Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL -- Phillips Research Site, 2251 Maxwell Ave, Kirtland AFB, NM, 87177

A -- DIRECTED ENERGY EFFECTS RESEARCH (DEER) SOL PRDA99-DE04 POC Louise McDonough, Contract Specialist, Phone 505 846 9691, Fax 505 846 1546, Email mcdonoul@plk.af.mil WEB: Visit this URL for the latest information about this, http://www.eps.gov/cgi-bin/WebObjects/EPS?ACode=P&;ProjID=PRDA99-DE04&L ocID=1122. E-MAIL: Louise McDonough, mcdonoul@plk.af.mil. DIRECTED ENERGY EFFECTS RESEARCH (DEER), PRDA NO. 99-DE04. POCs: Contracting issues: Ms Louise G. McDonough, Contracting Officer, Det 8 AFRL/PKDL, 2251 Maxwell Avenue SE, Bldg 499, Room 121, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5773, 505/846-9691, fax 505/846-1546, Email address: mcdonoul@plk.af.mil; Technical issues: Dr Michael G. Harrison, AFRL/DEPE, 3550 Aberdeen Avenue SE, Bldg 909, Room 216A, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5776, 505/846-0956, fax 505/846-0566, Email harrison@plk.af.mil. Information concerning this procurement will be available on the Electronic Posting System (EPS) http://www.eps.gov. The AFRL PRDA/BAA Guide, Dated 29 Jun 98, is available at http://extra.afrl.sf.mil/policy-guides.htm. The total program budget for this effort is approximately $7.85M over a five-year period. A-INTRODUCTION: The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Directed Energy Directorate (DE), Kirtland AFB, NM is seeking innovative techniques and approaches to AFRL research requirements for the Directed Energy Effects Research Branch (DEPE). The goal of this effort is to develop innovative approaches for determining the susceptibility/vulnerability of U.S. and foreign systems to high-power microwave (HPM) environments. These new approaches would result in improvements in accuracy and efficiency over currently used techniques. The innovative approaches being sought would be applicable to experimental planning and procedures, pre- and post-experiment analysis and the area of modeling and simulation. Development and maintenance of a unique database management system for the compilation/cataloging of HPM -induced Effects on systems, subsystems and components are desired. The metric of success will be based on the improvements in capability and accuracy that can be obtained and the capability to obtain useful information with the expenditure of fewer resources. The successful offeror(s) will address the desired improvements to accuracy and efficiency of experimental procedures, the development of an effective database management system for storing and accessing the data generated by HPM effects experiments, and the feasibility of hardening military systems to HPM effects. The successful offeror(s) will exhibit one or more of the following strengths: demonstrate extensive knowledge of HPM technology related to the (AFRL/DEPE) research areas; propose innovative methods which improve the understanding of the phenomenology of HPM vulnerability research; possess a unique capability which aids AFRL/DEPE in developing a better understanding of the phenomenology of HPM vulnerability research; demonstrate innovative methods which lead to scientific advancement and breakthroughs in understanding HPM effects and physics principles; and/or demonstrate novel methods which may improve the quality of analysis and the accuracy of prediction techniques. AFRL contemplates award of Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) cost plus fixed fee (CPFF) completion contract(s) under this announcement, but may award other types of contracts or non-FAR instruments as appropriate. The government may make one, several, or no awards and may incorporate any one or more parts, or all, of the above-described requirements in an individual contract. Therefore, all interested firms are encouraged to participate in this action, even if not capable of satisfying all of the government's mission needs. Submit an offer on that part or parts of the work that you do well. A statement of objective (SOO), which further outlines four distinct task areas, and examples of related work are provided on the EPS website. While no pre-proposal conference is contemplated for this effort, prospective offerors wishing to visit AFRL facilities listed in the supplemental information package posted on the EPS may do so by contacting the technical POC cited above and arranging a visit. All visits will be escorted. Only questions directly related to the facilities will be answered. All other questions you may have after the site visit should be submitted in writing or by facsimile transmission to the contracting officer. Answers will be posted on the website as general information to all prospective offerors. B-PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS: Offerors shall submit a white paper focusing on innovative approaches (i.e., advancing the state of the art, increasing knowledge and understanding, new and creative solutions to problems, etc.), techniques, and unique capabilities which can be applied to work described herein and in the SOO presented on the EPS website. Offerors are advised to ensure that their white papers address all portions of each task area proposed on with special focus on strengths and new ideas rather than merely a documented record of past accomplishments. Offerors otherwise have latitude as to what information is presented in their papers. Possible approaches include a straight discussion of specific portions of the SOO where offerors can present innovative ideas for accomplishing the work or alternately to illustrate