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REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) Department of the Navy (DON) Office of Naval Research-Global (ONRG) Pacific SCOUT experimentation campaign to focus on solutions to four problem areas within the PACOM AO... REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) Department of the Navy (DON) Office of Naval Research-Global (ONRG) Pacific SCOUT experimentation campaign to focus on solutions to four problem areas within the PACOM AOR THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. Purpose The U.S. Department of the Navy (DoN) issues this Request for Information (RFI) on behalf of the DoN Office of Naval Research – Global (ONRG) This RFI is for planning purposes only and shall not be construed as an obligation on the part of the Government. This is NOT a Request for Quotations or Proposals. No solicitation document exists, and the Government may or may not issue a formal solicitation as a result of the responses received to this RFI. The Government will not pay for any response or demonstration expenses. All costs incurred responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense (the Government will transport company material to OCONUS locations for the Advanced Capability Experimentation (ACE)) if required. Failure to respond to this RFI will not preclude participation in any future solicitation. Any information received will become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the submitter. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or sensitive information. Government technical experts drawn from staff within DoN and other Federal agencies may review responses. This RFI will also be made available in Seaport and the Government reserves the right to use Seaport for service related contracts based on the results of Market Research. I. Introduction The United States Navy Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) supports the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) in the Indo-Pacific area of responsibility (AOR). The region contains the world’s most populous nation and peer competitor, China, as well as seven of the ten largest standing militaries and five nuclear nations. In its defense of the Indo-Pacific, PACFLT, as a theater level maritime component command, advances Indo-Pacific regional maritime security and enhances stability with a combat force that includes air, surface and sub-surface platforms. Pacific SCOUT will focus on key technologies and capabilities that support the COMPACFLT mission. These missions will require the use unmanned systems at scale to support lethal and non-lethal missions. Additionally, the missions will require the deployment of advanced sensor grids and employment of unmanned, semi-autonomous, systems as part of long-range kill chains as well as adoption of next generation decision support and control systems to link all elements of the kill chain. The supporting technology and capabilities required in an AOR that is geographically dispersed, disruptive by nature and deployed in large but controlled numbers. Lastly, the technology and capabilities are required to interface with a common decision support and command and control system. II. Scope In the Pacific SCOUT experimentation series, the Navy and Marine Corps are looking for innovative, agile solutions, either in part or whole, to the following four key problem sets. Within each problem set, Pacific SCOUT will explore technology relevant to these problem sets and alternative concepts of employment through a series of experimentation events. Long Range Fires Naval Operational Architecture Contested Logistics Counter-C5IRST 1. Applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes: 334511 - Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing 336415 - Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Propulsion Unit and Propulsion Unit Parts Manufacturing 541330 - Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture 541715 - Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) 2. Applicable Product Service Codes: 5865 - Electronic Countermeasures, Counter-Countermeasures And Quick Reaction Capability Equipment R425 - Support- Professional: Engineering/Technical AC12 - National Defense R&D Services; Department Of Defense - Military; Applied Research III. Request for Information Topic Areas: 1. Long-Range Fires: Defeat adversary amphibious force in a contested environment by fielding cost-effective lethal asymmetric capabilities in 1 to 3 years. Asymmetric warfare capabilities that lower risk to own force: Consider employment of unmanned systems & mines to deliver lethal offensive effects or close the kill chain for long range fires Non-lethal effects are only desirable if lethal options cannot be developed Seabed warfare & other undersea offensive capabilities for access & lethality Tactical-level Command, Control, and Communications (C3), including manned and unmanned systems, in a highly-contested environment 2. Naval Operational Architecture: Develop agile, resilient, and secure Joint and Coalition fires network/architecture in 1 to 3 years. Targeting, Engagement, & Assessment capabilities to close the Find, Fix, Track, Targets, Engage, & Assess (F2T2 EA) cycle Sub-surface communications to effectively conduct offensive operations in a contested environment Target to weapon & weapon to weapon pairing to enhance lethality