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Introduction: The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC) Air Delivered Directorate (ND), Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, is currently in the planning stages for a future acquisition in support of the B61 ... Introduction: The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC) Air Delivered Directorate (ND), Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, is currently in the planning stages for a future acquisition in support of the B61 Tailkit Assembly (TKA) Program. The Air Force seeks to maximize the long-term reliability, availability, sustainability, and efficiency of the on-board telemetry unit (Telemetry Instrumentation Kit – TIK) used during flight testing of the B61 TKA. The Air Force intends to optimize the TKA TIK design for modularity, resilience, and long-term reproducibility, as well as mitigate obsolescence and acquire the technical baseline/data. The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to engage industry, with expertise in this field, to better understand marketplace capability and options. The results of the RFI will be used to identify potential sources possessing the necessary data, expertise, skill, capabilities, and experience to design, develop, and produce a form, fit, and function replacement (F3R) for the current TIK. The F3R RFI envisions maintaining NSA certification, completing diligent tradespace studies around design modularity, and avoiding any impingement on Air Force Nuclear Certification of the B61 all up round (AUR) family of weapons. A potential award date is currently expected to be in Government Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. This is NOT an Invitation for Bid (IFB) or a Request for Proposal (RFP). This RFI is part of ongoing Government-conducted market research for planning purposes. A solicitation is not being issued at this time and this notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation. The Government will not provide reimbursement for costs associated with this request. Responses shall be treated as information only, become property of the US Government, and will not be used as a proposal. Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this RFI is strictly voluntary; responses will not be returned. The information obtained from industry’s responses to this notice may be used in the development of an acquisition strategy and a future RFP. Background: AFNWC System Program Office (SPO) authority and functions have officially transferred from the acquisition (and production) organization (AFNWC/NDB, Eglin AFB, FL) to the sustainment organization (AFNWC/NDS, Kirtland AFB, NM). NDS responsibilities encompass TKA long-term sustainment, reliability, and testing. The Air Force is exploring the marketplace for enduring and resilient solutions to optimize flexibility, efficiency and economy, comparing those proffered by system and subsystem Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) as well as other organizations. Goals: The vision for the telemetry unit is to establish a long-term (at least 25 years) capability that is a sustainable and affordable system for transmitting telemetry data; the Air Force estimates purchasing up to 300 TIKs. Tradespace analysis will consider incremental procurement (multi-lot) and a “warm production” line versus a lifetime buy. Regardless of tradespace discussion, the Air Force intends to obtain Government Purpose Rights to intellectual property of the system; industry will solely produce the system. The primary goals will allow for subsystem insight and design of a telemetry system to support a long-term requirement for testing and data collection while allowing for upgrades to subsystems to mitigate obsolescence issues. Specifications: The unit must be between 6.27 and 6.77 pounds. The telemetry unit must not draw more than 56 watts, averaged over any 200-microsecond period, from 28 volts. The unit must transmit in accordance with Inter-Range Instrumentation Group (IRIG) 106-11 telemetry standards, in S-band and using National Security Agency (NSA) approved Type-1 encryption. The unit must be able to communicate using RS-422 Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) messaging. The unit must transmit with Pulse Code Modulation/Frequency Modulation (PCM/FM) scheme. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR POTENTIAL RESPONDENTS ADDED 26 MAR 2025: Based on questions received related to this RFI, the Government finds it valuable to share the following two (2) items in this forum: 1. It is currently anticipated that any solicitation and resultant award would be made in the first half of government fiscal year 2026. However, those activities are reliant on funds availability. 2. There is an existing design produced by the OEM and their subcontractors. Questions: 1. Does your company understand NSA certification processes/procedures and requirements derived from the NSA Information Assurance Security Requirements Directive (IASRD)? a. Has your company previously designed, produced and sustained a crypto device that complied with the NSA IASRD? Please provide contract numbers and program numbers, as applicable. 2. Please identify any concerns or questions your company has regarding the background of this program. What risks do you see in acquisition and how would you mitigate those risks? 3. Should a solicitation be issued, would your company anticipate proposing a teaming partner? Would your company like to be added to a teaming partner or subcontractor list? 4. Is your company aware of any other existing contract vehicles that could be leveraged to execute this requirement? Please comment on: 1. Industry innovation and the flexibility to achieve an affordable design. 2. Expected lead time for a complete design. 3. Perform a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis comparing a lifetime buy versus warm production line, and inflection points (if any) that would influence the decision (example: minimum annual production quantity). 4. Discuss your company’s ability to support subsystem upgrades and incorporation of design modifications for long-term (multi-lot) production. 5. Discuss the feasibility of the design and production for a replacement to the current TIK without the technical and software data for the current baseline B61-12 TKA TIK. 6. The Government intends to award this effort in two phases, an initial R&D, prototyping, and testing phase and a production phase. The Government plans to utilize NAICS 541715 for the first phase and 334511 for the second phase. Discuss any concerns with these industrial classifications. For any approaches proposed, please provide recommendations for phasing, timing and transition approaches throughout the life of the program. In your RFI, please include a summary of your company’s experience utilizing the recommended approaches. Response Instructions Responses are expected to be on company letterhead and must include the following information: point of contact, address, phone number, email address, UEI number, and CAGE code. Responses are requested as soon as possible but not later than 03 April 2025 at 12:00pm MDT. Responses or questions shall be submitted via e-mail to only byron.muhlenberg.2@us.af.mil and alexandria.zelle@us.af.mil. The subject for your e-mail submission shall be as follows: “[Company Name] – RFI Response TKA TIK F3R.” All responses shall be submitted in either Microsoft Word or PDF format and shall be no longer than 10 pages in length with 11-point font and should not include sensitive, proprietary, or confidential data. Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.