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Request for Information (RFI) High Energy Laser Weapon Subsystem Technologies U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command / Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT) 06 February 2019 Disclaimer:... Request for Information (RFI) High Energy Laser Weapon Subsystem Technologies U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command / Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT) 06 February 2019 Disclaimer: This is a Request for Information (RFI). This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. This notice serves as market research in accordance with (IAW) FAR Part 10. IAW FAR 15.201(e) responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. The Government does not intend to award a contract or other binding agreement on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for the information solicited. Any responses received will be treated as information only. The purpose of this RFI is to obtain knowledge and information for project planning purposes; however, the Government may issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) at a later time as a result of the information obtained through this RFI. Responses to this notice may be utilized to develop the acquisition strategy to satisfy future requirements. The USASMDC/ARSTRAT has not formalized a statement of work/performance work statement or acquisition strategy; therefore, questions regarding the scope of work or acquisition strategy will not be accepted at this time. There is no solicitation or other information available at this time. Other than responses to this RFI, no other input or inquiries will be accepted. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of information, or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. There shall be no basis for claims against the U.S. Government as a result of any information submitted in response to this RFI. 1.0 Background High Energy Laser (HEL) and beam control technologies have matured over the past decades to become viable battlefield assets. The High Energy Laser Mobile Test Truck has a 50 kW-class laser system integrated on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT), which has a 32,000 pound capacity. The second generation HEL systems are more compact and militarized for use on the battlefield, the HEL Tactical Vehicle Demonstrator (HEL TVD) will be integrated onto a Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) and the Multi-Mission HEL (MMHEL) on the Stryker platform. The next phase of HEL development is leaning towards ruggedized and condensed packaging of HEL weapon systems to be mounted on even smaller platforms used in future HEL platforms, along with improving their lethality. 2.0 Purpose The purpose of this RFI is to identify qualified industrial vendors who can provide compact, rugged, and modular subsystem technologies for multi-mission HEL weapon systems. This system is to be installed on combat platforms to counter unmanned aerial system (UAS), and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) threats, as well as provide ISR. Areas of interest for HEL sub-systems include: beam control systems (BCS), high energy lasers, high capacity power storage, compact power generation, adaptive optics, image trackers, target illuminators, fire control software and thermal management systems. The goal of this RFI is to enable a next generation HEL system for future HEL platforms. The technologies this RFI is focused on are the HEL, the BCS, and the fire-control software. 3.0 Objective The primary objective of this RFI is to collect and evaluate information pertaining to high energy lasers and beam control subsystems, and the fire control software. The enhancements of power and thermal systems needed to carry out the effectiveness of the HEL weapon system will be the primary focus of a future RFI. The objective and threshold parameters for the RFI response are listed in Appendix A. The goal of this RFI is to identify HEL and BCS subsystems that significantly reduce the Size, Weight, and Power / Cooling (SWaP-C) requirements of the overall HEL system, while significantly increasing overall system efficiency. Advances in fire-control software are also desired. Engagement times for future HEL platforms will be considerably shorter and the fire-control software should receive the cue and automatically select and maintain an aim-point on the target. HEL firing, automatic and manual, will be determined by the operator. Fire-control software will need to acquire and track targets in degraded weather conditions and in low-contrast scenes. The objective HEL subsystem must be capable of conducting a safe shutdown within 0.02 seconds, and commence firing within 0.02 seconds from cease fire. The objective beam control system will need to be agile, with low jitter and high slew acceleration. The objective HEL and BCS subsystems should support a startup time of less than 5 minutes, be operated by 2 persons or less, and have a magazine depth greater than 45 seconds. The threshold subsystems will support a startup time of less than 15 minutes, be operated by 3 persons or less, and have a magazine depth greater than 30 seconds. It is desired that the RFI responses show a design path toward MIL-SPEC 810G and utilize a modular design approach that incorporates open system architecture. 4.0 Instructions for Interested Sources: RFI Responses shall be 10 pages or less, single-spaced, 11 point font, Times New Roman, 1 inch margins, with embedded figures (if used) in Microsoft Word or PDF, and include: 1) Company Overview (1 page) 2) Evidence of Capabilities to Perform task (1 page) 3) Facilities (1 page) 4) Recommended Subsystem Approach (to include SWaP-C requirements) (5 pages) 5) Administration and Security (1 page) 6) Expected subsystem performance parameters, rough-order-of-magnitude (ROM) cost and Schedule (Appendix A) (1 page) Respondents (individual contractors or potential teams) should provide a high-level description of their capabilities in HEL subsystem technologies and/or subcomponents. These technologies and/or subcomponents should provide performance capabilities that meet or exceed requirements stated above as driving performance requirements. Respondents should be as specific as possible, and should identify unique technical development experience and qualifications. At this time the Government does not anticipate hosting an industry day as no specific requirement exists. However, individual site visits may be scheduled with qualified respondents at the discretion of the Government and respondents will notified by the Government Contracting Officer. Recommended approaches should be provided in whitepaper format as described above. Each whitepaper should address a single subsystem. The information is requested in the form of unclassified, electronic Microsoft Word files (1 file per submission) (recommended less than 8 Megabytes) via e-mail submission to the RFI POC identified below. If proposed subsystem concepts are believed to be classified, contact the point of contact identified in the RFI announcement for instructions on how to submit this data. The file name should contain the responder's name (i.e., System concept-XYZ Corp). If there are multiple concepts provided by the same responder, unique file names should be provided. The Army Contracting Command-Redstone, Contracting and Acquisition Management Office, is the responsible contracting office for this RFI. All questions and industry responses to this RFI shall be submitted via email to Neisha M. Mendiola, USG Contracting Officer, at neisha.m.mendiola.civ@mail.mil. Responses must be received by 3:00 pm CDT on March 8, 2019. No telephone request for information or questions will be accepted. Under the umbrella of pre-solicitation exchanges with industry, the Government review team reserves the right to request further clarification or request presentations to enhance our understanding of the respondent's submittal. 5.0 Security and Administrative Information The whitepapers will be reviewed by US government personnel only. Any Proprietary Information must be clearly identified and marked. All material submitted in response to this RFI must be unclassified and properly marked. This RFI is open to any capable and qualified U.S. commercial source. All respondents shall include their assigned CAGE code. Respondents are further required to indicate their status as a foreign-owned/foreign controlled firm and any contemplated use of foreign national employees. Due to the nature of this potential effort, no foreign country sources will be considered.