Joint & Coalition fires network interoperability 3. Contested Logistics: Deliver maritime intra-theater logistics (fuel, munitions, food, & repair parts) to sustain combat operations across the Joint force in a highly contested environment in 1 to 3 years. Logistical distribution optimization decision aids, to include nodal risk, for load-out & delivery of varying classes of supply Ship-to-ship capabilities to allow logistics support & sustainment operations between inter-theater & intra-theater Ship-to-shore capabilities to allow logistics support for frequent resupply of ashore forces (i.e. Expeditionary Advanced Based Operations (EABO) and Multi-Domain Task Force (MDTF)) Solutions for the conversion of containers to break bulk assets while afloat Secure communications on commercial maritime vessels 4. Counter-C5ISRT: Develop tactical-level capabilities to reduce risk to current manned forces in 1 to 3 years. Technologies that prevent US maritime forces, including combat logistic forces, from being targeted Technologies that reduce effectiveness of adversary high-end weapons inventories ONRG is interested learning about technologies that will assist PACFLT in the performance of its mission which is conducted across a very large geographical area in order to keep sea lanes open, deter aggression, provide regional stability, and support humanitarian relief activities. In order to perform these missions, information will be collected from many sources to generate actionable intelligence so that limited assets can be deployed as required in order to systematically and effectively accomplish all mission requirements. In so doing, PACFLT will work across the Joint force, with allies, partner nations and other US agencies to develop, analyze, and vet intelligence information. Additionally, PACFLT will conduct develop agile, resilient, and secure Joint and Coalition fires network/architecture to support long-range fires, execute logistics in a contested environment, and provide tactical level capabilities to reduce Counter-C5ISRT risk to manned forces. Capabilities that are expected to contribute significantly to these problems, include decision-making aids, sensor fusion, artificial intelligence, data processing on the edge, and machine learning algorithms for target recognition, natural language processing, pattern-of-life recognition, long-range sensors, persistent ISR platforms and payloads, and many others. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list. All capabilities proposed will be evaluated against the four problems identified. ONRG is interested in learning about technologies with a technology readiness level (TRL) of six or greater that support the problem areas listed above. ONRG intends to provide standout systems with an invitation to participate in the Pacific SCOUT experimentation series in FY23-24. The experimentation series will begin with a demonstration of technology as part of a limited technology assessment (LTA) at the responder’s location of preference (may be live or virtual) to government technology assessors. Successful technologies will be invited to participate in a limited objective experiment (LOE), tentatively scheduled for February/March 2024 and likely in the vicinity of southern California. Promising technologies that complete the LOE may be invited to participate in the Advanced Capability Experiment (ACE) which will take place in location to be determined in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility (AOR). Funding may be provided to participants for the ACE to support the travel, labor, and equipment or development costs necessary to participate. Industry Day Event The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) and Office of Naval Research – Global (ONRG) will be hosting a virtual Industry Day Event on Monday, 14 August 2023 from 2:00 pm to – 4:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time, USA) via Microsoft Teams. The purpose of the Industry Day event is for interested parties to obtain a better understanding of the Office of Naval Research-Global (ONRG) Pacific SCOUT experimentation campaign focusing on solutions to the four problem areas. ONRG is seeking technologies capable of Long-Range Fires, Naval Operational Architecture, Contested Logistics, and Counter-C5ISRT as displayed in the four Areas of Responsibility (AORs). In order to provide mission-focused outreach for the event, NSWC PCD and ONRG are seeking companies that possess competencies in these areas. The information to be disseminated is distribution limited to Department of Defense U.S. Contractors only. Requests for the access to the Industry Day must be submitted via e-mail to Contract Specialist Brandon.d.hayes11.civ@us.navy.mil. Requests must contain the vendors Contractor and Government Entity (CAGE) Code to be considered as potentially eligible to receive the controlled unclassified data. All briefings of the Industry Day Event, including questions and answers, will be posted at a site to be announced. NSWC PCD requests that respondents, with intentions of attending the industry day, submit their request no later than 13 August 2023 to Contract Specialist Brandon.d.hayes11.civ@us.navy.mil. Information regarding access to the MS Teams meeting will be provided to those Contractors that are verified as eligible to receive the information. Submissions to the topic area should include the following information (1) Operational Relevance. Describe how the proposed technology or engineering innovation addresses one (or more) of the specific SCOUT PACFLT problems. Be specific and avoid jargon or general platitudes. (2) Cost. Provide an estimated cost to mature the proposed technology/engineering innovation to low-rate production levels as well as a not-to-exceed estimate of a low-rate production (LRIP) cost for the technology/engineering innovation. For purposes of estimation, LRIP quantities shall range from 4-6 fieldable prototype units unless such a range is justifiably prohibitive (e.g., 4-6 units is too low/too high of a scale to be economically viable). These estimates are not contractually binding but could be used as evaluation criteria to determine suitability for further experimentation. Provide an estimate of production scalability within a 1, 3, and 5 year timeframe. (3) System/Sub-Systems Architecture. Describe the systems, interfaces, and the data architecture of the technology or engineering innovation being submitted. Include diagrams, architectural views, or other graphical representations to describe the major systems, sub-systems, and interfaces. Submissions are not required to provide end-to-end solutions but should identify external interfaces that will ultimately be required for the technology or engineering innovation to function in the intended operational environment. If submitters have Systems Modeling Language (SysML) or Unified Modeling Language (UML) models for their system, they are encouraged to provide these as part of their submission. Identify the current Intellectual Property rights (open-competitive or closed-proprietary) that apply to each of the major systems, sub-systems, and interfaces. (4) Critical Technical Parameters. Describe the critical technical parameters that characterize the specific contribution of the proposed technology or engineering innovation. In tabular format, quantify the performance that has been demonstrated and describe the environment or conditions it has been tested under. If test data in a contested operational environment is not available, estimate the technical performance that may be immediately achievable. Include supplemental artifacts, such as specification sheets, data sheets, test reports, or other documentation that supports performance estimates. (5) Dependencies and Special Considerations. The Government will provide technical and operational assessment personnel, basic access to approved training areas and ranges to conduct experiments, basic venue infrastructure including frequency allocation services, intra-network connectivity, and shore power. Identify all other government furnished information (i.e., interface specifications, launch and recovery procedures, topside surveys, etc.) and/or equipment required to support the submission (e.g., unmanned system deployment from host platform, weapon or target deployment from an MV-22 Osprey, communication link to MH-60, iridium-enabled Gateway Buoy, GPS, GSM, Secret or higher facility clearance/storage capabilities). Identify any significant certifications required prior to conducting a planned experiment (i.e., Weapons Safety Review Board, Laser Safety Review Board, Li-ion Battery Certification, etc.). For each specific dependency or consideration, identify at least one feasible alternative (i.e. virtual or constructive event, test rigs, simulations, static displays) that would mitigate, for example, the uncertainty risk of operational asset availability(ies)). Following selection, the Government will provide submitters with a summary of range and support equipment that will be allocated to the specific submission. If the Submitters requirement for range support exceeds what has been allocated, the Submitter may acquire additional resources. The Government will work in good faith to identify requested resources and/or propose alternatives that meet the Submitters budgets. An extreme case might be that a required government asset is not available, and the costs to acquire a surrogate test asset are not affordable. The Government may then recommend the Submitter participate in SCOUT as a standalone, virtual, or constructive demonstration. (7) Technology and Integration Readiness Levels. Assess the current technology readiness level (TRL) of the major systems/sub-systems described in Section 2. Assess the current integration readiness level (IRL) of the critical interfaces also described in Section 2. For each estimate, describe whether the estimate is based on test data from a developmental (lab-, simulation-based) or operational (test range or other with operational users) evaluation. If applicable, project the TRL and/or IRL achievable upon completion of the proposed submission. Include supplemental artifacts, such as technology readiness assessments, design reports, test reports, or other documentation that supports technical and interface maturity estimates. (8) Team. Submitters are encouraged to team amongst industry, academia, and government partners. Provide a brief description of the subject matter expertise that each member of the team provides and a brief description of the participating organizations. Submission Requirements Submissions in response to this RFI must be submitted via email to Brandon Hayes @ Brandon.d.hayes11.civ@us.navy.mil and Jonathan Faranda @ jonathan.d.faranda.civ@us.navy.mil by 5:00 PM Eastern Time 29 August, 2023.