REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
INTRODUCTION:
The Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) Project Manager for Cyber, Test & Training (CT2) Instrumentation Management Office (IMO) has a requirement to support the acquisition of testing and simulation capabilities for Department of Defense (DoD) facilities. The Large Blast/Thermal Simulator (LB/TS) test facility, located in the northern section of White Sands Missile Range, is a semicircular tunnel ten meters in radius that can generate simulated blast overpressure and thermal radiation environments produced by nuclear weapon detonations. Test assets secured within the LB/TS test chamber are subjected to these thermal and overpressure waveforms. It has been determined that a combined Airflow and Dust capability coupled with nuclear thermal and air blast effects is needed to better simulate the nuclear threat environment likely to be incident upon cruise missile weapons systems.
DISCLAIMER: THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) IS ISSUED SOLELY FOR INFORMATION AND PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY. THE GOVERNMENT WILL USE THE INFORMATION RECEIVED TO DETERMINE ITS ACQUISITION STRATEGY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) TO BE SUBMITTED. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY.
PROGRAM BACKGROUND:
The Department of Defense's nuclear weapons effects (NWE) testing capability was severely curtailed when the United States ceased underground nuclear testing in the early 1990s. This loss of capability, while marginally acceptable for legacy systems to that date, left the DoD with reduced ability to test and certify follow-on system performance and survivability against all relevant NWE. These effects, for the purposes of this Request For Information (RFI), include the blast, thermal, and dust environments created by nuclear weapon detonations, testing against which is essential to assure the survivability of cruise missile systems with air-breathing engines. While the capability exists for testing systems without engines operating against blast and thermal environments, this does not allow for testing against cruise missile systems with their engines running.
ACQUISITION STRATEGY - PLANNING INFORMATION:
1. Contract Vehicle: The determination of Contract Vehicle and Small Business Set Aside or Full and Open Competition will not be established until market research has been completed and the Acquisition Strategy has been approved.
2. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS): The applicable NAICS codes for this requirement are 541330 (Engineering Services), with a Small Business Size Standard of $25M. The applicable Product Service Code (PSC) is J069 (Maintenance, Repair, and Rebuilding of Equipment - Training Aids and Devices).
*NOTE 01: The current SBA Table of Small Business Size Standards was updated 17 March 2023; since the beginning of 2022, the SBA has regularly updated the table to account for inflation. Businesses must update their SAM.gov profiles in order to have their small business status reflect the most current small business size standards. Until updated, the SAM profiles will continue to display the small business status under outdated size standards.
*NOTE 02: In accordance with 13 C.F.R. 121.104, the current calculation for dollar (monetary) value based NAICS codes is average total receipts over the last five (5) completed fiscal years
*NOTE 03: In accordance with 13 C.F.R. 121.106, the current calculation for employee based NAICS codes is average number of employees used for each pay period for the preceding completed 24 calendar months.
3. Contract Type: The determination of Contract Type will not be established until market research has been completed and the Acquisition Strategy has been approved.
4. Approximate Funding: Funds will be appropriated using Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E), Other Procurement Army (OPA), or Operation and Maintenance Army (OMA) funding with an annual amount to be determined (TBD).
SUBMISSION DETAILS:
Interested businesses shall submit a capability statement (10 pages maximum) that demonstrating their ability to fulfill the functions and tasks described herein.
The Government requests you provide your expression of interest by submitting a capability statement regarding the requirements as follows:
Cover Page: Include a cover sheet with the company name, address, Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, and point of contact with name, title, phone number, and email address. Also indicate the Request For Information (RFI) title and number.
Format: Provide an electronic submission in MS Word format using a font size no smaller than 12. The Government is not soliciting proprietary information; however, if submitted, it should be appropriately marked.
In addition to your capability statement, you are invited to submit questions/comments. Please provide your questions electronically in MS Word, font size no smaller than 12, in a separate attachment from your capability statement. Telephone responses and inquiries will not be accepted. This is not a solicitation and does not obligate the government to issue a solicitation.
Your response to this RFI shall be electronically submitted to the Contract Specialist via email, troy.d.darling.civ@army.mil, with a copy (Cc) to the Technical Point of Contract (TPOC) via email, william.m.wales.civ@army.mil, no later than 2:00 p.m. (EST) on 05 March 2024 and reference SAM notice number and title in the subject line of the e-mail and on all enclosed documents. Responses shall either use Microsoft Office 2013 compatible (.xlsx, .docx or .pptx) or Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro (.pdf) formats. Responses shall be in sufficient detail for the Government to determine that your business possesses the necessary functional area expertise and experience to compete for this acquisition. Information and materials submitted in response to this request WILL NOT be returned. All information/materials received in response to this RFI that is marked or designated as corporate or proprietary will be fully protected from any release outside the Government. DO NOT SUBMIT CLASSIFIED MATERIAL.
Written responses to this RFI should consist of the following:
1. Describe your company's capability in testing and simulation capabilities including relevant experience, skills, and ability to fulfill the Government's requirements for the ability to conduct Test and Evaluation (T&E) of cruise missile systems. Provide sufficient detail for the Government to make an informed decision regarding your capabilities. Provide emphasis on capabilities and experience with combined Airflow and Dust capability coupled with nuclear thermal and air blast effects.
2. Does your company have a secured (SECRET) lab facility? If so, where is it located? If not, how long will it take your company to establish one.
3. With respect to all of the afore-mentioned areas of your relevant experience, what gaps exist in yours and your partners' repertoire to support the identified requirement(s) and how would you fix them?
4. A statement indicating if your firm is a large or small business under NAICS code 541330 (Engineering Services); if small business, please indicate any applicable socio-economic status [i.e., 8a, Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), HUBZone, Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), or Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB)].
5. If you plan on subcontracting to other companies in order to deliver technical capability, please provide details on exactly which tasks will be assigned to those subcontractors; in addition, provide the names of those anticipated subcontractors, and list the anticipated percentage of small business subcontracting.
*NOTE (LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTING): If you are a small business interested in being the prime contractor for this effort, please be advised that FAR clause 52.219-14 (Limitations on Subcontracting) (DEVIATION 2021-O0008) was updated in September 2021. The current clause adds the definition of Similarly Situated Entity and the 50% calculation for compliance with the clause. Small business prime contractors may now count first tier subcontractor work performed by a Similarly Situated Entity as if it were performed by the prime contractor itself.
To assist in our market research and set-aside determination for this effort, if you are a small business interested in priming this effort and plan to utilize a Similarly Situated Entity to meet the Limitations on Subcontracting requirements, please identify the name & Unique Entity ID/CAGE Code of the specific firm(s) you intend to partner/subcontract with to meet the requirements as well as their SB size status under the NAICS that you as the prime would assign for their workshare. Information regarding any planned Similarly Situated Entity should be included in answering any questions outlined in the RFI in order to assist the Government's capability determination.
