SOURCES SOUGHT
23 -- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI, MARKET SURVEY - ABRAMS TANK UPGRADE AND MODERNIZATION
- Notice Date
- 12/2/2009
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 336992
— Military Armored Vehicle, Tank, and Tank Component Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- TACOM Contracting Center (TACOM-CC), ATTN: AMSTA-AQ-AMB, E Eleven Mile Road, Warren, MI 48397-5000
- ZIP Code
- 48397-5000
- Solicitation Number
- W56HZV-10-R-0113
- Response Due
- 1/8/2010
- Archive Date
- 3/9/2010
- Point of Contact
- Keith Ahlstrom, 586-574-8107
- E-Mail Address
-
TACOM Contracting Center (TACOM-CC)
(keith.ahlstrom@us.army.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Market Survey Questionnaire for the Abrams Tank Fleet Modernization Program DESCRIPTION OF INTENT: The Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems (PEO GCS), Program Management Office Heavy Brigade Combat Team (PM HBCT) is conducting a Request for Information (RFI) Market Survey to collect written information from industry to help determine current market capability to design, develop, and integrate technologies to upgrade and modernize the Abrams tank. The Abrams tank is anticipated to remain in the military system to the year 2050. The modernization program seeks to continue the evolutionary development of the vehicle. Respondents should be companies who have proven capabilities as a system integrator and have the capability to design, develop, and integrate future technologies to upgrade/modernize heavy combat vehicles. Companies that design, develop, and manufacture sub-assemblies need not respond. As a condition of responding to this RFI, it is a requirement that potential responders be a United States (US) company, and possess the means to properly store and work on information and hardware classified at the SECRET/No Foreign Nationals (NOFORN) level. GENERAL INFORMATION: This announcement will be used as a sources sought/market research tool. The submission of information in response to this market survey is for planning purposes only, and is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government to procure any items/services described herein, nor for the Government to pay for the information received. Participation in this market survey is strictly voluntary and the U.S. Government will not reimburse contractors for any cost incurred for their participation in this survey. All information is to be submitted at no cost or obligation to the Government. This is NOT a pre-solicitation. This notice does not constitute an Invitation for Bid or Request for Proposal and is not to be construed as a solicitation, and no award shall be made on the basis of this notice. There is no formal solicitation available at this time, no solicitation will be issued against this notice, and this request for information does not obligate the Government to issue a solicitation. Respondents to this market survey are specifically instructed to refrain from submitting any type of proprietary data, trade secrets, or other business sensitive information. Data submitted in response to this market survey will not be returned. This market survey is NOT a request to seek contractors interested in being placed on a solicitation mailing list. Respondents shall not be notified of the results of the survey or results of information submitted. Telephone or email inquiries will not be honored. INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING THE QUESTIONNAIRE: The survey response shall NOT exceed 50 pages. Submittal will be in text format only. Do not send in pictures, graphs, etc. 1. Font size no smaller than 10. 2. Number each response with the appropriate question number. 3.If you cannot answer the question, please indicate No Response. 4.Spell out any acronyms in their first instance. 5.Do not reply with proprietary information. 6.Electronic responses are required. Please title contractor response as Market Survey Response for PM HBCT Abrams Modernization Program. Response should include: "Company name "Mailing address "Company web-site "Location of facilities Please send the Market Survey responses to Mr. Keith Ahlstrom via email, Keith.ahlstrom@us.army.mil. No telephonic responses will be accepted. Responses are due no later than close of business on 08 January 2010. TECHNICAL QUESTIONS Capability: System Architecture & Software The modernized Abrams configuration will provide a system that will provide overmatch for many years. The power management system will be required to handle a worst case of 90,000 watts that will be required to be distributed between the turret and hull of the vehicle through a slip ring. The power management system and slip ring will require room for growth. Power generation may be developed by, but not limited to, integrated generators or auxiliary power units. The voltage system of the current M1A2 v2 vehicle is based on a 28 V system. The modernized Abrams voltage system has not been determined yet and may be based on but not limited to 28, 270, or 610 volts. The power distribution system will be based on a distributed branching system and be able to monitor and diagnosis failures at the box and internal card level. The power management and vetronics control systems shall run internal testing in the back ground and