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RFI Title: C5ISR / EW Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS) Mounted Form Factor (CMFF) Reference Architecture (RA), CMFF Digital Engineering (DE) Model, and Market Research Questionnaire for Industr... RFI Title: C5ISR / EW Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS) Mounted Form Factor (CMFF) Reference Architecture (RA), CMFF Digital Engineering (DE) Model, and Market Research Questionnaire for Industry comment. RFI Introduction: **This CMFF RFI update is a continuing effort by PM MC to build on prior CMFF market research, keep industry informed of design decisions being made, and to collaborate on issues seen across the CMFF strategy. This RFI also introduces a new product, a CMFF Digital Engineering model, for industry review and comments. Updated documents are being provided as part of this RFI to request additional feedback from industry.** The Army has defined a suite of open architecture industry and Army standards to enable the reduction of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C5ISR)/Electronic Warfare (EW) system size, weight and power - cooling (SWaP-C) and ensure commonality across multiple platforms by enabling the sharing of hardware and software components among multiple C5ISR and Integrated Electronic Warfare System (IEW&S) missions (i.e. multi-mission/multi-function). In January 2021 the Army approved an Abbreviated - Capability Development Document (A-CDD) for C5ISR/Electronic Warfare (C5ISR/EW) Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS) Mounted Form Factor (CMFF) to establish an initial set of Army requirements desired to develop and employ these standards in prototypes for operational assessment. The CMFF A-CDD establishes requirements for a prototype that minimizes the need for platform specific integration, and enables the fielding of evolutionary capabilities without the need for additional cabling or mounts, or upgrades to the CMFF chassis. This CMFF capability is governed by the CMFF Reference Architecture which is guided and derived from technical requirements found in the CMOSS Interoperability Requirements Specification (IRS), specifically including the Sensor Open System Architecture (SOSATM), Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE), Vehicular Integration for C4ISR/EW Interoperability (VICTORY), and the Modular Open RF Architecture (MORA). CMFF also includes requirements from the Standardized A-Kit Vehicle Envelope (SAVE) and the Mounted Mission Command (MMC) Environmental Specifications documents. These standards will enable CMFF to drastically improve the reliability, reusability, interoperability, and interchangeability of CMFF system components to include the chassis, payload cards, radio conditioning devices, radioheads, and key software modules. Army Capability Manager Tactical Radios (ACM TR) has coordinated directly with representatives from Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications – Tactical (PEO C3T), PEO Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (IEW&S), and PEO Aviation for the development of Annexes to the A-CDD. These annexes included with the A-CDD provide initial performance parameters for development of CMFF payload card capabilities and supporting peripheral devices to enable tactical radio communications, electronic warfare (EW), positioning navigation and timing (PNT), mission command, data storage, local computing and switching infrastructure, and sensor capabilities for all mounted platforms, to include Aviation. CMFF systems and their payload cards will need to be simple and intuitive to install, operate, and maintain by Soldiers, and be resilient, reliable, and available to operate in all operational air and ground environments and against any enemy. CMFF will move the implementation of C5ISR/EW capabilities away from costly and complex “stovepiped” federated legacy systems or line replaceable units (LRUs) on individual platforms. The layered standards within CMFF will make it simpler and more cost-effective to introduce new capabilities and keep pace with commercial technology by reducing complex integration challenges, eliminating proprietary interfaces, and enabling greater competition and reuse. The RFI is accompanied by a revised Reference Architecture (RA) (v.7) whose intent is to provide Industry with updated design constraints and guidance and to continue refining and developing new products to provide suitable, survivable, and certifiable CMFF products to be used by the Army. The RA also collates inputs from the National Security Agency (NSA) on minimum design considerations needed to produce High Assurance products, as well as Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems (PEO GCS) and PEO Aviation stakeholders on the operationally relevant environments that CMFF will need to survive during its installed lifespan. This RFI also includes a new CMFF MagicDraw model that begins to provide an authoritative source of requirements flowed down from SOSA to CMOSS to CMFF, as well as other requirements documents, and provides some notional logical and physical architectural views and products. The purpose of the CMFF Model is to replace legacy