SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Unmanned Aircraft Systems Services USAFA
- Notice Date
- 1/6/2010
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 611512
— Flight Training
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Air Force, Direct Reporting Units, USAF Academy - 10 MSG/LGC, 8110 Industrial Drive, Suite 200, USAF Academy, Colorado, 80840-2315
- ZIP Code
- 80840-2315
- Solicitation Number
- FA7000-10-R-0020
- Point of Contact
- Nicole M. Allen, Phone: 7193338265, James E. Uram, Phone: 7193334703
- E-Mail Address
-
nicole.allen@usafa.af.mil, james.uram@usafa.af.mil
(nicole.allen@usafa.af.mil, james.uram@usafa.af.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This announcement serves as a Sources Sought synopsis issued for the purpose of market research in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10. This Sources Sought is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation nor is this notice a request for quotation. DO NOT submit a quote or proposal in response to this synopsis. For the purpose of this acquisition, the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code is 611512 and the applicable size standard is $25.5M. The proposed contract is anticipated to be a firm-fixed price contract with a base period and four, one-year option periods. It is this agency's intention to do an unrestricted acquisition unless enough qualified small businesses (SB) are located with serious intentions to propose on our requirement allowing for a set-aside. The 10th Contracting Squadron reserves the right to determine if a SB set-aside is appropriate. Additionally, we reserve the right to determine if one of the targeted socio-economic programs (HUB Zone small business, Small Business Administration (SBA) subcontractors referred to as "8(a)" contractors eligible under Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 USC 637(a)), or SDVO small business) is appropriate for a set-aside based on responses to this notice and other pertinent information gathered by the contracting officer. In order for the 10th Contracting Squadron to make a SB set-aside determination, it is emphasized that SB concerns provide sufficient written information to indicate their capacity and capability to successfully perform and manage all the required services. The purpose of this notice is to identify companies capable and qualified to provide operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) at the United States Air Force Academy, CO 80840. Small to medium sized vehicles are necessary to model the size, scope, and controls future Air Force officers will encounter in the operational environment; smaller scale UAS systems do not meet the educational objectives. Contractor is to provide all necessary equipment, transportation, communications, remote computer operations, power, personnel, and other resources required to provide a self-contained, comprehensive orientation to operation of the UAS and components such as sensors, auto-pilot and other systems involved in research and reconnaissance operations. Familiarization and demonstration must include the ability for students to participate in experiential in a dual-controlled instructor override environment. Contractor will be responsible for all aspects of flight safety during the orientation/demonstration program. The goal of the operational orientation and demonstration is to reinforce concepts that will be delivered by USAFA instructors in areas such as weather, planning, mission development, tactics, intelligence surveillance, reconnaissance, and airmanship concepts. All responsible, capable, and interested business concerns serious about potentially providing a proposal to provide these services are invited to respond. Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this sources sought synopsis is voluntary and the Government does not intend to pay for any information provided under this synopsis. Written responses will not be returned. If you are not interested in supplying this service, no response is necessary. The objectives of this program are as follows: UAS/ISR PROGRAM OBJECTIVES: 1. Provide Air Force Academy cadets and staff with UAS/ISR academic knowledge, experiential learning, operational familiarization, and research foundation to support Air Force combat operations and future development of unmanned systems and the ISR mission area. The focus of the USAFA UAS familiarization program is to mirror the US Air Force's strategic level vision of unmanned systems. 2. Provide the Air Force with a research center supporting future and ongoing mission operations in the UAS/ISR mission area, thus enhancing further development of advanced unmanned systems. 3. Fulfill the Air Force Academy cadet leadership requirement for graduation. AIRMANSHIP PROGRAM COMPONENTS: The Academy's UAS/ISR airmanship programs will run in parallel with current airmanship programs and will consist of the following component levels. UAS/ISR Airmanship First-level: Airmanship 100, Airmanship Orientation, provides an opportunity for all Basic Cadets to experience an airfield environment and exposure to rated officers and airmanship activities. The UAS/ISR program will fold into the Airmanship 100 course and will consist of observation of a UAS flight performing a basic ISR mission. The objective of the familiarization is to expose all basic cadets to UAS operations supporting ISR. UAS/ISR Airmanship Second-level (taken during the cadet's third-class year): Airmanship 200 - Basic UAS and ISR Education for 324 cadets per year. A cadre of instructor cadets will serve as leadership and instructional cadre. This UAS/ISR course will cover basic flight operations, UAS preparation and support, mission planning, mission programming, launch and recovery, mission handoff, and ISR concepts. The objective is to have cadets gain knowledge and general flight experience Summer: AM-200 will be a half summer block course (10 days). Class load will be 30 students in each of six class periods for a total