have enough robustness to support graceful degradation of the system when failures are present in order to minimize single point failures. The primary data bus management system for the modernized Abrams is currently Ethernet, however, other technologies will be considered. The architecture requires a video network which will be distributed to each of the four crew members to allow for video sharing. All systems and sub-systems will be integrated together by the distributed architecture and controlled by vehicle level software. Tactical communication systems will be directed by the Army. Maintainability, reliability, and crew safety must be driving factors in any proposed designs. Questions: 1) Describe your experience with vetronic architecture, design, packaging, and computer display array addressing both the system and sub-system levels. 2) Describe your companys CMMI certifications and define in what division it was certified. 3)Describe your experience integrating multiple communication systems hardware and antennas. Please also address the platform and complexity to include a battle command system. 4)Describe your experience with high and low power distribution management systems. Capability: Auxiliary and Other Systems The Auxiliary and Other Systems comprises of Crew Stations, Fire Suppression and NBC/ECS systems. The crew stations will optimize the placement of LRUs and sub-systems along with the seat design to enhance the crew-machine interface and minimize the human factors burden on the crewmen. The Fire Suppression System and NBC/ECS Systems provide the tank and crew with safety and survivability features. The Fire Suppression System will be designed to put out any fires that initiate within the crew or engine compartments, as well as, on the exterior in the vicinity of the tracks. The NBC System provides capability to the crew to continue their mission when in a chemical threat environment. The current NBC system is being integrated along with the ECS system to optimize the space claims for these two systems, maximize commonality, and preclude any crew compartment contamination after a chemical event. The ECS system will provide the crewmen with a compartment temperature that they can operate without any heat stress under temperature extremes, as well as, provide cooling to the electronics so they can function normally under high temperatures. Questions: 5)Describe your experience with fabrication, verification, qualification, and integration of crew and electronic Environmental Control Systems (ECS) on military vehicles. 6)Describe your experience developing and integrating with Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) survivability. 7)What is your experience with on and off board vehicle health management? 8)Does your company have experience designing and/or integrating fire protection systems for ground combat vehicles? Describe crew compartment, engine compartment, fuel tank, and external vehicle fire protection technologies for combat and peacetime fire threats and identify what platforms they have applied to. Capability: Tank Level The United States Government classifies information according to the degree which the unauthorized disclosure would damage national security. Government classification is established under Executive Order 12958, as amended by Executive Order 13292. The Abrams tank operates under classified and compartmentalized information. Companies responding to the RFI should have rooms or buildings where classified material is stored or handled and must have a facility clearance at the same level as the most sensitive material to be handled. Question: 9)Describe how your company handles classified and compartmentalized information, facilities, materials, equipment and personnel? The Abrams modernized tank will be a full-tracked, low profile, land combat assault weapon system in the 69.5 to 73.1 ton weight class. This vehicle will possess a significant increase in survivability, shoot-on-the-move fire power, joint interoperability (for the exchange of tactical and support information) and a high degree of maneuverability and tactical agility. The crew will have the capability to engage the full spectrum of enemy ground targets with a variety of accurate point and area fire weapons in urban and open terrain, as well as, defend against helicopter threats. Question: 10)Describe your experience in heavy combat vehicles development and integration to include the weight class. Capability: Modeling & Simulation Models and simulations will be employed throughout the Abrams tank life-cycle. Models & Simulation tools are used to reduce cost, analyze alternatives, reduce environment impact, improve training, conserve resources and save lives. Modeling and Simulation helps the government: (1) analyze situations and predict outcomes; (2) consider trade-offs in allocating time and resources; and (3) make smarter decisions. Modeling and simulation is an iterative process with discernable steps and specific roles for individuals. Each step in the process is important. Skipping steps or changing their order affects the outcome. Input into the process affects the outcome. The PM will collaborate with operational users and consider industry input during Modeling & Simulation program planning. Planning should include the