pdf style product specifications for future solicitations of CMFF, and will contain the technical performance requirements for the CMFF chassis and key interfaces to the plug in cards. Plug in cards are intended to largely remain abstracted from this model, with only key interfaces documented from the chassis to the cards or between cards. The Army now requires new contracts to contain Digital Engineering (DE) requirements, and as such this model will provide the basis to satisfy that DE requirement for CMFF. This release serves as an initial draft for industry comment for this technical requirement approach. Following this RFI, the Army anticipates a future and separate release of a CMFF Block 1 (B1) OTA Request for White Paper (RfWP) (full & open) to acquire up to 16 prototype CMFF systems for Ground platforms, and up to an additional 16 systems for Aviation platforms. Beyond the Block 1 timeframe, the Army is looking at a FAR based production contract for a potential total procurement quantity of up to 5000 systems for fielding CMFF Block 2 capabilities, with plans for Block 3 capabilities still being determined. PM MC is seeking to expand its ongoing CMFF Market Research to better inform its future acquisition strategy, better define contracting opportunities, and help solidify technical requirements in preparation for CMFF B1 and B2 Requests for White Papers and Requests for Proposals. The below RFI response guidance will greatly assist vendors in helping PM MC to shape future contract actions and execution plans: RFI Responses must: Provide comments, concerns, and constructive inputs to the latest CMFF RA draft, MMC Environmental Specification, and CMFF MagicDraw Digital Engineering (DE) Model (noting that this model release is a working draft and will continue to evolve via the CRM document). There is no limit to CRM comments provided. Comments provided on the RA via CRM will be reviewed by multiple Government Subject Matter Experts (SME), Federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), and support contractors and therefore should not include any proprietary content. Provide a 5-page maximum (title page/acronym lists are not included in this page count) CMFF implementation White Paper on existing products and solutions directly relevant to the CMFF RA, or potential modified solutions providing the same or greater capability. Since White Papers will be shared outside the Government with multiple FFRDCs and support contractor organizations, submissions should confirm there is no issue with the release of any proprietary documentation provided to individuals or organizations covered under a PM MC Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). White papers should include, at a minimum: Approach to meeting Size, Weight, Power, and Cooling (SWaP-C) requirements Approach to meeting environmental requirements and current design and testing experience relevant to MMC Environmental Requirements, which encompasses requirements of SAVE, ATPD-2404, Airworthiness qualification plans, etc. The Government desires feedback on the feasibility to produce a common chassis (objective) and capability cards (threshold) for Ground and Aviation. Specific technical risks and issues must be documented to characterize cost and time drivers or unattainable requirements. If the CMFF capability cards or chassis are unable to meet the ground/air requirements, please provide specific requirements that cannot be met within the MMC environmental specification. Please specify any MIL-STD-810 requirements that cannot be met or any other issue or test requirement inclusive of the specific front panel I/O, environmental, redundancy, capability issue. Information on SDR cards/radioheads available on the market today, or being actively developed, which implement current tactical radio waveforms on CMOSS compliant SDR cards, capable of providing red/black separation, specifically including the Manpack waveforms listed in the CMFF RA blocking strategy, and converged digital radioheads to support multi-channel, multi-waveform SDRs in a simultaneous fashion. Support for additional relevant tactical waveforms is also desired, though lower priority than the initial waveforms called out in the CMFF RA. For the purposes of this RFI, SDR and radiohead capabilities should be specifically focused on implementing Block 2 (multiple SINCGARS, WREN TSM, and ATC) and Block 3 (Block 2 plus MUOS, other Manpack waveforms, Link 16, Maritime, HF, and BE-CDL). Given technology available today or in the near future, how many simultaneous channels/instances of the waveforms listed in the RA will a single SDR and radiohead support? Information on radiohead modularity (size, weight) and support for relevant antennas/apertures for terrestrial (vehicular) and aviation platform applications. For any responses that include definition of radioheads (e.g., antennas, power amplifiers, etc.), vendors must include responses to the CMFF Radiohead Technical Parameters Crosswalk v0.5. Information on currently available multi-band antennas capable of operating VHF, UHF, and L through C bands along with combining technology that enables current and future tactical waveforms and radios simultaneously transmitting