High Frequency Radio System (HFRS)

8/3/20 UPDATE: Corrected the date in description to match 25th AUG 2020.

Request for Information: 70Z04420I20002400

High Frequency Radio System (HFRS)

Disclaimer and Important Notes: This is a Request for Information (RFI) from interested vendors and is issued solely for informational and planning purposes. This is not a Request for Proposals or a Request for Quotations, and it is not considered to be a commitment by the Government to award a contract/order nor is the Government responsible for any costs incurred in furnishing information provided under this RFI. No basis for claim against the Government shall arise as a result from a response to this RFI or Government use of any information provided. Further, the Coast Guard is not seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals at this time. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response to this RFI. The Government reserves the right to use any information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate, including using technical information provided by respondents in any resultant solicitation. Responses will assist the Government in determining the availability of potential solutions and commercial products in the market.  At this time, no solicitation exists; therefore, Do Not Request a Copy of the Solicitation.

Requirement: The purpose of this Specification is to acquire the Next Generation HF Radio System (HFRS) components to replace legacy radio systems aboard USCG Large cutters, defined as greater than 110’ in length, and shore facility installations necessary for engineering and training support efforts (e.g. Training Center (TRACEN) and Lab). This effort includes hardware, software, and training to maintain and operate the system. (See attached DRAFT Specification.)

In order to maintain long haul high frequency (HF) communications aboard certain classes of cutters, the United States Coast Guard has a requirement to replace HF radio transceiver systems that are at end of life.  The age of the systems, lack of availability of spare parts and inability repair key subcomponents makes continuing support and maintaining operational availabilities infeasible. This replacement effort requires a commercially available HF radio system comprised of various numbers of HF transceivers, receivers, remote control units (RCU), high power amplifiers, medium power amplifiers, low power amplifiers, antenna tuning units, and power supplies, where exact quantities depend on the operational requirements of the unit class.

Submission of Information: Interested parties are encouraged to submit an RFI response which supports the company's claim that it presently has the technology, qualifications, experience, and capabilities to satisfy the requirements.  Specifically, interested parties are requested to provide the following information:

Name of Company, DUNS number and CAGE Code number

Point of contact - name, phone number and e-mail address

Size of Business according to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 334220.

A positive statement of your company’s interest in this procurement as a prime contractor.

What is the anticipated end of manufacturing and end of support dates for your proposed product(s)?

Will you be able to support a potential ten (10) year Ordering Period?

If newer models of your products are expected to be available during the 10 year ordering period, will the products be backwards compatible and form-fit-function replacements?

A DRAFT Specification is attached to allow prospective offerors the opportunity to review and provide comments within the document regarding the specification’s feasibility. A “commented” version of the DRAFT Specification should be submitted as part of your RFI response, if applicable.  If there are areas in the Draft Specification that your company cannot meet, provide comments within the Draft Specification with the details of why it does not meet the requirements and provide comments with what capabilities are available.

Pay close attention to “threshold” requirements.  Threshold requirements may be treated as “go/no-go” or “pass/fail” evaluation factor in the future solicitation.  Please identify all concerns with the draft specification.

What are your standard warranty terms and practice, if any? Can you meet the Government’s stated Objective warranty terms listed in the Draft Specification? Can you offer an innovative warranty approach that would cover the lag time from delivery and the actual installation of the components onboard USCG boats and cutters?

RFI responses must be no longer than 10 pages in length. A “commented” version of the DRAFT Specification, if included, does not count towards the limit.

Submit your response(s) electronically to Manuel E. Miranda at Manuel.E.Miranda-Santiago@uscg.mil and to Jessica L. Coltz at Jessica.L.Coltz@uscg.mil. Total combined file sizes cannot be more than 10MB total per e-mail. Zip files shall not be submitted.

RFI responses are due August 25, 2020 at 12:00PM, Eastern.

Upon receiving RFI responses, the Coast Guard will assess all feedback and its impact on the development of the final specifications and acquisition strategy to meet the Government’s requirements.