application, support, documentation, and reuse of Modeling & Simulation; and the integration of Modeling & Simulation across functional disciplines. Question: 11)Describe your in-house modeling and simulation capabilities and tools. Capability: Mobility Vehicle mobility requirements include repetitive actions of acceleration, maneuverability, maintaining a sustained speed, obstacle crossing, deceleration and power generation for secondary systems. Generally, vehicles are space limited and operate in extremely adverse environmental conditions. This makes the task of integrating multiple systems to meet operational time and range requirements critical. These systems include but may not be limited to Fuel Management, Hydraulic, Air Management, Suspension / Track, Thermal Management, Electrical Power Generation, and NBC and Fire Protection. The fielded system must also be durable and maintainable under severe operating conditions. Question: 12)Describe your experience designing and integrating mobility on a fielded system to include the following capabilities: Fuel Management, Hydraulic Systems, Air Management, Power Pack Design (engine, transmission, and final drive), Integration, Suspension/Track, Thermal Management, Electrical Power Generation, and NBC Protection interface. Capability: Lethality The Abrams tank will maintain lethal over-match against current and potential future adversaries through rapid, precision engagements in adverse and hostile conditions. To maintain this overmatch capability the modernized tank will include improvements to the fire control system, primary and secondary weapon accuracy, situational awareness, and ammunition. Additional capabilities will include improved combat identification, aided target recognition, laser designation, auto-target tracking, and enhanced target acquisition. The modernized tank must contain non-lethal scalable effects to determine combatant or noncombatant intent during stability and urban operations. These improvements will allow the tank to destroy the threat with precision fires, enabling the HBCT to achieve decisive results in a wide range of environments. Questions: 13)Does your company have experience designing fire control systems for ground combat vehicles? Please provide specific examples of your experience including, but not limited to design/integration of primary and/or secondary sights, fire control software, and electronic control boxes? 14)Does your company have experience integrating a large caliber direct fire weapon system (105mm or greater)? Please provide specific example(s), including the outcomes of these efforts (fielded, in work, terminated, etc.) 15)Does your company have the capability to develop, integrate, and test a primary target acquisition sight (panoramic or fixed) into a heavy ground combat vehicle? Please describe specific experience and capabilities (personnel, facilities, test fixtures, modeling & simulation, etc.) with respect to direct view optics, multi-function lasers, and Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) technology. 16)Does your company have experience with integrating electric and/or hydraulic drive motors for turret stabilization? Please provide examples including turret weight. Capability: Survivability/Force Protection Survivability/Force Protection involves protecting the system and retaining the ability to perform its primary mission when attacked. Force Protection focuses on protection of the crew and occupants from life threatening incapacitation. Survivability/Force protection is key performance parameters for the tank. Effective survivability is provided in layers and does not rely on a single technological approach. The Abrams tank will include armor (both passive and reactive), hit avoidance, and Signature Management approaches. Questions: 17) Does your company have experience designing, fabricating, and integrating armor to protect the heavy combat vehicle? Please provide specific examples of the vehicles for which your company has completed this type of work. 18)Describe your experience with a Hit Avoidance System to include Active Protection System (APS) and sensor counter measures. 19)Describe your companys experience with Signature Management (Infrared, Visual, Acoustic, Electromagnectic, and Radar) of heavy combat vehicles? Capability: RAM Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (RAM) are essential elements of mission capability. Reliability is the probability that an item will perform a required function under stated conditions for a specified period of time. Reliability also has sub-components to be considered including: durability, mission reliability, and logistics reliability. Availability is a measure of the degree to which an item is in an operable state and can be committed at the start of a mission when the mission is called for at a random point in time. Availability as measured by the user is a function of how often failures occur and corrective maintenance is required, how often preventative maintenance is performed, how quickly indicated failure can be isolated and repaired, how quickly preventative maintenance tasks can be performed, and how long logistics support delays contribute to down time. Maintainability is the ability of an item to be retained in, or restored to, a specified condition when maintenance is performed by personnel having specified skill levels, using prescribed procedures and resources, at each prescribed level of maintenance and repair. Questions: 20) Does your company currently utilize an in-house reliability program plan per the DoD adopted industry standard GEIA-STD-0009? Please explain your process. 