SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Hypersonic Wideband Radome
- Notice Date
- 5/31/2006
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- N68936 Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Dept.1 429 E. Bowen Rd - Stop 4015 China Lake, CA
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- N6893606R0094
- Response Due
- 7/15/2006
- Archive Date
- 8/15/2006
- Description
- Responses to this Broad Agency Announcement are sought to develop and test radomes for future high speed missiles. The development of future Navy radar guided missiles includes broader RF bandwidths and potentially higher speeds. Current ceramic radome technology does not have sufficient mechanical and electrical performance for these new high-speed missile systems operating in realistic weather extremes. Improvements are needed in radome mechanical properties such as high temperature strength, thermal coefficient of expansion, rain erosion resistance, hermeticity, and handling toughness. Electrical improvements sought include wide bandwidth, low distortion, and low loss tangent. Manufacturing and cost are other areas of interest for this BAA. Manufacturers capable of producing large radomes (having base diameters above 13 in. and fineness ratios above 2.0) are invited to submit proposals for development and test of materials and structures for high performance future Navy missiles. It is envisioned that this will be a three phase program. Phase 1 will be a study phase to select suitable materials for a hypersonic radome. Phase 2 will be a manufacturing development phase where selected materials will be tested and prototype radome structures will be fabricated. Phase 3 will test full size radomes in representative operating environments. A SECRET classified addendum to this BAA is available to qualified offerors detailing the radome performance requirements. Offerors shall have, or have the ability to acquire, the capability to hold and use TOP SECRET material. Proposal topic areas of specific interest in this BAA include but are not limited to the following: 1. Radome Mechanical Improvements: The objectives of this area are to provide improved mechanical characteristics for high speed radomes. As an example, a candidate material would have a melting temperature considerably higher than the expected temperatures experienced during long-range hypersonic flight, a very low coefficient of expansion, fracture strength substantially higher than necessary for the highly maneuverable hypersonic missile flight environment, be completely hermetic, and be very light weight. Most current RF radome materials do not robustly survive high temperatures found in hypersonic flight. Many also erode or fracture while flying through rain. Materials that provide improved hardness and strength at high temperatures are desired. Hermeticity is desired to protect electronics found behind the radome. Many current radomes are fragile and susceptible to handling damage during manufacture and transport. Improved toughness is needed to reduce losses from handling. The proposed radome material also has to be compatible with current missile materials. Coefficient of expansion, mechanical interface, and corrosion resistance compatibility are also required. 2. Radome Electrical Improvements: The objectives of this area are to provide improved electrical performance across wide percentage bandwidths. The ideal radome would have no effect in the transmission of RF energy, regardless of frequencyAs an example, the ideal candidate material would have a dielectric constant of one, zero loss tangent, produce no depolarization, would have no change in electrical properties with temperature, and have no effect on the transmission of RF energy. Current radome designs either use N?/2 or electrically thin walls to minimize losses. These radomes usually are relatively narrow band or not physically robust. New radome design is desired to widen the bandwidth and improve the mechanical strength. High dielectric constant material used in some current radomes also limits bandwidth and increases losses. Novel materials and combinations of materials are desired to improve radome performance through reduced loss, depolarization, and refraction over wide bandwidths while maintaining adequate mechanical strength. The material needs to have predictable repeatable, well characterized performance over very wide temperature ranges from high altitude cold to temperatures found in hypersonic flight. 3. Radome Manufacturing Improvements: The objectives of this area are to develop techniques to manufacture improved radomes for high yield and low cost. As an example, a candidate radome would be inexpensive to build, have high manufacturing yield, and could be built out of common materials using relatively simple processes. The structures required by this program need to be manufacturable based on a 13.5-inch radome diameter. The length of the radome will be between two and three times the diameter. Appropriate manufacturing processes need to be available for the materials selected. Low cost materials and manufacturing techniques are highly desirable. Repeatability is critical for insertion into missile systems design. 4. Radome Testing: To gauge the effectiveness of the improvements, the radomes developed under this need to be tested in representative environments. Candidate radomes for testing shall be 13.5 inches in outer base diameter. Because of existing testing infrastructure, the 13.5-inch radome shall have mounting attachments compatible with current 13.5 inch missiles. Testing will include both mechanical and electrical tests. Sufficient radomes shall be produced to perform the necessary tests and to demonstrate radome producibility. This notice constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) as contemplated in FAR 6.102 (d)(2). A formal Request for Proposal (RFP)/ Solicitation, will not be issued. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division (NAWCWD) will not issue paper copies of this BAA. NAWCWD reserves the right to select for award, all, some of none of the Proposals in response to this BAA. NAWCWD reserves the right to fund all, some, or none of the Proposals received under this BAA. NAWCWD provides no funding for direct reimbursement of proposal development costs. Technical and Cost Proposal (or any other material) submitted in response to this BAA will not be returned. It is the policy of NAWCWD to treat all Proposals as competition sensitive Bid and Proposal Information and to disclose their contents only for the purpose of evaluation. Awards will be in the form of contracts. Therefore, Proposals submitted as a result of this announcement will fall under the purview of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). SEE ENCLOSED ATTACHMENT FOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION AND FORMATTING THAT MUST BE FOLLOWED WHEN PREPARING PROPOSALS FOR THIS CONTRACTING EFFORT. NAICS Code = 541710 Place of Performance = N/A Set Aside = N/A
- Record
- SN01059963-W 20060602/060531221155 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |