A -- LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS AND SURVUVABILITY TECHNOLOGIES FOR MAGTF EXPEDITIONARY FAMILY OF FIGHTING VEHICLES (MEFFV)

Notice Date

February 20, 2001

Contracting Office

Office of Naval Research, 800 North Quincy St., Arlington, VA 22217-5660

ZIP Code

22217-5660

Solicitation Number

01-011

Response Due

March 23, 2001

Point of Contact

Contract Negotiator: Vera M. Duberry, ONR Code 253, (703) 696-2610, E-mail: duberrv@onr.navy.mil, Technical Points of Contact: Steve Ouimette, Navy Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Carderock Division, (301)227-4219, E-mail:OuimetteSH@nswccd.navy.mil and Tracy Gustke Frost, NSWC, Carderock Division, (301) 227-4579, E-mail: FrosTG@nswccd.navy.mil

Description

The Expeditionary Warfare Operations Technology Division of the Office of Naval Research (ONR 353) is soliciting white papers and proposals for materials technologies applicable to future USMC vehicles and equipment in the 2015-2020 timeframe. This effort will involve the exploration and development of advanced lightweight materials and related survivability technologies for a future Marine Corps Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Expeditionary Family of Fighting Vehicles (MEFFV). These technologies must support the future Naval warfare capability of power projection and the United States Marine Corps (USMC) capstone operational concept of Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare (EMW), as well as the entire family of supporting concepts such as Operational Maneuver From the Sea (OMFTS) and Ship-To-Objective Maneuver (STOM). This program aims to assess the technical feasibility of these materials and related technologies by developing, optimizing and demonstrating components, subsystems and systems to increase the overall survivability characteristics of Marine Corps ground combat forces and their systems. Emphasis is placed on exploration, design, development, demonstration and optimization (e.g., cost reduction, weight reduction, performance enhancement) of lightweight structural technologies, lightweight armor technologies, lightweight structural-armor technologies, and multifunctional concepts and technologies that address one or more of the multiple survivability needs of armored vehicles. The definition of survivability is the classical detection avoidance, acquisition avoidance, hit avoidance, penetration avoidance and kill avoidance. There is interest in advanced material technologies that enable the development of innovative lightweight structural, lightweight armor, and lightweight structural-armor concepts, as well as multifunctional survivability systems. The goal of the program is to reduce the proportion of weight devoted to structure and armor protection and increase the overall survivability of the total vehicle and its crew. Examples of structural and survivability technologies and approaches include, but are not limited to, advanced materials such as fiber reinforced composites, structural foam metals (beyond aluminum and nickel), metal alloys, metal matrix composites, ceramics and ceramic-metallic composites, nano-ceramics, nano-structured alloys, nano-fiber materials, nano-crystalline materials, functionally gradient materials, coatings, treatments, and polymers. Lightweight structural-armor concepts may include combinations of various materials and/or technologies working in concert with each other to produce the desired weight reductions and enhanced survivability goals. Proposals in this area need to address vehicle structure loads, ballistic protection, dynamic deflection, vibrations, wear and fatigue, structural response and integrity to ballistic shock, affordability, manufacturability, repairability, and ease of inspection and maintenance. Multifunctional concepts and/or technologies simultaneously address multiple survivability and/or operational needs. They may or may not provide one or more of the functions discussed above. To set them apart from the capabilities above, they would include additional functions such as material coatings that increase survivability and operational capabilities by providing corrosion resistance, signature management, abrasive resistance, wear resistance, thermal protection, or other multi-functional characteristics. Multifunctional also means that the concept or technology could provide additional non-survivability related functions such as structural, sensing, frequency selective characteristics, power generation, self-healing, or other operational benefit. All white papers should discuss, within the phases of the program, the feasibility of integrating the proposed material and/or related technology into a family of vehicle platforms between 10 to 30 ton gross vehicle weight (GVW) or other applications to service the Army and/or future Naval system. White papers involving multifunctional materials should address issues such as the limitations imposed and the opportunities created, by the integrated system on the potential design