and receiving in different frequency bands and within the same frequency band. An objective capability would also enable this operation at the same frequency. Due to tight timing requirements of some waveforms, the solution should minimize any latency incurred. The technology should minimize signal attenuation and only enable simultaneous operation and not perform frequency translation. The technology should allow radios that are frequency flexible to operate in different bands without physical reconfiguration of cables or reconfiguration of the combining solution. The combining technology, if not part of the antenna, should be capable of existing in a standard form factor and also on a CMFF compliant card. Antennas should use a standard NATO mounting solution and be omni-directional. If available, include antenna patterns. For any responses that include definition of radioheads (e.g., antennas, power amplifiers, etc.), vendors must include responses to the CMFF Radiohead Technical Parameters Crosswalk v0.5. Concerns with the current SOSA, VICTORY, MORA, or MMC Software and APIs supporting interoperability between payload cards from one manufacturer to the next, noting any gaps that may exist in current standards that will prevent, or have the potential to prevent interoperability, portability, and modularity from one payload card manufacturer to the next. Costing/Budgetary (not included in above page count)- Because of the budgetary importance of current cost estimates, it is again requested that vendors provide anticipated unit costs for relevant products that provide the capabilities described above for Block 2 and 3, respectively, in quantities ranging from 1-250, 251-499, and 500-1000, categorized and broken down by the following major components: CMFF Chassis (not inclusive of power supply unless embedded) to include common ground and air solutions. Switch Cards (that include support for dual enclaves, PTP, and TSN) Dedicated Crypto Subsystem (CSS) Cards to support SDR cards and multiple information domains Power Supply Cards IO Intensive Single Board Computer (SBC) Cards Payload SDR or SBC Cards which run current Tactical Radio Waveforms described in the CMFF RA blocking strategy or envisioned for future multi-mission operations. APNT Radial Clock Cards with tightly coupled sensor fusion blending M-Code, ALTNAV and/ or external sensor solutions AJAS antennas intended to be coupled with the APNT cards, subcategorized by number of elements. Digital Radioheads capable of utilizing MORA and supporting multiple tactical radio waveforms identified in the blocking strategy. This should consider power amplification, conditioning, and required Simultaneity table in the RA. VICTORY converters for streaming audio to a vehicle intercom device. Low Cost ruggedized smart displays to provide the UI for CMFF Chassis payloads Provide anticipated lead times after receipt of order (ARO) for the above components. Provide current Technical Readiness Levels (TRL) and Integration Readiness Level (IRL) of the proposed components listed above, including any products currently being fielded for DoD programs in a tactically relevant environment. The Army plans to conduct a future CMFF Industry Day in 1QFY24, and welcomes industry feedback on desired topics or areas of special interest. Please provide your top three areas/items as well as desired format (panel, breakout session, etc). INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESS TO CMFF TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION: To receive CMFF Technical Documentation, interested parties must supply proof of International Traffic In Arms Regulation (ITAR) compliance by submitting a copy of their Department of State, Defense Trade Controls Compliance (DDTC) registration statement with valid date (vendor may redact vendor registrant code), sign the PM Mission Command Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), and sign the PM Mission Command Compliance Certification. Provide all documents to cynthia.a.grove.ctr@army.mil. Upon receipt and verification, the CMFF Technical Documentation will be released to the interested party’s point of contact. Additional information about the standards can be referenced at the following links: • OpenVPX (http://www.vita.com) • SOSA (http://www.opengroup.org/sosa) • CMOSS, VICTORY, and MORA (https://sam.gov/opp/889a0f920a5f4e8db99b9ee5d35d329c/view) • SAVE, and FACE (https://apntoil.army.mil/standards-and-specifications) RFI Feedback: After the Government reviews all vendor submissions there may be additional need for further follow-on questions. If so, the Government will contact each vendor to ask these follow-on questions on an individual one-on-one basis. All information must be submitted and received no later than 1700 EST 11 August 2023. White paper submissions and other technical documentation shall be submitted back to the Government via encrypted SAFE drop. This is a market survey requesting information only. The submission of this information is for planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to procure any items/services, or for the Government to pay for the information received. No solicitation will be issued against this notice.