SOURCES SOUGHT
16 -- Army MQ-1C Gray Eagle Unmannded Aircraft System (UAS) Data Link - Full RFI
- Notice Date
- 7/14/2017
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 334511
— Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, Army Contracting Command, ACC - RSA (W58RGZ) Aviation, SPARKMAN CIR BLDG 5303, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, 35898-0000, United States
- ZIP Code
- 35898-0000
- Solicitation Number
- W58RGZ-17-R-KASATCOM
- Archive Date
- 8/15/2017
- Point of Contact
- Anthony L. Jones, Phone: 2563136360
- E-Mail Address
-
anthony.l.jones295.civ@mail.mil
(anthony.l.jones295.civ@mail.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This request is for planning purposes, and shall not be construed as a solicitation announcement, invitations for bids, requests for proposals, quotes or an indication that the Government will contract for the items contained in this notice. After reviewing the descriptions currently posted to FEDBIZOPS, interested capable vendors are invited to provide responses. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any cost associated with the submissions of the information being requested nor incurred to the interested parties for responses. Additionally, your response will be treated only as information for the Government to consider. As previously stated respondents will not be entitled to payment for direct or indirect costs that are incurred in responding to this RFI. Furthermore, this request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter into negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by the Army in developing its acquisition strategy, Request for Proposal, Statement of Work/Performance Work Statements and/or Statement of Objectives. Interested parties are responsible to adequately mark proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response accordingly. Responses may include data that the contractor does not want disclosed to the public for any purpose or used by the Government except for information purposes. If your company wishes to restrict the data, the title page must be marked with the following legend: "Use and Disclosure of Data: This response includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed -- in whole or in part -- for any purpose other than to evaluate this response." Your company may also mark each sheet of data it wishes to restrict with the following legend: "Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this response." Security Requirements: Foreign participation is excluded from participating in response to this RFI. Responders must have a COMSEC account and must demonstrate the ability to maintain Defense Information Security Program Standards. Security requirements for the contract will be Secret facility and individuals for selected personnel, Secret, Sensitive Compartmented Information, and Communications Security. Potential solutions sought shall have full National Security Agency (NSA) approved Type-1 and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) level encryption capability. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized in the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOps) website. •1. Overview. This RFI provides an outline for the potential revamp of Army's Gray Eagle UAS airborne and ground data link equipment. The Army is investigating potential SATCOM and LOS equipment systems that can be inserted into the MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS, per Table 1, Figure 1, and Figure 2. The Army is interested in acquiring an overall system architect, and/or vendors that can provide systems subcomponents to include modems, encryption, frequency converters, amplifiers, directional antennas/controllers, etc. Interested companies who believe they are capable of providing all or part of the information requested are invited to respond. Table 1: Data Link Suite # Categories of Interest Platform Supportability Frequency Bands Antenna Type 1 SATCOM Airborne (SADT) Ground (SGDT) WGS, HTS Military Ka/X Commercial Ka Commercial Ku Directional 2 LOS Airborne (ADT) Airborne (ADR) Relay, MUM-T Ku Directional, Omni 3 LOS Airborne (Dissemination) RVT L - S - C - Ku Omni Figure 1: Data Link Configurations (does not include all possible configurations) Figure 2: Data Link Functions Functions are shown separately for clarity, and do not imply equipment quantities. Vendors may pose various solutions which include redundancies, physical grouping of functions, or other purpose driven design. CCM Encryption Modulation and Demodulation Ka or Ku SATCOM Antenna w/controller or Ku LOS High-Gain Directional Antenna w/controller Ku LOS Medium-Gain Directional Relay Antenna w/controller RFE SATCOM Ka/Ku LOS L/S/C/Ku Frequency Conversion Amplification and Switching Matrix To Router Ku LOS upper/lower Low-Gain Multi-Use Omni-Directional Antennas L/S/C/Ku LOS Low-Gain RVT Omni-Directional Antennas Airborne Terminal Functions (Items in blue are considered in the Revamp) Expeditionary Ka /X/ Ku SATCOM Antenna Including RFE Common Assembly Expeditionary