and survivability of the overall vehicle. Issues to be considered include, but are not limited to, integration of a light armor system into a platform structure, inclusion of structural characteristics into a light armor system, and design of an armor system that efficiently and effectively builds on itself both in physical terms and performance terms for the light and/or medium MEFFV system. White papers should address the means of reducing the cost of expensive lightweight materials as part of their multi-phase program. GENERAL INFORMATION This notice constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) as contemplated In FAR 6:102(d)(2)(I) and is directed toward material solutions and system integration solutions. White papers are sought from all available sources to include Industry, Institutions of Higher Education (IHE), and Government Laboratories. Teaming/partnering is welcomed. Offerors must obtain the BAA Proposal Information Package (PIP), which provides further information on the MEFFV system; technical area of interest; submission, evaluation, funding, white paper and proposal formats; and other general information. This document may be obtained from the ONR web page http://www.onr.navy.mil/02/baa/. Instructions for Preparation of White Papers: White papers are sought to preclude unwarranted effort on the part of an offeror in preparing full technical and cost proposals without an initial assessment of the operational, technical and logistical feasibility of the concept. White papers are due on or before 1600 (4:00PM) Eastern Standard Time, on Friday, 23 March 2001. Offerors submitting the most promising white papers will be encouraged to submit full technical and cost proposals on all or part of their white paper submission. However, any such encouragement does not assure a subsequent award. Any offeror may submit a full proposal even if its white paper was not identified as promising. Offerors may expect written feedback on their white papers on or about 6 April 2001. Technical and cost proposals are due no later than 1600 EST or 4:00PM, Friday, 27 April 2001. Early submittal of white papers and full proposals are encouraged to help facilitate the evaluation and response process. Offerors must submit an original and (9) hard copies, along with an electronic copy on CD or floppy disk, of the unclassified white papers and full technical and cost proposals to the Office of Naval Research, 800 North Quincy Street, Arlington, VA 22217-5660, Attention: Ms. Vera M. Duberry, Code 253 Room 720. The proposal label should also contain the BAA number and title. Classified white papers and proposals are welcome and shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with the guidance set forth below. Classified, including CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET, and TOP SECRET white papers and proposals will be double wrapped and the classification level identified accordingly on the "inner" envelope. The "inner" envelope should be addressed exactly as follows: CARDEROCK DIVISION NSWC 9500 MACARTHUR BOULEVARD WEST BETHESDA, MD 20817-5700 ATTN: CODE 2810, R. PETERSON RE: BAA Proposal "Lightweight Materials and Survivability Technologies for MAGTF Expeditionary Family of Fighting Vehicles (MEFFV)" It is very important that the "inner" envelope also be stamped, prominently and multiple times with the classification level and identification of the materials as "working papers", for example -- "SECRET WORKING PAPERS". The "outer" envelope for Classified, including CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET, AND TOP SECRET white papers and proposals should be addressed and sent to: CARDEROCK DIVISION NSWC CODE 0023, DOCUMENT CONTROL 9500 MACARTHUR BOULEVARD WEST BETHESDA, MD 20817-5700 This notice, in conjunction with the Proposal Information Package located on the Web, constitutes the total BAA. No additional information is available, nor will a formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. Requests for the same will be disregarded. This effort will be conducted in three (3) phases, each consisting of a two-year period of performance. Phase I (FY 01, FY 02, and FY 03) and Phase II (FY 03, FY 04, and FY 05) are expected to be funded at approximately $1.5M annually and Phase III (FY 05 and FY 06) is expected to be funded at approximately $2M annually (subject to the future availability of funds) for a total of $10M. It is anticipated in Phase I to have approximately 4-6 awards, each funded in the range of $500K -- $750K, subject to funding availability. Phase I is 6.1/6.2 category funding of basic research/applied technology and shall include a preliminary design and feasibility study. Phase II is 6.2-category funding of applied technology. All Phase I efforts should be conducted with the Phase II applications in mind. Phase III is 6.3-category funding of technology demonstration. It is anticipated that there will be multiple performers in each of the phases, but the government reserves the right to down-select to a single performer or to re-compete to seek out new performers during the later phases. It is anticipated that there will be multiple awards. Awards may be in the form of contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or other transactions as appropriate. This acquisition does not meet the requirement for use of a Section 845 other transaction. For proposals submitted by consortia or teams, Articles of Collaboration, which define the interaction and commitment of the proposal partners, must be developed prior to award but are not required to be delivered with the technical and cost proposals. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the submissions. Offerors must state in their white papers and technical and cost proposals that they are submitted in response to this BAA. Evaluation Criteria: White papers and technical and cost proposals will be evaluated on a best value basis using the following criteria. The primary evaluation criteria (of equal importance) are: (1) Overall scientific and technical merit and (2) Potential contribution to fulfilling MEFFV operational goals (See PIP for further details). Other evaluation criteria (of less importance than that of (1) and (2), but of equal importance to each other) are: (3) Offeror's capabilities and related experience/personnel (principle investigator and other key R&D personnel), (4) Cost realism, and (5) Commitment to small business. This evaluation factor applies only to proposed contract awards over $500K. The criteria for evaluation of the offeror's commitment to small business will include (i) the extent to which such firms (i.e., Small Businesses, Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, HUBZone Small Business Concerns, Small Disadvantaged and Women-Owned Small Businesses and Historically Black Colleges and Universities or Minority Institutions (HBCUs/MIs)) are specifically identified in the proposal; (ii) the extent of commitment to use such firms for meaningful work; (iii) the complexity and variety of the work small firms are to perform; (iv) the realism of the plan; (v) the extent of participation of such firms in terms of both percentage and dollar value of the total acquisition; and (vi) the offeror's past performance on utilization of small business concerns in contract performance. Those offerors required to submit Subcontracting Plans, who do not submit subcontracting plans which meet statutory goals, should justify the goals they include. Small Business Subcontracting Plans should be prepared in accordance with FAR Clause 52.219-9 entitled "Small Business Subcontracting Plan". Each plan will be evaluated to determine whether it meets or exceeds the Congressionally mandated goals of twenty-three percent (23%) for small business concerns (including HUBZone small business concerns), five percent (5%) for small disadvantaged business concerns, five percent (5%) for women-owned small business concerns, and three percent (3%) for veteran-owned small business. If these goals are not expected to be met, a detailed explanation should be included. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this solicitation is 541511 (which corresponds with the standard industrial classification code of 7371) with the small business size standard of 500 employees. No portion of this BAA has been set aside for small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, woman-owned small business concerns, and historically black colleges and universities or minority institutions; however, their participation is encouraged. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals received and intends to incrementally fund any resultant award(s). Restrictive notices notwithstanding, proposals may be handled by a support contractor. The support contractor will not be involved in the technical evaluation or selection of proposals for award. Each support contractor's employee having access to the white papers and technical and cost proposals will be required to sign a non-disclosure statement prior to the closing date of this BAA. This BAA provides no funding for direct reimbursement of proposal development costs. All proposals will be acknowledged. Proposals will not be returned after evaluation. All administrative correspondence and questions regarding this BAA, including requests for information on how to submit a white paper or technical and cost proposals, should be directed to the Contract Specialist, Ms. Vera M. Duberry, at duberrv@onr.navy.mil no later than 12:00 Noon on 23 April 2001. ONR intends to use electronic mail and fax for correspondence regarding this BAA. White papers and technical and cost proposals may not be submitted by fax or e-mail. Any white papers and technical and cost proposals sent by fax or e-mail will be disregarded. ONR encourages use of the World Wide Web (WWW) for retrieving the Proposal Information Package and any other related information that may subsequently be provided.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010222/ASOL006.HTM (W-051 SN50E0V1)