21) Do you use the following reliability engineering and management tools: Failure Modes and Effects Criticality Analysis (FMECA), and reliability growth techniques (Reliability Growth Curves)? Please explain. 22) Do you use a Failure Reporting Analysis and Corrective Action System (FRACAS) as part of your reliability program? Please explain your process for FRACAS. 23)Do you focus on reliability improvement during design, production, sustainment, or continuously? Please specify. 24)Do you rely on test-fix-test-fix-test (TFTFT) processes to improve the reliability of a system? Please explain your reliability improvement processes. Capability: Test & Evaluation The Test and Evaluation program will effectively and efficiently analyze test results against user requirements. Data input into the analysis will be from Government and contractor test sites. Supporting the analysis, testing will incorporate the RAM growth curve process. Throughout the test planning process, detailed criteria will be established for all major test activities. Proven US Army test management practices will be followed to ensure that specific attributes will be adequately tested and evaluated. Development Test events will ensure that system capabilities are tested and document whether operational threshold and objective capabilities are met. This will determine if the contractor proposed vehicles will be operationally effective suitable and survivable. Vehicle capabilities and evaluations will address safety, technical performance, system capabilities, mission sustainability, survivability and RAM. Questions: 25)Describe your in-house testing capabilities. How have you applied MIL-STD-810? 26)Please describe your experience with Government testing requirements such as component qualification testing, writing technical reports, and Safety Assessment Reports using DI-SAFT-80102b. 27)What data analysis tools and data recorders for test and evaluation do you use? Give examples of how you have applied MATLAB and CAGE to data analysis. 28)Describe your Quality Management System (QMS). Is your company ISO 9001 certified? Capability: Logistics Incorporation of the ten Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) elements as required in each life cycle phase is critical for the Government to acquire a system that is affordable (lowest LCC), operable, supportable, sustainable, transportable, and environmentally compliant. Carrying out ILS requirements is an integral part of the system engineering effort and correlates directly to Logistics Product Data (LPD) development. LPD is comprised of support and support-related engineering and logistics data needed for material management process and is standardized in data element and exchange structured formats. LPD is principal to decision making as information related to logistics design requirements, reliability and maintainability, system safety, maintenance engineering, support and test equipment, training and training devices, manpower and skills, computer resources, facilities, transportation, supply support, and parts packaging is registered. LPD Entity examples: AA-Operations and Maintenance Level Requirement; AB-Reliability, Availability and Maintainability; AC-Maintenance Level Requirement, AD-Organization Level Requirement; and AE-Skill Operations and Maintenance Requirement. The LPD Summaries (reports by compiled entities) consists of information necessary for the Government to conduct logistics planning and analysis, influence program decisions, assess design status, and verify contractor performance. Questions: 29)Describe your organizations experience and capability in planning, establishing and managing an Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) Program that incorporates the following ILS Elements. This includes identifying computer-based tools/systems utilized (Reference AR 700-127): (1) Maintenance Planning (2)Manpower and Personnel (3)Supply Support (4)Equipment Support (5)Technical Data (6)Training and Training Support (7)Computer Resources Support (8)Facilities (9)Packaging, Handling, Storage, and Transportation (10) Design Influence 30)Describe your organizations experience, skill, and capability of developing (1) Logistics Product Data, (2) Logistics Product Data Summaries, (3) Logistics Management Information (LMI) using DoD adopted industry standard GEIA-STD-0007 (Logistics Product Data) and military standard MIL-PRF-49506 (Logistics Management Information). Identify computer-based tools/systems utilized to manage and generate these product data items. ----- End of Questionnaire -----
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- Place of Performance
- Address: TACOM Contracting Center (TACOM-CC) ATTN: AMSTA-AQ-AMB, E Eleven Mile Road Warren MI
- Zip Code: 48397-5000
- Zip Code: 48397-5000
- Record
- SN02015618-W 20091204/091203000956-3135d4d43105f3b4e5eba974028bfd85 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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