LADO Sustainment Services Follow-on   3

SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS:

Solicitation Number: Notice Type:

FA8224-18-R-0028 Sources Sought

Synopsis:

1. NOTICE: This is not a solicitation but rather a Sources Sought Synopsis (SSS) to determine potential sources for information and planning purposes only.

1.1 The purpose of this Sources Sought is to conduct market research to determine if responsible sources exist, to assist in determining if this effort can be competitive and/or a total Small Business Set-Aside. The proposed North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) Code is 517919 - All Other Telecommunications, which has a corresponding Size standard of $32.5M. The Government will use this information to determine the best acquisition strategy for this procurement. The Government is interested in all small businesses to include 8(a), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, Hubzone, and Women-Owned small business concerns. The government requests that interested parties respond to this notice if applicable and identify your small business status to the identified NAICS code. Additionally, please provide any anticipated teaming arrangements, along with a description of similar services offered to the Government and to commercial customers for the past three years. Any responses involving teaming agreements should delineate between the work that will be accomplished by the prime and the work accomplished by the teaming partners.

2. Program Details:

Description:

The United States Air Force (USAF) Ogden Air Logistic Complex, Air Force Sustainment Center, 309th Software Maintenance Group, Peterson Air Force Base, CO intends to release a solicitation and to negotiate the continued Global Positioning System (GPS) LADO Sustainment Support as risk mitigation since the GPS Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX) initial operational capability has been delayed beyond the need date for the first launch of GPS III Space Vehicle 01 (SV01).

The 309th SMXG believes that, due to its unique position as the developer and sustainer of Telemetry, Tracking and Commanding (TT&C) software and sustainer of LADO, only Braxton is capable of performing this work, in accordance with only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, under the authority of FAR 6.302-1. The 309th SMXG intends to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to Braxton for a Sustainment Support Services contract to begin October 2018. The envisioned contract action will be structured to continue and conclude those efforts without impacting current critical GPS space and control activities in support of ongoing U.S. and coalition warfighter operations.

Background:

LADO is an element of the GPS ground segment. LADO consists of hardware and software elements. The software element provides the capability to compute satellite orbital elements (orbit determination), react to launch and on station anomalies, compute satellite interference data, create mission plans, process satellite telemetry data, and create and transmit satellite commands. The software was developed over a period of more than 10 years (April 1996 - October 2007 contract period). The software is presently maintained under sole source bridge contract FA8224-17-C-0029 with related Justification and Approval. The incumbent contractor developed the LADO software under contract number F04701-96-C-0025 and per license agreement has been delivering only the executable codes needed for modification of its software. The incumbent software license also states that "the incumbent owned intellectual property will not be provided to outside vendors for maintenance of LADO after the expiration of the current GPS OCS Contract." The software is approximately 2 million lines of source code - approximately 1.4 million incumbent restricted software and 600K lines of mission unique software that is owned by the Government. The incumbent executable software, without any source code, was delivered for operational use subject to the incumbent's "End User Maintenance and License Agreement" that stipulated that "...Customer shall have no right to any source code for the software. Customer agrees that it shall not cause or permit the modification, disassembly, decompilation, or reverse engineering of the software, or otherwise attempt to gain access to the source code to the software..." The incumbent has been performing software sustainment on its software as a prime (current contract) and as a subcontractor

The LADO Sustainment Support contract is the vehicle the 309th SMXG will use to ensure the LADO system is viable until the next generation OCX effort is fielded. This contract encompasses, but is not limited to, software and hardware upgrades/modifications, documentation support to include Technical Orders & Engineering Drawings, satellite vehicle anomaly support, engineering/database administrator support, software and hardware integration, changes to the enterprise architecture, purchase material required (software licenses/hardware/maintenance agreements, etc.) for sustainment, and test support for LADO. All software upgrades will be integrated into the operational baseline by OO-ALC organic depot (SMXG) personnel.

