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REQUEST FOR INFORMATION U.S. Army Program Executive Office - Aviation Description 1.1 The United States Government (USG) Army Contracting Command- Redstone Arsenal (ACC-RSA) is conducting market resea... REQUEST FOR INFORMATION U.S. Army Program Executive Office - Aviation Description 1.1 The United States Government (USG) Army Contracting Command- Redstone Arsenal (ACC-RSA) is conducting market research to determine potential sources for the production of AH-64E Link 16 tactical network radio for the Project Manager for Apache Attack Helicopter (PM AAH) within the Program Executive Office for Aviation (PEO AVN). The USG seeks to identify potential sources that possess the expertise, capabilities, and experience to meet the requirements for the AH-64E Link 16 solution, sourced directly to the Government to be provided to the AH-64E production line as Government Furnished Equipment (GFE). The product must conform to existing interface requirements and provide a readily integrated network solution with minimal modifications to the aircraft. 1.2 The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) has an objective to modernize the Department of Defense’s procurement approach, implement best practices, and to achieve greater affordability to reinvest in readiness. The Apache Project Office is supporting that objective and looking for new innovative partnerships with industry to evaluate the feasibility and opportunity to achieve greater affordability through a GFE approach. 1.3 This Request for Information (RFI) is to obtain qualified vendors to provide plans, procedures, production information, and reports addressing the manufacture of the AH-64E Link 16 network radio. Additionally, ACC-RSA is seeking vendors with a strong background, history and/or past performance in streamlining and facilitating rapid and high quality acquisition (regardless of part), addressing obsolescence, and working closely with USG. Responders shall provide their performance history and support it with evidentiary data. Interested vendors are encouraged to provide substantiated evidence of their capabilities and successes in the areas cited above. 1.4 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. The submission of this information is solely for informational, market research, and planning purposes and is not a request for competitive proposals, quotations or an invitation to reimburse contractors for associated costs to respond or for any information provided. This notice does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This notice does not commit the USG to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this notice or any follow up information requests. All costs associated with responding to this notice will be solely at the responding party's expense. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the USG to form a binding contract. It is the responsibility of the interested parties to monitor the System for Award Management (SAM) (beta.Sam.gov) site for additional information pertaining to this notice. 2.0 Requested Information 2.1 Please provide information on the following topics to assess qualifications for providing a Link 16 network radio for the AH-64E Apache Attack Helicopter: 2.1.1 Describe interest in providing the AH-64E Link 16 network radio directly to the USG, as Government Furnished Equipment. 2.1.2 The AH-64E Link 16 radio solution must be STANAG 4175, Edition 3 compliant. Please provide details of any exceptions to this specification applicable to your company’s radio. Explain any element of this requirement (i.e., engineering, documentation, technical data development, testing, etc.) that your company either does not have or that must be established to accomplish tasks that may result from the requirements. Please note if there are any initial engineering costs that would have to be provided by USG to facilitate the development of the AH-64E Link 16 network radio; actual costs are not required. 2.1.3 Please specify if your company’s Link 16 tactical net radio complies with the cryptographic modernization initiative (CMI) mandate as specified in “Technical Requirements Document (TRD) to Support Link 16 Crypto Modernization, Version 2.4” dated 30 March 2011. Please provide details of any exceptions to this requirement applicable to your company’s radio. If it is not currently CMI compliant, will your company be able to meet the CMI mandate by 1 January 2022? Please indicate if your company expects their Link 16 tactical net radio to comply with the “JROC 089-18 Implementation of Modernized Link-16 Terminals” memorandum. Please provide any notable exceptions applicable to your company’s radio, if your company expects to take any actions to ensure compliance, and if so when. 2.1.4 Describe your company’s estimated rate of production for the aforementioned Apache Link 16 network radio. Once in full-rate production, what is the estimated manufacturing lead time and what is the total monthly capacity? What is the estimated timeline for your company to ramp production to steady-state? 2.1.5 Describe any limitations your company may have for responding to these requirements. Include limitations and courses of action necessary to overcome the limitation. Identify whether the limitation is based on cost, schedule or technical performance issues you feel should be considered. Describe any agreements that would preclude your company from having the ability to accomplish this effort. 2.1.6 Describe your company's organization to include major products/services, primary customer base, number of employees, annual revenue history, office location, Cage Code(s), statement regarding current Small Business Administration (SBA) business size and socio-economic classification under (i.e., small, Small-Disadvantaged, Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned, HUBZone, etc.), statement whether your interest in this effort is as a prime Offeror or to express interest regarding subcontracting possibilities, and contact information (telephone and email) for points of contact of those able to discuss the material submitted. 