SPECIAL NOTICE
15 -- Equipment and Flight Services for Deployment of ScanEagle/Integrator Unmanned Aircraft Systems
- Notice Date
- 12/3/2012
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 336411
— Aircraft Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Western Region Acquisition Division, 7600 Sand Point Way, Northeast, Seattle, Washington, 98115-6349
- ZIP Code
- 98115-6349
- Solicitation Number
- AGO_WAD_KTS_13-01
- Point of Contact
- Keith Fowler, Phone: 206-526-6384
- E-Mail Address
-
keith.fowler@noaa.gov
(keith.fowler@noaa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. Respondents are invited to provide comments on the content of this request to ensure that, in the event the Government chooses to issue a formal solicitation, every effort will have been made to adequately address the scientific and technical challenges described below. As such, responses to this request must be available for unrestricted public distribution. Neither proprietary nor classified concepts or information should be included in the responses. The following regulatory guidance applies to this Request for Information (RFI): FAR 52.215-3, Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (Oct 1997) (a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (b) Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. (c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of determining costs associated with the provision, deployment, operation, and recovery of Insitu ScanEagle or Integrator unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to support scientific research and data gathering on remotely located marine mammals. Information provided in response to this notice will assist the Government in identifying sources that are capable of furnishing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) with the requirements stated below. (End of provision) BACKGROUND The National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML), Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), conducts research and monitoring on remotely located species which are covered under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act and considered for listing as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). The population sizes in these remote areas, which represent the fundamental numbers for evaluating the species' status under the ESA, are imprecise, outdated or simply unknown. The collection of population sizes and other scientific data on remotely located species is a frequently challenging and potentially hazardous endeavor, but the insight it provides can significantly aid in the agency's improved understanding of habitat preferences, as well as sensitivity to climate change and anthropogenic impacts. The use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for marine mammal research is still in development, though it has the potential to provide a useful and efficient platform for conducting certain types of marine mammal research. DESCRIPTION and TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS Respondents are asked to provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) estimate that addresses the scientific and technical challenges for each of the deployment methods listed below: Shipboard deployment • Requires shipboard integration of a launch/retrieval system on a research vessel (vessel will be provided - no vessel charter costs; workshop space provided on the vessel) • Assume required UAS operators will board and disembark the vessel in Nome, Alaska. Equipment will be loaded / unloaded in Seattle, WA • Assume a 19-day at-sea project (14 days at study site + 5-day roundtrip transit to/from study site from Nome, Alaska) • Assume that flights are possible 10 of the 14 days the vessel is at the study site and 2 of the 5 transit days to/from the study site • Assume 2 flights per day, 5 hours per flight • Prepare / provide the following documentation: System description, system safety, plan for integration on ship (assume that we will not ask the company to prepare the Certificate of Waiver or Authorization, but that we will need technical information on the system and integration of the system on a vessel to include in the COA application) • Requires control beyond line-of-sight (Iridium? Other? ) • Requires sensing of potential icing conditions (temperature and humidity) • A payload system containing the following capabilities needs to be physically integrated into the UAV: high quality digital stills and digital video; the stock ScanEagle imaging payload's resolution is inadequate for this project's purposes - a payload upgrade will be required • A live video feed from the UAV is required while in flight. Additionally, adequate data storage on the platform for post-flight data retrieval is required Shore-based deployment • Assume UAS operations will be based from Barrow, Alaska. Equipment and required UAS operators will arrive and depart Barrow, Alaska • Operations will require hangar/workshop space in Barrow • Assume a 14-day project • Assume that flights are possible 10 of the 14 days • Assume 2 flights per day, 5 hours per flight • Prepare / provide the following documentation: System description, system safety, plan for integration on ship (assume that we will not ask the company to prepare a COA, but that we will need technical information on the system) • Requires control beyond line-of-sight (Iridium? Other?) • Requires sensing of potential icing conditions (temperature and humidity) • A payload system containing the following capabilities needs to be physically integrated into the UAV: high quality digital stills and digital video; the stock ScanEagle imaging payload's resolution is inadequate for this project's purposes - a payload upgrade will be required • A live video feed from the UAV is required while in flight. Additionally, adequate data storage on the platform for post-flight data retrieval is required SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTATION Interested firms shall provide, as an email attachment in Portable Document Format (PDF), a brief narrative and documentation to support your firm's capability and experience meeting the requirements herein and include the company name, location of home facility, telephone number, and mail and email addresses of a Point of Contact having authority and knowledge to discuss the submission. Be sure to provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) estimate of costs in response to items listed in the DESCRIPTION AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS section above. Submissions should not exceed 10MB or the NOAA email system may reject the message as being too large. DEADLINE FOR RESPONSES The information requested above must be submitted by email and in the specified format to the Point of Contact listed below, no later than 4:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Monday, December 10, 2012. TELEPHONE INQUIRIES WILL NOT BE HONORED. DISCLAIMER This RFI is issued solely for information gathering purposes and does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Respondents are advised that NOAA is under no obligation to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Response to this RFI is strictly voluntary and is not required for participation in any future potential solicitation(s) on this topic. Submissions may be reviewed by the Government, including NOAA and partner Federal Agencies and their immediate contractor staff.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA/WASC/AGO_WAD_KTS_13-01/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Remote locations around Nome, AK and Barrow, AK, Barrow, Alaska, 99723, United States
- Zip Code: 99723
- Zip Code: 99723
- Record
- SN02940830-W 20121205/121203233900-0676f8366f505de15277222605c02985 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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