innovative solutions to a "potential" task order (even a hypothetical one of their own creation, although offerors may choose to use one of the samples provided). Any method is acceptable as long as offerors focus on their innovative solutions to problems in the SOO and present a complete picture of each task area proposed. White papers are limited to 10 pages per technology or task area, for a maximum of 40 pages if offering on all four areas. White papers are due 18 Sep 99. Resumes of the program manager and other significant personnel proposed to perform this effort should be included and will not be counted against the 10-page limit. Facilities and equipment to be used may also be identified without regard to the 10-page limit. Margins and Page count: Use at least 1" margins on top and bottom and 34" side margins. Legibility shall not be impaired by the binding (if any). Both sides of paper may be used. Each printed side of an 8 12" x 11"sheet counts as a page. Foldouts printed on one side only will be counted as 2 pages. Blank pages, title pages, tables of content, lists offigures, lists of tables, tabs, cover sheets, or blank dividers are not included in the page count. The Government will only read and evaluate white papers up to the page limit. Pages over the page limit will be removed prior to evaluation. Use elite type size or equivalent (not smaller than 10-point vertical character height and not more than 12 characters per inch). A ten-point proportional serif font is acceptable, in which case characters per inch measurement does not apply. Typesetting or other techniques to reduce character size or spacing are not permitted. Cost proposals should NOT be submitted at the time of white paper submission. They will be solicited, as appropriate, after evaluation of white papers as described below. This announcement will be open for one year after date of publication. White papers received after the initial due date may be evaluated dependent upon the availability of funds. New white paper submissions will be accepted once every quarter from the date of this announcement. The cutoff date for the quarterly submission is the last working date in December, March, June and September. Offerors are advised that only one white paper will be accepted per offeror per task area. Offerors which submitted a white paper on a task area for which they did not receive an award are prohibited from submitting additional papers for that area. Submit white papers (5 copies) in writing to Det 8 AFRL/PKDL, 2251 Maxwell Avenue SE, Bldg 499, Room 121, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5773, Attn: Louise G. McDonough, Re: PRDA 99-DE04. Proposals submitted by fax or Email will not be considered for award. In order to ensure proposals are afforded proper handling, offerors must mark them with the restrictive language stated in FAR 15.609(a). The cost of preparing proposals in response to this announcement is not an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or any other contract, but may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost in FAR 31.205-18. Only contracting officers are legally authorized to commit the Government. All submissions must reference the above PRDA number and include a unique proposal identification number. C-BASIS FOR AWARD: This is a two step process. Step 1: White papers will be evaluated by a peer or scientific review process. Government evaluators may contact offerors prior to completion of initial evaluation of white papers as deemed necessary to gain additional information to complete evaluations. Such dialogue will most likely be conducted telephonically, but may be done in writing or face to face as required. To reduce contractor expense, the government will keep such interchange to the minimum time necessary. Step 2: Upon completion of white paper evaluations, firms whose approaches or unique capabilities are of further interest to the government will be invited to submit the balance of their proposal. Notification of selection for further consideration will be in writing. At that time, offerors will be provided a model contract, a technical description document (TDD, which is essentially a model statement of work), and the requirements for the initial task orders contemplated for award. Offerors shall respond with comments (if any) regarding the model contract, a contractor statement of work (CSOW) covering all task areas to be included in the basic IDIQ award, and a task order (TO) proposal consisting of a TO CSOW and a cost proposal. Offerors should consider the TDD when drafting their proposal. The TDD is merely a tool and its use will not reflect favorable or unfavorable on an offeror's evaluation. Any offeror who submits a white paper may submit the balance of the proposal, but offerors not expressly invited to Do so are discouraged from so doing. Full proposals will not be accepted from firms that did not initially submit white papers for consideration. TO cost proposals will be evaluated for realism and reasonableness. At this point integrated technical and cost evaluations will be performed, leading to categorization as described in Section D below. The government does not contemplate downselecting to a predetermined number of proposals -- downselection is dependent on the number and quality of proposals received and the availability of funds. Should the government enter negotiations with an offeror and be unable to reach a meeting of the minds, that proposal may be displaced by a lower rated proposal and the government may at that time enter into negotiations with an offeror