2.1.7 Provide any military platforms on which your Link 16 network radio solution has been integrated, tested and approved. Provide a summary of the types and levels of testing and qualifications achieved/completed, including the names of the approving authorities and dates of approvals. If your solution has completed either Army Interoperability Certification or Joint Interoperability Certification, please provide dates of approval. 2.1.8 Describe any import or export limitations or considerations associated with the development, production, delivery, or support of the proposed system. This includes a list of potential foreign suppliers that may have restrictions to export to existing and potential Apache Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. The response may assume that the system will be exported to FMS customers by the USG via a Letter of Offer and Agreement (LOA), which fall under the ITAR exemptions. The response may also include information on existing export licenses to support Direct Commercial Sales. 3.0 Industry Discussions Apache Project Office representatives may or may not choose to meet with potential offerors. Such discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements, especially any development and certification risks. 4.0 Questions All questions relating to this RFI shall be submitted in writing only via email to Army Contracting Command point of contact (POC) Kelly Fitzpatrick, Contracting Officer, at Kelly.m.fitzpatrick.civ@mail.mil. The subject line on the email submissions for questions or requests for clarifications should read: RFI: Link 16 network radio, Questions/Clarifications. Absolutely no telephone calls will be accepted in response to this RFI. Questions or requests for clarification shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information. In order to facilitate a timely response, it is requested that all questions or requests for clarification be received by 4:00 pm CDT within 10 days of posting of this RFI. Responses to the questions received will be answered and posted for all interested parties to see via an amendment to the RFI on the SAM website. The Government reserves the right to not address questions or requests for clarification should it not be pertinent to the RFI. 5.0 Responses Vendors are encouraged to submit written notification of their interest, qualifications, and technical concepts to Kelly Fitzpatrick, Contracting Officer, via e-mail at Kelly.m.fitzpatrick.civ@mail.mil. All submitted responses shall follow the outline below and be provided in Microsoft (MS) Word Office 2013 compatible format or Adobe PDF. Submission shall be capable of being printed on 8.5x11 inch paper with one inch margin (top, bottom, left, and right) and no smaller than 12 point Arial font. Line spacing shall be set no less than single space. Any drawings shall be capable of being printed on 11x17 inch paper and no smaller than 10 point font. Submissions shall be less than 10 total pages excluding any drawings. All submissions should include a title page with the following information: Company or organization name and mailing address (City/State/Zip) Company web page URL, if any Point of Contact (name, title, phone number, and e-mail address) CAGE Code and NAICS Code 336413 The white papers will be reviewed by USG representatives as approved by the PM AAH and other governing agencies. All information provided will be adequately protected in accordance with the markings. Submissions of white papers are due no later than 4:00 pm Central Dayslight Savings Time (CDT) on 1 May 2020. White papers shall be submitted electronically via the Department of Defense (DoD) Safe Access and File Exchange (SAFE) website (https://safe.apps.mil). To be able to utilize the DoD SAFE website, request a Drop-off code via e-mail to kelly.m.fitzpatrick.civ@mail.mil. After receiving the Drop-off code, use the following distribution email address as prompted by the site: kelly.m.fitzpatrick.civ@mail.mil. The subject line for the SAFE submission should read: RFI: Link 16 network radio - YOUR COMPANY NAME. No hard copy or fax responses will be accepted. If a late submittal is received, acceptance of such will be at the discretion of the Government. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions. Interested parties who consider themselves qualified to perform the above listed service are invited to submit a response within twenty (20) days after release of this RFI request. 6.0 Post Submission Guidelines Proprietary information should be clearly marked. No classified documents should be included in your response. Please be advised all information submitted in response to the RFI becomes the property of the USG and will not be returned. Responses to this RFI will not be returned. The Government is under no obligation to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. There is no guarantee that any submission in response to this RFI will result in a Government program. The Government may or may not use any responses to this RFI as a basis for a subsequent project. The information submitted in response to this RFI may be used to help the Government further define its requirements. If the Government develops a program that addresses any submitted or similar topic, the resulting procurement will address technology and business specific requirements as defined by the Government to achieve the required objectives. Any projects developed from the RFI responses may be the subject of a subsequent acquisition; any such subsequent acquisition will be publicized accordingly. Responders to this RFI will have no competitive advantage in receiving any awards related to the submitted topic area. Responders who do not submit a white paper to this RFI will not be prohibited from submitting a proposal if a RFP is published at some point in the future. In order to protect the integrity of any possible future acquisition, no additional information other than the information contained in this RFI will be provided.