Active

Contract Opportunity

DESCRIPTION OF INTENT:

This is a Market Survey. No contract will be awarded from this announcement. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) or an announcement of a forthcoming solicitation, nor is it a request seeking contractors to be placed on a solicitation mailing list. Response to this market survey is voluntary and no reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this market survey and any follow-on information requests. Data submitted in response to this market survey will not be returned. No solicitation document exists at this time, and calls requesting a solicitation will not be answered.

DISCLAIMER:

Reference herein to any specific commercial company, product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or the Department of the Army (DA). The opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or the DA and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

OBJECTIVE:

The purpose of this Market Survey questionnaire is to obtain information on industry capability to satisfy U.S. Army requirements for support of the Abrams Main Battle Tank. Support requirements include engineering, logistics, project management services, and total supply chain management to support integration of identified capabilities within the Tank. Other requirements include shipping, travel, hardware, and contractor manpower reporting.

RESPONSES:

Each initial response to this market survey is requested to include:

1. A brief company description (no more than one page) summarizing the organizations’ history and pertinent industry experience.

2. An executive summary (no more than one page) of the information submitted in response to this market survey.

3. Point(s) of Contact (POC) with associated contact information.

RESPONSE DUE:

Responses to this Market Survey are due by Friday, December 29, 2023. Please submit all responses and any questions prior to full response via email to shalonda.l.hawkins.civ@army.mil and mark.d.milligan.mil@army.mil. Please format the subject line of the response email as follows: “[Organization Name] response to Market Survey – Abrams M1E3 Program.” No telephone responses will be accepted.

If desired, the respondents may instead transmit responses to this request for information using DoD SAFE located at https://safe.apps.mil/ to Shalonda Hawkins at shalonda.l.hawkins.civ@army.mil. Please title contractor response as "Market Survey – Abrams M1E3 Program " in the subject line in DoD SAFE. A separate email notification titled “[Organization Name] response to Market Survey – Abrams M1E3 Program” shall be sent to the above representative (absent the survey responses), immediately following the submission in DoD SAFE, stating the market survey was submitted via DoD SAFE. If you require a link to be able to submit your response via DoD SAFE, please send an email request to the above representative at least 3 working days in advance.

RESPONSE FORMAT (S):

Only electronic responses are requested. Please provide e-mail responses in PDF format to the Government POCs listed below. If you submit multiple e-mail messages, please make sure the subject lines include, for example, “message 1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3,” as well as [Organization Name]. All interested entities (e.g. companies, non-profit organizations, and academic institutes), regardless of size, are encouraged to respond to this request for information. All material submitted in response to this market survey must be unclassified and properly marked.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

The Government appreciates the time and effort taken to respond to this market survey. The Government acknowledges its obligations under 18 U.S.C. §1905 to protect information qualifying as “confidential” under this statute. [To avoid possible confusion with the meaning of the term “confidential” in the context of Classified Information,” we will use the term “PROPRIETARY.”] Pursuant to this statute, the Government is willing to accept any PROPRIETARY (e.g., trade secret) restrictions placed on qualifying data forwarded in response to the survey questions and to protect it from unauthorized disclosure subject to the following:

1. Clearly and conspicuously mark qualifying data with the restrictive legend (all caps) “PROPRIETARY” with any explanatory text, so that the Government is clearly notified of what data needs to be appropriately protected.

2. In marking such data, please take care to mark only those portions of the data or materials that are truly proprietary (excessive breadth in marking inappropriate data as “PROPRIETARY” may diminish or eliminate the usefulness of your response - see item 6 below). Use circling, underscoring, highlighting, or any other appropriate means to indicate those portions of a single page which are protected.

3. The Government is not obligated to protect unmarked data. Additionally, marked data that is already in the public domain or in the possession of the Government or third parties, or is afterward placed into the public domain by the owner or another party through no fault of the Government will not be protected once in the public domain. Data already in the possession of the Government will be protected in accordance with the Government's rights in the data.

4. Proprietary data transmitted electronically, whether by physical media or not, whether by the respondent or by the government, shall contain the “PROPRIETARY” legend, with any explanatory text, on both the cover of the transmittal e-mail and at the beginning of the file itself. Where appropriate, when only portions of an electronic file are proprietary, use the restrictive legends ‘PROPRIETARY PORTION BEGINS:” and “PROPRIETARY PORTION ENDS.”

