Inactive

This request for Sources Sought Announcement (SSA) is release for purposes of conducting market research to identify parties having an interest in and resources to provide technical support services t... This request for Sources Sought Announcement (SSA) is release for purposes of conducting market research to identify parties having an interest in and resources to provide technical support services to assist the Government with life cycle management support for the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Secure, Mobile, Anti-Jam, Reliable, Tactical-Terminal (SMART-T) system NSN: 5895-01-530-6459. Requirements Description: The AEHF SMART-T is an essential element to the WIN-T fleet of systems by providing the WIN-T INC 1 fleet with specialized communication capabilities (mobile, anti-jam, EMI-protected, worldwide BLOS for low, medium, and extended data rates). Services requested under this SSA include requirements for Technical Field Services Representative (FSR) in CONUS, OCONUS, and Combat Area Support Services; Line Replaceable Units (LRU) Repair Support Services; SMART-T RESET Support Services, Unit Level Repairs (using 10/20 Field Level Maintenance Standards); COMSEC repairs and maintenance; Engineering Support for Software and Hardware, Design, and Obsolescence Management Support Services; CONUS/OCONUS Travel Support Services, Quality Management, Configuration Control, Software Services, and other support services and data products related to life cycle deliverables to ensure the ongoing sustainability of all SMART-T fielded systems. The estimated period of performance of this acquisition is one year. This contract type is anticipated to be Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) for all scope except travel costs for field service representatives, which will be Cost Reimbursement (CR). DISCLAIMER: This is a Request for Information (RFI) for planning and market research purposes only, and shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government. This is NOT a Request for Quote or Proposal. The Government does not intend to award a contract based on this SSA or reimburse any costs associated with the preparation of responses to this SSA. This SSA will be used to gather market research and to make decisions regarding the development of acquisition strategies. The Government does not own or have access to any additional technical data on the SMART-T system. ? SERVICES SOUGHT Technical Support Services/Field Service Representative (FSR) and Other Personnel Support The Contractor shall provide on-site technical assistance services and schedule, to the maximum extent possible, FSR travel and support services during the Monday-Friday workweek. The Contractor shall restore the system to a fully operational status for problems caused by use, age, defect, and failed LRUs. The COR will coordinate with the site unit personnel to provide the FSR access to the CONUS/OCONUS site and unit’s system. When on-site technical assistance visits to OCONUS in-theater sites are required, the COR will assist the Contractor in securing Government billeting arrangements for FSRs at the OCONUS site when applicable. The Contractor shall assist the on-site unit personnel in packaging the unserviceable for shipment and direct the unit to turn the part back to their local Supply Support Activity (SSA). The FSR shall monitor/assist the unit personnel in the preparation of the Field Failure Report (FFR) to accompany the unserviceable The Contractor shall provide on-site materials and services required to troubleshoot and identify/diagnose the problem, if this was not already accomplished by the Help Desk and/or user. The unit will be responsible to procure the necessary Unit Level parts through the supply system; the Contractor will be responsible for Depot-level parts. If this is accomplished prior to the FSR visit, the FSR shall install the parts and restore the system to fully mission capable (FMC) status. Otherwise, the FSR will diagnose the problem, the unit will order a new part, or a depot-level part will shipped by the Contractor (CONUS sites) or via TAC (OCONUS sites), and the FSR will return when the new part arrives if a depot-level installation is necessary. When available at the user site, the Contractor may use Government owned test equipment and spares stored at the site, to restore the system to operation. The contractor is not expected to provide new parts except as required to troubleshoot. The contractor will not leave test LRUs in the terminal. The Contractor shall have the latest SMART-T Version software and security patches prior to responding to a Technical Services/FSR request. While on site performing service to the SMART-T terminal(s), the Contractor will apply the latest version software and security patches available at the time of the mission. LRU Inspection, Testing, and Repair The Government seeks repair service for a quantity of 219 LRUs managed as B16 items by the ILSC. The Contractor shall conduct a visual inspection to determine if the equipment is defective due to such things as loose wires or components, broken or missing parts, burned resistors, corrosion, or the existence of foreign matter. The Contractor shall take action to eliminate all corrosion and/or foreign matter, from the LRUs, as part of the LRUs repair process. The Contractor shall functionally test or inspect LRUs to evaluate the condition of incoming assets. The Contractor shall return all LRUs with no evidence of failure (NEOF) to the depot spares stockage as specified by the Government Contracting Activity PCO. If, after test and evaluation of the LRU, the Contractor estimates that the repair cost after T&I is more than 65% of the item’s acquisition cost, the LRU is consider Beyond Economical to Repair (BER). After the review of the BER justification and proposed value, the Contractor may be directed to proceed with repair of the BER LRU upon PCO approval if the asset is needed to meet SMART T readiness. Repair should include mitigating all damaging factors. The contractor shall perform the following actions including but not limited to: A. Preliminary Induction Inspection. A joint inspection and induction shall be performed by the Contractor, with Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) - Quality Assurance Representative (QAR) or authorized Government representative as deemed necessary by the Contracting Officer Representative (COR). B. Property identity C. Damaged or mishandled items. D. Completeness of items. E. Completeness and accuracy of accompanying paperwork / Documentation F. Determine and document if LRUs were received in reusable packaging material and/or containers. G. The Contractor shall report these deficiencies and submit a Supply Discrepancy Report (SDR) H. Visual Inspection for Repair. The Contractor shall conduct a visual inspection to determine if the equipment is defective I. LRU Functional Test. The Contractor shall functionally test or inspect each LRU. The Contractor shall take action to eliminate all corrosion and/or foreign matter from the LRUs as part of the repair process. J. All LRU repairs will be required to be delivered back to the Government within a turnaround time, currently to be determined. Contractor Conducted RESET RESET is the Government term for restoring SMART-T returned from deployed locations to 10/20 Standards. Forecasted RESET workload is for up to Four (4) SMART-T per year or as specified in the Contract, at a target rate of one SMART-T RESET per quarter. The contractor is responsible for dismounting the terminal from the vehicle, and returning the vehicle to the LRC for repair. The contractor will reintegrate the terminal with the vehicle upon completion of the RESET. The Contractor shall repair battle damage, crash damage, environmental damage and complete inspections. The Contractor shall perform deep cleaning of SMART-T LRUs and components that are operational but could be contaminated with sand, dust, or other foreign matter. The Government will ensure that the terminals are cleaned prior to arrival at the depot to eliminate/minimize any risk of foreign contaniments/chemicals, but at a minimum, ensure cleaning procedures are done as part of a chemical/HAZMAT attack or incident. The Contractor shall not open LRUs that are sealed and are operational. The Contractor shall identify these LRUs by part number, NSN, and serial number in the final monthly report. The Contractor shall provide all labor, travel, tools, equipment, materials and facilities required to perform the RESET effort. At completion of RESET, the Contractor shall request disposition instructions from the COR for all residual material related to this effort. The Contractor shall coordinate directly with the CECOM RESET Lead as needed during the performance of RESET. At the conclusion of RESET Contractor shall submit acceptance test procedure check sheets, fielding checklist/datasheet, and inspection/baseline checklist or equivalent. The prime mover will be sent to a Logistics Readiness Center (LRC) for -10/-20 activity at the direction of the Government. Engineering Services When requested by the Contracting Activity, the Contractor shall provide engineering software and hardware services/support which includes, but is not limited to, redesign for obsolescence; hardware updates/upgrades and retrofits; performance enhancements and technical studies. Obsolescence Management The Contractor shall ensure its Subcontractors adhere to the DMSMS/Obsolescence reporting and mitigation requirements for this effort. Contractor responsibility includes all costs associated with identifying and investigating DMSMS Issues, including the development of candidate mitigation strategies to propose to the government. For each candidate mitigation strategy developed, the Contractor shall provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) estimate the cost to implement. The Contractor will monitor the parts and software identified on a bill of materials (BOM) for DMSMS Issues. Should a DMSMS issue be identified, the Contractor will establish an individual DMSMS case for all Documented and Projected DMSMS Issues. Obsolescence reports will capture the following for each case: Case number, piece part effected, higher assembly (LRU) affected (common name), OEM part number, NSN (if applicable), LRU part number, LRU NSN, date issue identified, action taken and additional comments as necessary. Software Services The contractor shall maintain the US SMART- T software baseline, based on the latest Government-approved AEHF SMART-T System specification(s). The Government, two times a year, will provide information assurance vulnerability alert (IAVA) patches, appropriate Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) security updates, and Anti-virus definitions/updates that will be incorporated on the Terminal Operator Unit (TOU) computer or latest Windows based laptop being utilized on the SMART-T system at the time. The Government will run regression tests verifying that the IAVA patches and STIG security updates work correctly with the SMART-T software. If compatibility issues are observed that are determined to be related to the SMART-T software, the contractor will be consulted for a solution. The Government will decide if an update to the SMART-T software is needed. If updates to the SMART-T software cannot address the compatibility issues, then the contractor shall inform the Government. If authorized by the Government to proceed with the updates, the contractor shall make corrections to inherent defects and shall perform related design, coding, debugging, integration, testing and documentation of software modifications and/or updates/upgrades to the software. Fleet Health Assessment The Government may submit a formal request through the PCO for a fleet wide health assessment of the SMART-T systems. This effort would be to assess approximately 200 (or fleet size at time of request) Army terminals across the fleet, though at the time of execution the number may be reduced to redistribution of terminals across the Army. The formal request will clearly lay out what is needed to be executed by the Contractor to fulfill the fleet health assessment. The request may include, but not be limited to: Site locations requiring visit, operation of SMART-T systems to include satellite acquisition and data throughput, physical assessment, parts assessment, spares assessment, and conducting of PMCS procedures. COMSEC Maintenance and Repair The KGV-310B, XDR Transec Module (XTM), NSN 5998-01-534-2251 is required for the SMART-T system to operate. The Government will require the repair of the XTM as unserviceable are received from the field and cannot be re-initialized. The XTMs will be received in batches of quantity 10. Required turnaround time for this item (induction of the full batch of quantity 10 to acceptance (in calendar days) is 365 days if the appropriate lay-in material has been stocked. The Contractor shall submit a written request to the PCO for a repair turn-around-time extension explaining why the extension is needed and when the LRU will be ready for inspection by the DCMA-QAR.? REQUESTED RESPONSE INFORMATION: At a minimum, information submitted should include but is not limited to the following and the questionnaire at the end of this document. In your response, please include your company name, CAGE code, and a technical point of contract with email address and telephone number. This information should be provided in the Contractor Questionnaire which is contained within or in an attachment form as part of this sources sought announcement. NOTICE, RESPONSE DUE DATE, AND POINTS OF CONTACT: This is NOT a Request for Quote or Proposal. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this SSA or reimburse any costs associated with the preparation of responses to this SSA. This Sources sought announcement (SSA) is for planning and market research purposes only, and shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government. The information gathered from this announcement will be used to determine if responsible sources exist, and to assist in determining if this effort can be competitive and/or set aside for Small Business. Furthermore, the Government will use the information, in part, to determine the best acquisition strategy for a potential procurement action and/or to assist in making acquisition strategy decisions in the future. All SSA responses should be emailed to the Technical and Competition Advocate Points of Contact at the email addresses listed below. No phone inquiries will be accepted, either as a response to this action or for information requests. All requests for information must be submitted via email to the Technical Point of Contact and the Competition Advocate. Please submit responses by May 27, 2022 Technical Point of Contact: Guillermo Riveros - Guillermo.A.Riveros2.civ@mail.mil Competition Advocate Point of Contact: DLA-Aberdeen – Bradley.Holtzapple@dla.mil