Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Contracts Department, Building 129-2, Highway 547, Lakehurst, NJ 08733-5083

A -- VIRTUAL IMAGING SYSTEMS FOR APPROACH AND LANDING (VISUAL) SOL 98RFI802 POC Rita Brownlee (732)323-2749 Contracts Dept., John Zirkel (732)323-4044 Engineering Dept. WEB: Rita Brownlee, http://www.lakehurst.navy.mil/visual/visual.htm. This is a Request for Information and Notice of Conference. There is no solicitation available at this time. Respondents are also notified that a formal solicitation is not immediately anticipated. The Government will not pay for any information received in response to this RFI, nor will the Government compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing the information provided to the Government. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is seeking information from potential systems integration and supporting technologies sources who can provide, develop and integrate hardware and software to support the development of the Virtual Imaging Systems for Approach and Landing program. VISUAL is a major system upgrade to the aircraft recovery monitoring and display systems aboard US Navy aircraft carriers (CV/CVN) and amphibious assault ships (LHA/LHD). The VISUAL program will develop and integrate emerging technologies and data networks synergistically, in order to provide critical approach information to the Landing Signal Officer (LSO) and other decision makers on the ship. VISUAL consists of the following three elements: (1) Glideslope imaging sensor; (2) LSO workstation; and (3) Electro-Optical Tracking System for precision aircraft tracking and early aircraft identification and configuration assessment. See http://www.lakehurst.navy.mil/visual/visual.htm for further information. The VISUAL Program will consist of three distinct phases: (1) Program Definition and Risk Reduction (PDRR), Engineering & Manufacturing Development (E&M,D), and Production. The PDRR phase will be a three year effort (FY97-99) during which an evaluation of available technologies and an Advanced Development Model (ADM) will be used to prepare detailed performance specifications for the three elements of VISUAL. The ADM is the product of in-house Navy work at Lakehurst. At the conclusion of the PDRR phase, a systems integrator will be selected to design and fabricate Engineering Development Models (EDM). The E&M,D phase will be a four-year period (FY00-03) during which EDM's will undergo technical and operational evaluation (TECHEVAL)/OPEVAL). It is planned that the E&M,D contract will include an option for production. During the production phase the contractor will manufacture 24 shipboard and 3 shorebased units. VISUAL, in its entirety, will be deployed on twelve CV/CVN platforms and twelve LHA/LHD platforms. The Navy will host the 5th Navy/Industry IPT conference at the Naval Air Engineering Station, Lakehurst NJ on February 26, 1998 to discuss the VISUAL System Specification, ADM Design, ADM test plans and possible contractor participation during the ADM evaluation. We are inviting contractors to attend this meeting who have background in the following areas: shipboard system integration; data management; imaging sensors, laser rangefinder sensors, including infrared and low light level systems; EO tracking systems; and display systems. The ADM evaluation is tentatively scheduled for May 1998 at NAWCAD Lakehurst and will consist of a multi-day period of Naval aircraft being flown against the ADM LSO workstation and associated sensors. The purpose will be to evaluate the ADM LSO workstation design concept, displays, and operational concepts, as well as COTS sensor technology. A number of test events will be available on a not-to-interfere basis at no cost to the government for contractors to demonstrate equipment in the following areas: imaging sensors, including infrared and low light level systems; EO tracking systems; and display systems. The government reserves the right to limit the amount of contractor participation based on time constraints and prior Navy commitment for the test site. Interested contractors should provide documentation on the equipment that they wish to demonstrate by 13 Mar 1998 but it is strongly encouraged that this information be available by 26 Feb 1998 to allow for any integration/set-up efforts. Specific meeting location and agenda for the 5th Navy/Industry IPT will be provided pending receipt of participant requests to attend. Responses should be addressed by 18 Feb 1998 and sent to: Engineering Department, Building 562, Code 11X612B/John Zirkel, Naval Air Warfare Center, Lakehurst, NJ 08733. John Zirkel can be reached at (732) 323-4044 for further information. (0030)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0015 19980203\A-0015.SOL)