of 180 students. - Each crew obtains six instructional flights and one comprehensive evaluation with each flight lasting approximately one hour. Fall: AM-200 will be a half semester course. These lessons tie into the established Physical Education blocks. Class load will be 72 students. - Each crew obtains six instructional flights and one comprehensive evaluation with each flight lasting approximately 40 minutes. Spring: AM-200 will be a half semester course Class load will be 72 students. - Each crew obtains six instructional flights and one comprehensive evaluation with each flight lasting approximately 40 minutes. Airmanship 201 - Advanced Fundamentals of Air Force Unmanned Aviation and ISR (Summer Airmanship-200 prerequisite) for 48 cadets per year. A cadre of 48 cadets, selected from Airmanship 200, will progress to this UAS/ISR mission planning and execution course. The course will combine flight and simulator operations and laboratory work to teach advanced UAS operations, sensor systems operation, ISR search concepts, sensor control and target recognition, split operations, command and control, ground force immediate re-tasking, and hands on flight operations, including launch, recovery and hand-off for mission execution. This course will integrate UAS flight operations, ISR techniques and capabilities, and C2 laboratory experiential learning. - Students will also participate in AOC and ground SOF duties. - Each crew obtains four instructional flights and one comprehensive mission evaluation with each flight lasting approximately 40 minutes. - Each crew obtains two mission oriented practice simulator flights and a mission oriented sim check. Airmanship 202 - Advanced Unmanned Aircraft Systems Education (Airmanship 201 prerequisite) for 48 cadets per year. It will build upon previous UAS/ISR experiences, completing cadet airmanship experiential immersion. This course will prepare cadets to be instructor pilots for future classes. Each student is required to obtain at least four instructional flights and pass an instructor qualification evaluation as well as Emergency Procedures Simulator evaluation. - Each crew obtains five instructional flights and one comprehensive evaluation with each flight lasting approximately 40 minutes. - Each student receives two Emergency Procedure practice rides along with an EP eval. UAS/ISR Airmanship Third/Fourth-level: Airmanship 400 - UAS Instructor Pilot (Airmanship 202 prerequisite). During the cadets second-degree and first-degree summer, the 48 member cadre (those who have completed all three gates (Airmanship 200, 201, and 202) will be qualified UAS/ISR instructor pilots (IP) and will be the leadership and instructional cadre teaching upcoming cadets in the Airmanship 200/201/202 courses. UAS/ISR Continuation training: In order to facilitate currency and recency of experience requirements each cadet instructor will be required to perform a currency flight, as either the sensor or pilot operator, lasting approximately one hour every month. Officer instructors will be required to perform one hour as either pilot or sensor once every sixty days. Resource Estimates ~ 3,050 hrs: UA 100: 50 hrs UA 200: 1,195 hrs UA 201: 225 hrs UA 202: 375 hrs Continuation Training: 250 hrs/ Staff CT 500 Research Support: 500 hrs (Research support will be concurrent with the class schedule; contractor will receive one week notice prior to any research flights). UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS AIRCRAFT AND SYSTEMS REQUIREMENTS - FAA Certified for normal category or higher - aircraft must be able to obtain an FAA UAS COA certification for operations over prescribed flight area - Minimum of 3000 flight hours in an operational environment - Crosswind capability up to 15 Knots - Aircraft Weight & Balance: capable of accepting a payload (other than sensor ball) with a flight duration fuel load of 5 or more hours. Payload capacity must exceed 1 cubic foot. - Aircraft must maintain safe operations regardless of payload weight between zero and 100 lbs - Flight duration: Capable of 5 hrs minimum uninterrupted flight. - Climb rate: Minimum 152 feet per nautical mile (FPM) at 10,000' density altitude with max fuel to meet standard TERPS climb gradient - Cruise speed: Must be capable of slow cruise of 40 KTAS. Dash speed must be a minimum of 80 KTAS. - Sustained Operations at up to 16000' pressure altitude - Performance: capable of standard rate turns within 750' radius at cruise speed - Aborted takeoff: at 10,000' density altitude, zero headwind, dry runway, at maximum takeoff weight, accelerate to takeoff speed using normal takeoff procedures, pause three seconds, reduce power to idle, and stop the aircraft using maximum braking within 1700 feet of initiation of takeoff roll. This is based on projected takeoff operations from Aardvark (1950 feet runway), takeoff roll of 500', reject speed of 50 KTAS, max abort procedures - Minimum airframe weight 25 lbs - Flight manual: aircraft flight manual will provide all necessary technical information to derive applicable operating limits and boldface (Critical Action Procedures) for student training. - Fuel: any of: 100 LL, AV gas, or standard automotive fuel (unleaded or diesel) - Avionics: differential Global Positioning System (GPS), IFF with mode c capability. - Stall (Desired) automatic detection/protection from impending stall (airspeed override to prevent stall) - Autopilot capable of autonomous launch and recovery, autonomous waypoint navigation, autonomous loiter, emergency mission recovery, and altitude hold mode - Sensor ball requirements: both E/O and IR capable, auto focus, 5 X optical zoom, gimbal stabilized, GCS controllable/selectable. Aircraft must be able to accept reconfigurable payload configurations. 