SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Arctic Craft Demonstration - BAA HSCG32-12-R-R00010
- Notice Date
- 1/30/2012
- Notice Type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard (USCG), Contracting Office, USCG Research and Development Center, 1 Chelsea Street, New London, Connecticut, 06320-5506, United States
- ZIP Code
- 06320-5506
- Solicitation Number
- HSCG32-12-R-R00010
- Point of Contact
- Joyce M Overton, Phone: 860-271-2886
- E-Mail Address
-
joyce.m.overton@uscg.mil
(joyce.m.overton@uscg.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Ombudsman Notice Sample Statement of Work - BAA HSCG32-12-R-R00010 Broad Ageny Announcement - Arctic Craft Demonstration This announcement constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.102(d)(2). No Request for Proposal (RFP), solicitation, or other announcement will be made. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Research and Development Center (RDC) will not issue paper copies of this announcement. As the multi-year ice within the Polar Regions recedes, the Coast Guard (CG) is preparing for the possibility of increased operations within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) north of Alaska. It is anticipated that these operations, in the Arctic environment, will fall within nine of the 11 statutory CG missions. The nine are; Aids to Navigation, Defense Readiness, Ice Operations, Living Marine Resources, Marine Environmental Protection, Marine Safety, Other Law Enforcement, Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security, and Search and Rescue. A general description of the missions can be found at http://www.uscg.mil/top/missions/. Counter-Drug Interdiction and Alien Migrant Interdiction operations are currently not included. In the non-Polar regions, these same nine missions are typically accomplished by Coast Guard's boat stations and Coast Guard boat crews operating the Response Boat Medium (RB-M). To accomplish the nine missions in the Arctic, the CG Arctic Craft will need to have certain capabilities uniquely suitable for this challenging environment because the operational environment of the north slope of Alaska is significantly different from the non-Polar environments where the Coast Guard boat crews currently operate. Differences include the varying ice conditions encountered, extreme cold, a silted ocean floor, high waves that build quickly, and a lack of any infrastructure to support operations. Current Coast Guard boats, such as the RB-M, have not been specifically designed for these conditions. The RB-M is an aluminum, self-righting, high-speed, multi-mission capable boat, operable from non-Polar shore stations. In addition, there are a number of logistical issues unique to the Arctic. For example, all equipment used by the Coast Guard is transported by C-130 aircraft due to lack of transportation infrastructure. In addition, Arctic Areas of Responsibility (AORs) are typically located in geographic areas that are so remote that traditional maintenance on the craft may not always be accomplished at the recommended intervals. This can be caused by lack of equipment, lack of a maintenance facility, limited supplies and other logistical hurdles. Currently the Coast Guard is conducting research to identify Arctic Craft that are fully capable of performing similar functions to those that are traditionally preformed by RB-M type craft, which are able to respond rapidly to Coast Guard missions, or conduct planned patrols and training in non-Polar CG AORs. Some of these functions include: search and rescue, recovery of persons from the water, transfer of persons and equipment from boat to boat, towing of disabled craft, transfer of persons to and from CG helicopters, medical assistance, fire fighting and rescue assistance, recreational boat safety, marine environmental protection, enforcement of laws and treaties, port security and safety, and defense operations and contingency preparedness. The difference would be to perform these similar functions while operating in the Arctic's shallow waters and among ice floes while insulating the crew from the inherent cold weather environment. Further, the Craft needs to be able to accomplish the missions while operating in the north and northwest Alaska coastal areas where the maritime infrastructure lacks developed boat ramps and piers. Construction of such ramps and piers is impractical due to the extreme environmental conditions and constant movement of silt and ice along the coast. Boats used in this region are primarily launched directly from the shore. The waters along the North Slope are shallow near the beach and remain shallow for a considerable distance off shore. To further exacerbate this problem, the seafloor is comprised of very fine silt particles that are easily taken into mechanical systems operating in the waters. Finally, the strong winds and unimpeded fetch result in significant wave height. It is anticipated that the CG will not attempt to build infrastructure in the near future. Therefore the CG is looking for Arctic craft that can overcome these operational and logistical obstacles. Because of the multi-mission nature of the CG and it operations, craft that can perform a significant number of the nine statutory CG missions anticipated in the Arctic are of the most interest. At this time the CG does not have craft capable of efficiently and effectively supporting multiple operations in the Arctic environment on a level equivalent to that of the RB-M in other AORs. It is highly unlikely that there is one craft that will effectively support all CG mission requirements anywhere let alone the extreme environment of the Alaskan Northern Slope. Under this BAA, the Coast Guard is seeking to demonstrate innovative craft that have the best combination of capabilities to accomplish the broadest range of CG mission objectives in the Arctic Environment.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DHS/USCG/USCGRDC/HSCG32-12-R-R00010/listing.html)
- Record
- SN02663902-W 20120201/120130234726-73d794a3b4eebb85d11dfdbb31dec664 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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