Ka / Ku SATCOM Antenna Including RFE To Encryption via 1Km Fiber Modulation and Demodulation Fiber Optic Fixed Ka /X/ Ku SATCOM Antenna Including RFE SATCOM Ground Terminal Functions (Items in blue are considered in the Revamp) •2. Desired Capabilities. Below are cited some of the relevant desired capabilities. Respondents are encouraged to list their capabilities regardless, even if they do not match the desired. •a. Encryption utilizes Crypto Core Modernization family in the aircraft and backward compatible with KGV-135A. •b. Data Rates. • i. SATCOM: 512 Kbps to 45.736 Mbps SADT to SGDT and 512 Kbps to 4.0 Mbps SGDT to SADT. • ii. LOS (ADT/ADR): 512 Kbps to 45.736 Mbps full-duplex (274 Mbps objective). • iii. LOS (Dissemination): 512 Kbps to 10.0 Mbps. •c. Modem. • i. BE-CDL Revision B waveforms, modes 1-21 and modes 101-106, per MIL-STD-188-165A/164B. • ii. Proprietary waveforms are acceptable for SATCOM. • iii. Software defined to add new waveforms. • iv. Carrier spacing roll off factor not greater than 25%. • v. Carrier spreading • vi. All Airborne and Ground modems will be of the same type. •d. Automatic Beam Switching capability for use with HTS. •e. Non-proprietary and open standard interfaces, e.g., L-band between modem and antenna, OpenAMIP, OpenBMIP, OpenVPX, Ethernet, etc. •f. STANAG 4586 direct command and control of the datalink. •g. SGDT equipment consists of 2 terminal types that are both simple to transport and setup. • i. Expeditionary Terminal: Antenna diameter up to 3.0 meters. Supports simultaneous full-duplex operation with three Gray Eagle aircraft. • ii. Fixed Terminal: Antenna diameter up to 5.0 meters. Supports simultaneous full-duplex operation with five Gray Eagle aircraft. •h. SGDT remains operational for up to 30-minutes under full load when electrical supply power is removed. •i. WGS certification: SADT at Ka only; SGDT at Ka/X. •j. Aircraft Directional Antennas, SATCOM and High-Gain LOS • i. Full 360-degree azimuth. • ii. 100 degrees of elevation from -10 degrees to +90 degrees (no keyhole effect). • iii. less than 0.8 dB degradation during dynamic maneuvers cited in Table 2 below. Table 2: Aircraft Dynamic Manuvering Levels Directional Parameter Nominal Level Roll Angle relative to level flight (degrees) ±22 Roll Rate (degrees/second) ±6.0 Roll Acceleration (degrees/second 2 ) ±3.0 Pitch Angle relative to level flight (degrees) ±10 Pitch Rate (degrees/second) ±6.0 Pitch Acceleration (degrees/second 2 ) ±3.0 Yaw Angle relative to level flight (degrees) ±7.0 Yaw Rate (degrees/second) ±4.5 Yaw Acceleration (degrees/second 2 ) ±1.2 •k. Airborne equipment power interface accepts nominal 28VDC aircraft power source in accordance with MIL-STD-704E. •l. Ground equipment power interface accepts standard worldwide power and Army generator supplied power. •3. Physical Conditions. Below are listed the operating conditions of the Airborne terminal system. •a. Environment Conditions. • i. Operating altitude, -1,000 feet to +28,000 feet relative to sea level. • ii. Pressurization, none provided. • iii. Temperature regulation, none provided. •b. Interfaces. • i. Ethernet (payload data to be sent to the ground). • ii. RS-422 (High speed/low latency Honeywell 764 INS/GPS data to be used by data link equipment). • iii. MIL-STD-1553B interfaces (commands to data link, INS/GPS and aircraft data to be sent to the ground). •c. Space Available Under Radome for Vendor Equipment. • i. Volume #1 - 10.8" x 8.50" x 13.5" not to exceed 33.3 pounds. • ii. Volume #2 - 10.8" x 8.50" x 13.5" not to exceed 33.3 pounds. • iii. Volume #3 - 10.0" x 5.25" x 18.0" not to exceed 19.0 pounds. • iv. Volume #4 - 10.0" x 5.25" x 18.0" not to exceed 19.0 pounds. • v. Volume #5 - SADT antenna and LOS High-gain antenna volume to fit within envelope of Figure 3 below. Dimensions are in inches. Weight of antenna and controller not to exceed 65 lbs. Figure 3: Volume Envelope •4. Requested Technical Information. Fully describe each item below for one Airborne Terminal and two Ground-Based Terminals. If there is no description for an item, state "NO INFORMATION". Unless specifically stated, each item applies to the airborne and ground terminals. •a. Respond to each item in "a - o" above as it relates to your technical solution. •b. Eb/No @ 10E-6 BER before and after implementation loss for each waveform. •c. Physical dimensions of each aperture. •d. Radiation patterns of each SADT and SGDT aperture. •e. Expected G/T for each SADT and SGDT aperture. •f. Maximum linear EIRP for each SADT and SGDT aperture. •5. Requested Logistical Information •a. Provide supportability descriptions of the materiel design. • i. Supply chain process. • ii. Test, support and calibration equipment. • iii. Manpower and personnel requirements (including highly specialized or unique skill/training requirements). • iv. System documentation/technical data. •b. Provide adequacy of maintenance planning for the system (Level of Repair Analysis). • i. Define noneconomic repair criteria. • ii. Define economic repair criteria. •c. Provide Logistics Support