-cause/failure analysis, nondestructive analysis, design analysis, system design improvement, developmental testing, component testing, fullscale testing, certification and force management development, force management execution, risk analysis, course development and training, subject matter expert support to USAFA cadets and faculty, maintenance/operation/upgrade of USAFA CAStLE laboratory facility, and preparation/delivery of written reports/briefings. These types of activities may be required for a variety of structures and materials such as those found in aircraft, ships, ground vehicles, support equipment, bridges, and other categories of aging systems.

North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS):

1. 541715 - Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)
2. 336411 - Aircraft Manufacturing
3. 488190 - Other Support Activities for Air Transportation 336413 - Other Aircraft Part and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing

Information is requested to determine interest and capabilities of potential offerors. The Government is assessing this effort to determine if it is appropriate for a total or partial small business program set-aside. Information provided in response to this posting will be used in this assessment.

All businesses capable of providing the types of tasks described above are invited to respond by completing the Company Capabilities Questionnaire (See Response Instructions Section Below). Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this sources sought synopsis is voluntary and will not be released to the public. Respondents may elect to have their company point of contact information released in a future posting to promote dissemination of information for subcontracting purposes.

Response Instructions:

Responses are due no later than 5 January 2024, 4:30 P.M. MST. Replies will be submitted via e-mail. Questions and responses should be addressed to the primary contacts, Jon Bogaard, Contract Administrator, jon.bogaard.1@us.af.mil @us.af.mil; Dominic Carusone, Contracting Officer, dominic.carusone@us.af.mil.

No solicitation exists for this effort; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on SAM.Gov. It is the potential offeror's responsibility to monitor this site for the release of any synopsis or solicitation.

Company Capabilities Questionnaire:

1. Company Profile:

a. Company name:

b. Mailing address:

c. CAGE code and DUNS number, as registered in SAM:

d. Point of contact (name, telephone number, and email address):

e. Business size designation/status, e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, Woman Owned Small Business, Veteran-Owned or Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, large business:

2. Point of Contact: Provide company point of contact by name (including telephone number and e-mail). Indicate if the company point of contact information is to be released in a future posting to promote dissemination of information for subcontracting purposes.

3. NACIS: Provide business size and NAICS code(s).

4. Accounting System: Indicate if the company accounting system permits timely development of all necessary cost data and if it has been certified by Defense Contract Management Administration (DCMA).

5. Subcontracting Arrangements: Discuss current and potential teaming or subcontracting arrangements and how small business plans have and will be utilized. Describe the scope of previous teaming/subcontracting partnership, the role of the prime contractor in that partnership and the percentage of effort assigned to each partner.

6. Technical Narrative/Capabilities Statement: Provide technical summary for same or similar contract requirements that have been accomplished on prior contracts. In the event similar work has not been accomplished, provide an approach to how the requirement would be met. Responses shall to the Technical Narrative/Capabilities Statement shall not be greater than three (3) pages in total, Times New Roman, 12 point font, and 1 inch margins. At a minimum, address the following questions within the response:

a. Describe contractual involvement with the Aircraft Structural Integrity Program (ASIP).

b. Describe involvement with teardown and analysis efforts on aging structures.

c. Describe involvement with aging structure studies of military systems and where applicable specific to military aircraft.

7. Contract Performance: Submit information on up to three (3) recent contracts that would be considered relevant in demonstrating company capabilities to perform the proposed effort; maximum 1 page in length per contract. To be recent, the contract must be ongoing, or must have been performed or completed during the five years leading up to the date of this sources sought notice posting

a. Provide contract number, contract title and NAICS code used.

b. Explain what aspects of the cited contracts are deemed relevant to the proposed effort and to what aspects of the proposed effort they relate. This may include a discussion of efforts accomplished to resolve problems encountered on prior contracts as well as past efforts to identify and manage program risk.

c. Provide information on any potential workload and staffing restrictions that may be encountered if similar contracts are being performed concurrently