Scope of Contract:

The Contractor provides program management, risk management, safety and quality management; systems engineering; hardware and software maintenance; baseline configuration and technical order management; planning, design, test, and evaluation for all system baseline upgrades; operator training; anomaly investigation and resolution; equipment and software license; obsolescence management; cybersecurity for network certification and accreditation.
Qualified Sources must demonstrate the ability to deliver this capability with minimal investment by the Government. Qualified Sources must additionally demonstrate all of the following capabilities:
1) Knowledge and thorough understanding in the core product programming language(s) to correct errors, add new launch, anomaly resolution and orbital operations capabilities, and upgrade interfaces to improve performance. The core programming language is C++.
2) A thorough understanding of TT&C, Core Applications, Ace Premier Simulation software in order to provide training to all system end users.
3) Extensive systems engineering experience, knowledge, and background dealing with PNT systems, including system requirements analysis, test and verification, risk management, and system Cybersecurity management.
4) The ability to maintain, repair and replace LADO hardware components to include but not limited to the Simulator Interface Unit-Command, the Simulator Interface Unit-Telemetry, the Command, Control, and Tracking and the Command (CCT), Telemetry and KG Controller (CTK)
5) The ability to perform test engineering activities on TT&C, Core Application, and Simulation software.
6) The necessary program management and license/supplier/subcontract management for the LADO System

Statement of Capability:

This notice does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), nor is it to be construed as a commitment by the Government to further evaluate capability briefs, release a competitive solicitation, or award a contract. This notice is only seeking potential Prime Contractors, not suppliers of components, materials, software, or services that may be used by a Prime Contractor to deliver this capability.
Due to its unique position as the developer and sustainer of LADO software, the 309th SMXG believes that Braxton is the only source fully capable of performing this work. No other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements in accordance with (IAW) FAR 6.302-1. Any persons or companies interested in this notice are to respond to the requirements and submit a Statement of Capability (SOC). The SOC must demonstrate the ability to satisfy all of the requirements listed in the section that describes the scope of the contract for continued GPS LADO sustainment support. This effort must be accomplished in coordination with, and not impede, on-going LADO sustainment activities.

Submission Instructions:

Information furnished shall include enough detailed documentation to allow the Government to perform a proper evaluation of the respondent's ability to meet the requirements as described above. The Government will use any SOCs received in response to this notice to determine if there is sufficient interest in the marketplace from qualified sources. The Government reserves the right to proceed with the contemplated sole source award. Information herein is based on the best information available at the time of publication, is subject to revision, and is not binding on the Government.
The SOC shall not exceed ten (10) one sided 8.5-inches by 11-inches pages in length, using fonts no smaller than 12 pitch, with page layout margins set to 1-inch both horizontally and vertically. Responses must be submitted via electronic mail as Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat file type attachments.
Submit SOC to the Primary and Alternate POC within 15 calendar days of this notice. Responses from small business and small, disadvantaged businesses are highly encouraged. Information submitted must also cover the following:
1 - Company Name
2 - Company Cage Code
3 - Is the company foreign owned?
4 - Email address and phone number of POC
5 - Suggested NAICS
6 - Suggested Service Code
7 - Business Size Classification for 517919 NAICS and qualification, if any, and as a sub-category (i.e., 8a, HUBZone, SDVOB, etc)
8 - Would you be a prime or a subcontractor?

Disclaimer:
This SSS is issued solely for informational and planning purposes only. It does not constitute a solicitation (Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation) or a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. As stipulated in the FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not considered offers, shall not be used as a proposal, and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. This SSS does not commit the Government to contract for any service whatsoever. Furthermore, we are not seeking proposals at this time. Respondents are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this SSS. All costs associated with responding to the SSS will be solely at the responding party's expense. Any resulting procurement action will be subject to a separate, future announcement. The information is provided for discussion purposes and any potential strategy for this acquisition may change prior to any solicitation release.

Instructions for Response:
Interested parties are invited to submit a response, by email to the contract specialist Emily McCollaum, emily.mccollaum.2@us.af.mil and Contracting Officer, Andrea Bean at andrea.bean.1@us.af.mil within 30 calendar days of this notice.