R&D Contracting Directorate, Bldg 7, 2530 C Street, WPAFB, OH 45433-7607

A -- ADVANCED VECHICLE MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM SOL PRDA 98-02-FIK DUE 021798 POC 2Lt Jarens Murray, Contract Negotiator, (937) 255-5901, Mr Lawrence W. Kopa, Contracting Officer, (937) 255-5901 INTRODUCTION: Wright Laboratory (WL/FIG) is interested in receiving proposals (technical and cost) on the research effort described below. Proposals in response to the PRDA shall be submitted by February 17, 1998, 1500 hours, Eastern Time, addressed to Wright Laboratory, Directorate Of R&D Contracting, Building 7, Area B, ATTN: Mr. Lawrence W. Kopa, WL/FIKA, Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7607. Proposals submitted shall be in accordance with this announcement. Proposal submission after the cutoff date specified herein shall be treated in accordance with restrictions of FAR 52.215-1(c)(3); a copy of this provision may be obtained from the contracting point of contact. There will be no formal Request For Proposal (RFP) or other solicitation issued in regard to this requirement. Offerors should be alert for any PRDA amendments that may be published. This PRDA may be amended to allow subsequent submission of proposal dates. Offerors who do not already have a copy of the current Wright Laboratory guide entitled "PRDA BAA Guide for Industry" may request a copy from the contracting point of contact cited in this announcement. This guide was specifically designed to assist offerors in understanding the PRDA/BAA proposal process. This guide is also available for review on the WL/PK contracting home page at http://www.wl.wpafb.af.mil/contract/hp.htm. B -- REQUIREMENTS: (1) Technical Description: The overall goal of the Advanced Vehicle Management Technology (AVMT) program is to mature and reduce risk for high payoff photonic vehicle management system (PVMS) technologies. The objective is to develop and demonstrate critical aspects of the next generation Fly-By-Light (FBL) architecture required to meet the needs of 21st century air vehicles. By the end of the effort, all technology developed under AVMT shall achieve at least a technology readiness level (TRL) 4, based on the TRL's defined, by the Fixed Wing Vehicle Program, as follows: TRL 1 -- Basic Principles Observed and Reported; TRL 2 -- Technology Concept and/or Application Formulated; TRL 3 -- Analytical and Experimental Critical Function and/or Characteristic Proof-of-Concept; TRL 4 -- Component and/or Breadboard Validation in Laboratory Environment; TRL 5 -- Component and/or Breadboard Validation in Relevant Environment; TRL 6 -- System/Subsystem Model or Prototype Demonstration in a Relevant Environment; TRL 7 -- System Prototype Demonstration in an Operational Environment; TRL 8 -- Actual System Completed and "Flight Qualified" Through Test and Demonstration; and TRL 9 -- Actual System "Flight Proven" Through Successful Mission Operations. To date, the development of FBL Flight Control System (FCS) technology has centered around optical sensor and data bus components. First generation FBL FCS architectures have been demonstrated using bus-centered designs using Remote Interface Units (RIU's) for signal distribution. However, these architectures have shown little or no capability for weight or cost savings over existing Fly-By-Wire (FBW) FCS designs, particularly for tactical fighter sized aircraft. The reason is that these designs only make limited use of the advantages of photonics (i.e. inherent weight savings, high bandwidth, direct interfacing, etc.) by replacing electrical digital serial data buses with optical serial data buses. FBL has evolved in this direction largely due to the immaturity of direct photonic interfaces to sensors and actuators via optical-to-mechanical/mechanical-to-optical conversion devices. The intent of the AVMT program is to develop a second generation FBL flight control system architecture that takes maximum advantage of optical technology. The fundamental issue of FBL FCS architecture involves the multiplicity of signal lines (analog and discrete) to and from sensors and actuators in a FCS. In order to achieve the full benefit from the potential of FBL, these interfaces to control input/output devices must be addressed. Furthermore, research is currently underway to develop new air vehicle configurations and new control functions to provide significant performance and mission capability benefits at the air vehicle level. This research, along with increased integration of vehicle functions, are resulting in continuously increasing demands being levied on current Vehicle Management System (VMS) architectures. As this trend toward new air vehicle configurations, new control functionality, and the integration of the vehicle systems continues, the complexity of these systems also continues to increase. This increased complexity results in systems that are ever more difficult to successfully develop, integrate, verify and validate within the requirements of reduced size, weight, cost and schedule. The objective of the AVMT program is to: (a) Define a baseline photonic based FBL FCS architecture that is extensible to a photonic based VMS; (b) Establish technology development plans for technologies requiring maturation; (c) Demonstrate in a laboratory environment one or more key technologies leading to a Photonic based VMS; and (d) Define a program plan to reduce the cost and development time of flight control systems. Offerors are asked to submit technical and cost proposals for the maturation of high payoff photonic vehicle management technologies. This effort will require the following four activities: (a) The contractor shall define and develop a second generation FBL FCS architecture. In the process of defining the architecture, the contractor shall consider the performance requirements of tactical aircraft. The contractor shall also consider factors including, but not limited to, cost, weight, and producibility. The contractor shall explain how the architecture can be extended to a photonic based VMS. The contractor shall perform an analysis to establish performance, weight and life cycle cost benefits that are achievable over existing architectures. The contractor shall develop a plan to bring the architecture to a TRL 