5. In any reproductions of technical data or any portions thereof subject to asserted restrictions, the government shall also reproduce the asserted restriction legend and any explanatory text.

6. The Government sometimes uses support contractors in evaluating responses. Consequently, responses that contain proprietary information may receive only limited or no consideration since the Respondent’s marking of data as “PROPRIETARY” will preclude disclosure of same outside the Government and therefore will preclude disclosure to these support contractors assisting the evaluation effort. The Government will use its best efforts to evaluate those responses that contain proprietary information without using support contractors consistent with the resources available.

GOVERNMENT POINTS OF CONTACT:

Major Mark Milligan, Contract Specialist Abrams Branch, email: mark.d.milligan.mil@army.mil

Shalonda Hawkins, Contract Specialist, email: shalonda.l.hawkins.civ@army.mil

SURVEY QUESTIONS:

General:

1. Describe your experience manufacturing heavy combat platforms.

2. Describe your Quality Management System (QMS). Is your company ISO 9001 certified?

3. Describe your experience managing risks using the Department of Defense Risk, Issue, and Opportunity Management Guide for Defense Acquisition Programs.

4. Describe your experience with Combat Crew Station Design to include Human Computer Interface, User Jury Evaluations and Workload Analysis.

Security:

1. Describe your company’s experience with classified programs.

2. Describe your company’s manufacturing/engineering/contracting facilities, to include ability to have classified manufacturing capabilities and if those capabilities currently exist.

3. Describe your experience in securing electronic architectures during the systems engineering process, including creating and verifying security design requirements for embedded systems.

4. Describe your company’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) level. Identify your understanding of these requirements, description of your approach to meeting the CMMC levels and cascade to vendors and sub-vendors.

Digital Engineering and Software Development:

1. Describe your experience with Digital Engineering/Digital Acquisition and DevSecOps for development of electronic architectures and software.

2. Describe your experience integrating technologies compliant with the Ground Combat Systems (GCS) Common Infrastructure Architecture (GCIA) vehicle architecture.

3. Describe your in-house Modeling and Simulation capabilities and tools and if/how they are employed within a Digital Engineering environment.

Lethality:

1. Provide specific examples of your experience in designing/upgrading/fielding fire control systems for ground combat vehicles including but not limited to design/integration of direct fire weapons, turret stabilization, weapon stabilization, laser technologies, and fire control software?

2. Describe your experience of integrating digital sight technology into a vehicle architecture on a ground combat vehicle. Specific examples can include, but not limited to, how you handle issues like video latency, and digital sight stabilization. Response should indicate if design was ever fielded into a ground combat vehicle(s).

Mobility:

1. Provide specific examples of your experience in designing/integrating hybrid electric drive propulsion powertrains and power generation/distribution systems for ground combat vehicles. Response should indicate if design was ever fielded into a combat vehicle(s).

2. Provide specific examples of your experience in designing/integrating lightweight suspension and track systems for ground combat vehicles. Response should indicate if design was ever fielded into a combat vehicle(s).

3. Describe your experience with powertrain Dyno Labs, do you have this capability within your own facility or is this something you would outsource?

Survivability:

1. Describe your experience integrating active protection systems into heavy combat platforms. Response should indicate if design was ever fielded into a combat vehicle(s).

Test and & Evaluation:

1. Describe your in-house testing capabilities. How have you applied MIL-STD-810 and/or ATPD-2404?

2. Describe the data analysis tools and data recorders you’re familiar with and have used for test and evaluation? Give examples of how you have applied MATLAB and Computer Aided Gear Engineering (CAGE) to data analysis.

3. Describe your experience with conducting OEM testing at Government test sites and supporting Government Developmental Testing (DT) and Operational Testing (OT) at Government test sites.

Logistics:

1. Describe your organization’s experience and capability in planning, establishing, and managing an Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) Program that incorporates the following ILS Elements. This includes identifying Digital Engineering utilized:

1. Maintenance Planning


2. Manpower and Personnel


3. Supply Support


4. Equipment Support


5. Technical Data


6. Training and Training Support


7. Computer Resources Support


8. Facilities


9. Packaging, Handling, Storage, and Transportation


10. Design Influence


11. Sustaining Engineering


12. Product Support Management

Attachments/Links