not originally contacted for negotiations. Offerors are advised that in the event the government makes two or more awards, subsequent task orders may be competed. D-EVALUATION CRITERIA: Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the following evaluation criteria which are in descending order of importance: (1) The overall scientific and/or technical merits of the proposal, including capabilities and related experience, facilities, innovative techniques or unique combinations of these which are integral factors for achieving proposal objectives; (2) the potential contributions of the effort to AFRL/DEPE's mission and the extent to which the research effort will contribute to balancing the overall mission program; and (3) realism and reasonableness of cost. No further evaluation criteria will be used in rating the proposals. AFRL reserves the right to select any part of all of the proposal(s) selected for award in response to this announcement, subject to availability of funds. Once the evaluation is completed, all proposals will be sorted into categories as follows: (i) Category I: Well conceived, scientifically and technically sound proposals pertinent to program goals and objectives, and offered by a responsible contractor with the competent scientific and technical staff and supporting resources needed to ensure satisfactory program results. Proposals in Category I are recommended for acceptance and normally are displaced only by other Category I proposals; (ii) Category II: Scientifically or technically sound proposals requiring further development and are recommended for acceptance, but are at a lower priority that Category I; (iii) Category III: Proposals not technically sound or do not meet agency needs. When requested, a debriefing will be provided in accordance with FAR 15.506. E-ADDITIONAL INFORMATION To prepare a proposal and perform task(s) under the resultant contract, the contractor may require access to Militarily Critical Technical Data whose export is restricted by U.S. export control laws and regulations. After technology or task area evaluation of proposals the government will determine whether the technology area will be subject to export control laws and regulations and the offerors will be requested to submit an approved DD Form 2345, Militarily Critical Technology Data Agreement, as a conditions for award. Contact the Defense Logistics Service Center (DLSC), Federal Center, 74 North Washington, Battle Creek, Michigan 49017-4312, 1-800-352-3572 for further information on the certification and approval process. To be eligible to receive an award, a firm is required to be registered in the DoD Central Contractor Registration Database prior to award of any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchase agreement. Firms must register on a one-time basis and annually confirm accuracy and completeness of registration information. Either the CAGE code or a DUNS number will be used to identify the contractor to the paying office. The government does not intend that Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) use privileged information or access to facilities to compete with the private sector. If a contractor proposes using an FFRDC as a subcontractor, other than DoD-sponsored FFRDCs, in the capacities discussed in DFARS 235.017, it must provide rationale in its proposal that supports the unique capability of the FFRDC. The contractor's proposal must also demonstrate that the FFRDC can accept work from other than the sponsor. Discussions with any of the points of contact shall not constitute a commitment by the government to subsequently fund or award any proposed effort. Only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the government. Foreign-owned firms are advised that they may be precluded from becoming a prime contractor. Contract awards are anticipated to be unclassified. For the purposes of this PRDA, the small business size standard is $20M, SIC 8711. This PRDA is unrestricted and is solicited based on full and open competition; however, offerors should indicate whether they are a Small Business, a Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Business, an 8(a) Qualified Business or an HBCU/MI. Small Disadvantaged Businesses are required to be registered with the SBA (contact your local SBA office for additional information). Interested parties must be able to demonstrate their ability to manage a broad-based support effort in the technology areas stated above and have a SECRET Facility Clearance. A possibility of possessing and maintaining a TOP SECRET T/SCI Facility Clearance may be required for some of this effort. This PRDA will be posted on the Electronic Posting System (EPS) located at http://www.eps.gov. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear significant concerns from offerors or potential offerors during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. Routine questions are not considered to be of "significant concern" and should be communicated directly to the Contracting Officer. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the Contracting Officer or Program Manager, but to communicate contractor concerns, issues, disagreements and recommendations to the appropriate government personnel. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of the proposal or in the source selection process. The Ombudsman for this acquisition is Mr. Eugene DeWall, Deputy Director of Contracting, Det 8 AFRL/PK-D, 2251 Maxwell Avenue SE, Kirtland AFB Posted 08/17/99 (D-SN368785). (0229)

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