Analysis. • i. Based on known subcomponent failure data, provide reliability centered maintenance analyses. • ii. Long lead items. • iii. Repair item list. • iv. Interim support items. • v. Tools and test equipment. • vi. Common and bulk items list. •d. Provide Human Factors Engineering (HFE) aspects and Manpower and Personnel Integration (MANPRINT). Physical Accessibility: identify structural assurance that components requiring monitoring, checkout, and maintenance can be easily accessed. •e. Provide Built-in Test (BIT) capabilities. • i. Test Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment information. • ii. Embedded Diagnostics/Prognostics and Test Program Sets. •f. Provide ground handling and maintenance equipment requirements. •g. Provide Training aids, devices, simulators, and simulations (TADSS), if any. •h. Provide the following sustainment information (breakout between airborne and ground equipment): • i. Cost to repair. • ii. Estimate mean down time = total downtime/number of failures. •i. Provide descriptions of how the airborne and ground equipment are safe, suitable, and supportable by defining: • i. Expendable material listing (common items). • ii. Nonexpendable material (specific items). • iii. High density material expendables listing. • iv. Developmental support equipment (common support items). • v. Non-developmental support equipment (specific support items). • vi. Developmental cryptographic materiel (common cryptographic). • vii. Non-developmental cryptographic materiel (specific cryptographic.) • viii. Software or block upgrades (Government-owned or non-developmental). •j. Provide a description of how the airborne and ground equipment can be supported by organic and contract service support. •k. Provide a description of how the Logistics Support Analysis (LSA) are supported: • i. When and by whom LSA Plan actions will be performed. • ii. Supportability requirements, constraints and recommendations. • iii. If available, include a Use Study, the Maintenance Concept and required LSA type data elements. •6. Requested Company Information Interested companies who believe they are capable of providing all or part of the information requested above are invited to indicate their interest by also providing: •a. Company name. •b. Company address. •c. CAGE code [if applicable]. •d. Business Point of Contact (POC) name, e-mail address, and telephone. •e. Technical Point of Contact (POC) name, e-mail address, and telephone. •7. Responses may be submitted in respondent's preferred format and consist of no more than 25 pages. Abbreviations should be defined either on first use or in a glossary. Charts and graphics should have quantitative data clearly labeled. Assumptions should be clearly identified. •8. Proprietary and other sensitive information should be so marked with requested disposition instructions. Submitted materials will not be returned. •9. E-mail is the preferred method of receipt. Please send responses to the POC listed below. •10. Paper submissions, electronic media (preferred), or physical samples may be sent to the Contracting Office Address provided below. •11. Reponses are requested by not later than 30 July 2017. Interested parties are encouraged to respond early. •12. Submitted responses shall be UNCLASSIFIED unless prior arrangements are made with UAS PMO. •13. Contracting Office Address: US Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Project Manager's Office ATTN: Anthony L. Jones Building 5681, Wood Rd. Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898 Place of Performance: Worldwide Point of Contact(s): Anthony L. Jones, Contracting Officer anthony.l.jones295.civ@mail.mil 256-313-6360 Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after 30 July 2017 will be answered. •14. Definitions and Acronyms. ADT - Air Data Terminal ADR - Air Data Relay BE-CDL - Bandwidth Efficient Common Data Link BER - Bit Error Rate CCM - Crypto Core Modernization G/T - Gain to system noise Temperature (degrees Kelvin) EIRP - Effective Isotropic Radiated Power HTS - High Throughput Satellites LDPC -- Low Density Parity Check LOS - Line Of Sight LRU - Line Replaceable Unit LRU Assembly - single LRU containing two or more LRUs MUM-T - Manned UnManned Teaming OpenAMIP - Antenna to Modem Interface Protocol OpenBMIP - Block Upconverter to Modem Interface Protocol OpenVPX - computer bus standard - V - V ME and P - P CI and X the extents for both buses standards RVT - Remote Video Terminal RFE - Radio Frequency Equipment SADT - SATCOM Air Data Terminal SATCOM - Satellite Communications SGDT - SATCOM Ground Terminal SWaP - Size, Weight, Power TRL - Technical Readiness Level UGCS - Universal Ground Control System UGDT - Universal Ground Data Terminal
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/c4d66e3411688cd08a4359ff2f1444c4)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Worldwide, United States
- Record
- SN04579840-W 20170716/170714234629-c4d66e3411688cd08a4359ff2f1444c4 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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