6 by the end of 2003. (b) The contractor shall identify critical technologies and integration issues associated with second generation FBL FCS architecture. The contractor shall evaluate the current state of these technologies and assign both technology readiness levels and technology availability dates. The contractor shall develop a list of all supporting technologies that require maturation and demonstration and prioritize the list based on risk. The contractor shall provide an estimate of the required funding and development time for each technology. (c) The contractor shall select one or more key technologies, based on available funding, to demonstrate in a laboratory environment. The contractor shall develop a demonstration plan detailing the technology or technologies to be demonstrated and the method of demonstration. The contractor shall execute the demonstration plan. (d) The contractor shall develop a plan to reduce the cost and development time of flight control systems. The plan shall include, but is not limited to the following: an innovative approach for flight control system verification and validation; Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) practices; COTS hardware; COTS software; software re-use; open architectures; and commercial/industry standards. The successful completion of the AVMT program will show that: (a) as an enabling technology, sufficient capability exists to support the implementation of the next generation of flight control concepts; (b) the technologies will be producible, reliable, and maintainable; (c) the technologies can achieve both cost and weight reduction over current systems; (d) the second generation FBL FCS architecture and its supporting technologies are extensible to a photonic vehicle management system; and (e) the technologies are mature enough to transition into a photonic vehicle management system advanced development and demonstration program. (2) Deliverable Items: Data and Reports: During the program, contractors will deliver data and reports. The amount and type of data and reports is dependent on the type of contractual award. It is the intent of the Air Force to permit the contractor to exercise considerable freedom in providing the minimum documentation to satisfy the requirements of the participating government organizations. Minimum documentation shall be as follows: reports to track contractor progress versus expenditures and analysis criteria and data to support demonstration of achievement of the programs goals and objectives. The CDRL's contain much more than this and the contractor should make recommendations as to which of these can be eliminated. The following deliverable data items are suggested: (a) Status Report, DI-MGMT-80368/T, monthly; (b) Funds and Man-Hour Expenditure Report, DI-FNCL-80331/T, monthly; (c) Project Planning Chart, DI-MGMT-80507 A/T, monthly; (d) Presentation Material, DI-ADMN-81373/T, as required; (e) Scientific and Technical Reports, DI-MISC-80711/T, (Draft and Reproducible Final); (f) Contract Funds Status Report (CFSR), DI-MGMT-81468/T, quarterly; and (g) Scientific and Technical Reports, Contractors' Billing Voucher, DI-MISC-80711/T, monthly. The contractor shall be required to attend a kickoff meeting at WPAFB, OH to be held within 30 days after contract award. The contractor shall conduct performance reviews at approximately 3 month intervals or at critical milestones alternating between the contractor's facility and WPAFB, OH. (3) Security Requirements: It is anticipated that work performed under this contract will be unclassified. The use of foreign nationals in performance of this contract shall be subject to Air Force Contracting Officer review and approval. (4) Other Special Requirements: International Trade in Arms Regulations apply. All technical data resulting from this program will be releasable to industry after completion of the final report. C -- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: (1) Anticipated period of performance: The total length of this effort is estimated to be 40 months which includes 4 months for processing and completion of the final report. (2) Expected Award Date: June 1998. (3) Government Estimate: The government anticipates a total of approximately $900,000 distributed as follows: FY98-$100,000; FY99-$280,000; FY00-$280,000; and FY01-$240,000. This funding profile is an estimate only and is not a promise for funding as all funding is subject to change due to Government discretion and availability. (4) Type of Contract: Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF), cost (no fee), or other cost share cooperative agreements. Any grants awarded will be cost (no fee). (5) Government Furnished Equipment: It is the offeror's responsibility to identify and arrange for use of any equipment, be it contractor-owned and furnished or government-owned and furnished. (6) Size Status: For the purpose of this acquisition, the size standard is 1000 employees (SIC 8731). (7) Notice to Foreign-Owned Firms: Such firms are asked to immediately notify the Air Force point of contact cited below upon deciding to respond to this announcement. Foreign contractors should be aware that restrictions may apply which could preclude their participation in this acquisition. D -- PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS: (1) General Instructions: Offerors should apply the restrictive notice prescribed in the provision at FAR 52.215-1(e), Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data, to trade secrets or privileged commercial and financial information contained in their proposals. Proposal questions should be directed to one of the points of contact listed elsewhere herein. Offerors should consider instructions contained in PRDA and BAA Guide for Industry referenced in this announcement. Technical and cost proposals, submitted in separate volumes, are required and must be valid for 180 days. Proposals must reference the above PRDA number. In an effort to move toward paperless contracting, you are encouraged to submit your cost and technical proposals via electronic means on computer disk or CD ROM. Please note that classified information shall NOT be submitted on disk. If proposals will be submitted by electronic means, submit two paper copies and two electronic copies. The disks shall be 3 inch high density disk or CD ROM with proposals in Microsoft Word Version 6.0 format. If proposals are not submitted on computer disk or CD ROM, they shall be submitted in an original and six copies. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which shall be considered against the criteria set forth herein. Offerors are advised that only contracting officers are legally authorized to contractually bind or otherwise commit the Government. (2) Cost Proposal: The accompanying cost/price breakdown shall be supplied on a SF 1411, together with supporting schedules, and shall contain a person-hour breakdown per task. Copies of the above referenced forms may be obtained from the contracting officer cited herein. (3) Technical Proposal: The technical proposal shall include a discussion of the nature and scope of the research and the technical approach. Additional information on prior work in this area, descriptions of facilities, and resumes of personnel who will be participating in this effort should also be included as attachments to the technical proposal and are not included in the page limit. The technical proposal shall also include a Statement of Work (SOW) detailing the technical tasks proposed to be accomplished under the proposed effort and suitable for contract incorporation. Offerors should refer to the WL Guide referenced in Section A to assist in SOW preparation. Any questions concerning the technical proposal or SOW preparation shall be referred to the technical point of contact cited in this announcement. (4) Page Limitations: The technical proposal cited in this announcement shall be limited to 50 pages (11 point font or larger type), single-sided, 8.5 by 11 inches. The page limitation includes all information, i.e. indexes, photographs, foldouts, appendices, attachments, etc. unless specifically excluded elsewhere in this announcement. Pages in excess of this limitation will not be considered by the Government. Cost proposals have no limitations; however, offerors are requested to keep costs proposals to 25 pages as a goal. (5) Offerors may include a short 10-15 minute unclassified video in VHS format to communicate their proposal or present demonstrations. The video is not a requirement. (6) Preparation Cost: This announcement does not commit the government to pay for any response preparation cost. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this PRDA is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or any other. However, it may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost as specified in FAR 31.205-18. E -- BASIS FOR AWARD: The selection of one or more sources for award will be based on an evaluation of the offeror's response, both technical and cost aspects, to determine the overall merit of the proposal in response to the announcement. The technical aspect is ranked as the first order of priority. The technical proposals received for the Advanced Vehicle Management Technology program shall be evaluated based on the following criteria, which are listed in descending order of importance: (a) The offeror's soundness of approach for developing critical technologies for the next generation Fly-By-Light (FBL) Flight Control System (FCS) and its extension to a photonics based Vehicle Management System (VMS); (b) The breadth and extent of critical technologies to be developed and demonstrated in this effort; (c) The offeror's understanding of FCS and VMS design, development, implementation and testing; (d) The offeror's understanding of fiber optics and photonics technologies; (e) The offeror's approach to achieving benefits and for assessing the maturity of technologies; (f) The offeror's approach for a laboratory demonstration; (g) The qualifications of proposed personnel, their experience with applicable technologies and the commitment of their availability for this effort; and (h) The offeror's past performance and experience with applicable FCS and VMS technology development. The contractor may provide qualifications of proposed personnel and experience information as an annex which will not count against the page limitation. Cost and/or price to the Government, which includes consideration of proposed budgets and funding profiles, is a substantial factor, but is ranked as the second order of priority. No other evaluation criteria shall be used. The technical and cost information will be evaluated at the same time. The Air Force reserves the right to select for award of a contract, grant or cooperative agreement any, all, part, or none of the proposals received. Award of a grant to universities or nonprofit institutions, or cooperative agreement, in lieu of a contract, will be considered and will be subject to the mutual agreement of the parties. F -- POINTS OF CONTACT: (1) Technical Point of Contact: Technical/Programmatic questions will only be considered in the first two weeks after publication of this solicitation. They can be directed to Program Manager, Mr. Thomas F. Dermis, WL/FIGS-1 Bldg. 146, 2210 Eighth Street, STE 11, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7521, (937) 255-8442, E-mail: dermistf@wl.wpafb.af.mil. (2) Contracting/Cost Point of Contact: Questions related to the contract/cost issues should be directed to the Wright Laboratory, Directorate of Research and Development Contracting, Lawrence W. Kopa, WL/FIKA Bldg. 7, 2530 C Street, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7607, (937) 255-5901. (3) An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear concerns from offerers or potential offerers during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the program director or Contracting Officer, but to communicate Contractor concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations to the appropriate government personnel. When requested, the Ombudsman shall maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals or in the selection decision. Interested parties are invited to contract Mr. Michael S. Coalson, ASC/SYI, telephone (937) 255-5535, ext 232, or E-mail coalsoms@sy.wpafb.af.mil. All routine communication concerning this acquisition should be directed to Lawrence W. Kopa, Contracting Officer, telephone (937) 255-5901. (0365)

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