180 degree slew capacity is threshold. SAR capability and signals intelligence capability desired. E/O and IR sensors shall have the ability to manually area and point track targets (both moving and stationary) with the capability to maintain target track. - A forward mounted camera for pilot situational awareness is desired. - Onboard power: onboard generator enough to power platform systems plus enough to power research projects (>5 watts) - Noise level: Aircraft fly-over noise levels must be in compliance with Federal Aviation Regulation Part 36 - System should provide an open physical and software interface for payload integration onto the aircraft. (Enables rapid integration for research payloads) - Ground Control Station based on an open systems software architecture framework. Interface control documents provided for use in developing GCS software capabilities. Modular capabilities to include: -- Command and Control, and monitoring of research payloads -- Sensor product exploitation software -- Mapping software and situational awareness tools -- Pilot and sensor operator collaboration tools -- Autonomous navigation algorithms -- Multi-aircraft control algorithms - GCS Software shall incorporate software and/or hardware constraints to ensure all hazards that might result from operator error or improper and/or unintentional input of navigation, control, payload operation, or environmental data is prevented through software monitoring and checks of operator input(s) - GCS shall incorporate separate networks for flight control and payload control that allows new research payloads to be integrated without requiring extensive regression testing. - GCS must support remote C2 connections to enable remote command and control. - GCS instrumentation shall be similar to aircraft to include: altitude readout, airspeed, GPS icon overlay on moving map, engine performance sensors, battery sensors, attitude indicator, and uplink/downlink signal strength indicator - GCS shall allow for fusion of sensor product information to allow training on cross-cueing of intelligence information - GCS shall allow for pre-mission planning as well as dynamic retasking of air vehicle. - GCS shall have the ability to provide the operator predictive awareness of lost link emergency profile - Communications: -- System must be able to spectrum frequency approval of local spectrum manager -- Communications must support line of sight transmit/receive on multiple discrete frequencies, 2.4 GHz video transmission capability, and bi-directional communications with research payloads -- (Desired) Backup Satellite command and control capability -- Downlink compatible with ROVER or similar ground remote video device. - (Desired) Capable of sense and avoid. - Aircraft flight controls in GCS (desired) stick and throttle control inputs. Interested businesses shall provide the following information: A. Company name, mailing address, cage code, DUNS number, point of contact (POC), POC telephone number and e- mail address. B. Business size status (i.e. 8(a), HUBZone, Woman/Women Owned or Service Disabled Veteran-Owned, small business, large business, etc.). C. Answers to the following questions: SAFETY/AIRCRAFT 1. Can you provide brief synopsis documenting previous operational training experience? 2. Does your company have at least 3000 mishap-free flying hours with the aircraft you propose to use or a similar aircraft? 3. Do you have experience operating multiple aircraft simultaneously? Explain. 4. Does your company have a formal certification process for crew members to ensure they are qualified to operate the aircraft to meet all of the USAFA requirements? Can you provide documentation to demonstrate certification? 5. Which aircraft model do you propose to use? How many of this type aircraft do you own? Will you have spares available to ensure there will be no interruption in USAFA training? 6. What is the maximum payload capacity of your aircraft? FLYING CLEARANCES 1. Are you experienced with the COA/SOAR processes? Do you have an active COA? 2. Have you ever completed a frequency approval form, DD1494? Has it been approved at the Air Force level? TRAINING 1. Can you provide formal training and all necessary documents regarding the proposed aircraft to the USAFA faculty and staff prior to the start of performance? Will you also be able to provide intermittent training for new staff members? 2. Can you provide simulation software specific to the aircraft you intend to propose which can used from a laptop or desktop computer system? 3. The goal of the USAFA program is to provide strategic level training to our cadets. Are you capable of delivering this type of training? GENERAL 1. How much of the work will be performed by your company? What portions will be subcontracted? 2. Since this program will directly involve USAFA cadets, timeliness and professionalism are essential. Can you provide a brief synopsis which verifies experience in a professional, military environment? If your firm is capable and qualified to provide the services required respond in writing to the point of contact indicated within this announcement. Responses are due no later than 4:00 PM (MST) on 8 February 2010 by e-mail. Questions and responses should be addressed to the Primary POC Nicole Allen, 719 333-3629 or sent by e-mail to nicole.allen@usafa.af.mil. Alternate POC is James Uram, Contracting Officer, (719) 333-4703, james.uram@usafa.af.mil. This is only a Source Sought notice and IS NOT a Request for Proposal (RFP). No solicitation is being issued at this time, and this notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. Contractors must have a current registration with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) at http://www.ccr.gov and with Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) at http://orca.bpn.gov by time of award.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/DRU/10ABWLGC/FA7000-10-R-0020/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: 8110 Industrial Drive Suite 200, USAFA, Colorado, 80840, United States
- Zip Code: 80840
- Zip Code: 80840
- Record
- SN02035835-W 20100108/100106235554-b3fea0db4275398da3244430a7c98f9a (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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