U.S. ARMY TANK-AUTOMOTIVE AND ARMAMENTS COMMAND, ACQUISITION CENTER (AMSTA-AQ-DS), WARREN, MI 48397-5000

39 -- 55,000 POUND CAP POC POC: LAURA ARTZ (810) 574-8041 THE U.S. ARMY TANK-AUTOMOTIVE AND ARMAMENTS COMMAND (TACOM) IS PREPARING TO ISSUE A SOLICITATION FOR THE ROUGHT TERRAIN CONTAINER HANDLER PROGRAM. THE PURPOSE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS TO PROVIDE OFFERORS ADVANCE NOTIFICATION OF OUT INTENTIONS FOR THE RTCH PROGRAM. THE SCHEDULE, QUANTITIES AND THE ACQUISITION STRATEGY DESCRIBED IN THIS NOTICE ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT: THE RTCH IS A CONTAINER HANDLING VEHICLE REQUIRED TO OPERATE ON UNIMPROVED SURFACES WITH THE RATED LOAD. THE RATED LOAD SHALL BE MAXIMUM 55,000 POUNDS. THE RTCH SHALL HANDLE CONTAINERS WITH HEIGHTS RANGING FROM 4'3" TO 9'6", 20 AND 40 FOOT LONG AND STACK THEM TWO HIGH. THE RTCH MUST WITHSTAND THE USAGE ENCOUNTERED IN MILITARY OPERATIONS INCLUDING HANDLING AND STACKING OF CONTAINERS AT THE RATED LOAD, THE LOADING AND UNLOADING OF CONTAINERS FROM FLATBED TRAILERS AND RAIL CARS, AND OPERATION IN CONFINED AREAS. IT WILL BE REQUIRED TO OPERATED OVER ROUGH TERRAIN, INCLUDING UNPREPARED, UNSTABLIZED SURFACES SUCH AS BEACHES, SNOW, MUD AND CROSS COUNTRY. WE DESIRE THAT THE RTCH HAVE RESTRICTED RAIL AND HIGHWAY TRANSPORTABILITY, MARINE TRANSPORTABILITY AND AIR TRANSPORTABILITY AND C-5 AND C-17 AIRCRAFT. A DRAFT PURCHASE DESCRIPTION WAS ISSUED, DATED OCT 27, 1997, AND CONTAINS THE MOST UP TO DATE VERSION OF THE REQUIREMENTS. THE TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS MAY CHANGE BASED ON INDUSTRY FEEDBACK_AND THE APPLICATION OF COST AS AN INDEPENDENT VARIABLE. OUR INTENTION IS TO USE COMMERCIAL PRACTICES, SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT POSSIBLE. IT IS OUR INTENTION TO USE COMMERCIALLY BASED LOGISITICS SUPPORT. ACQUISITION STRATEGY: A MARKET SURVEY WAS ISSUED IN JULY 1997. A FOLLOW UP MARKET SURVEY WAS ISSUED ON NOV 10, 1997. THAT MARKET SURVEY AND THE DRAFT PURCHASE DESCRIPTION, DATED OCT 27, 1997, ARE POSTED ON THE TACOM ACQUISITION CENTER HOME PAGE UNDER MARKET SURVEYS. THE URL ADDRESS IS WWW.TACOM.ARMY.MIL/ ACQ_CEN/. ANY INTERESTED OFFEROR IS ENCOURAGED TO REVIEW AND SUBMIT A RESPONSE TO THE MOST RECENT MARKET SURVEY AND COMMENT ON THE DRAFT PURCHASE DESCRIPTION. THE RTCH WILL BE AACQUIRED IN TWO (2) PHASES. PHASE I WILL BE THE PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT DEMONSTRATION EFFORT AND PHASE II WILL BE THE PRODUCTION EFFORT. PHASE I: WE INTEND ON RELEASING THE DRAFT REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) IN JANUARY 1998. THE RFP WILL BE ISSUED IN SPRING OF 1998. A BEST VALUE DETERMINATION WILL BE MADE AND MAY INCLUDE FACTORS SUCH AS TECHNICAL APPROACH, THE OFFEROR'S COMMERCIAL LOGISTICS SUPPORT CAPABILITIES, COST, PRODUCTION CAPABILITY, AND PAST PERFORMANCE. WE INTEND TO AWARD TWO (2) PROTOTYPE DEMONSTRATION CONTRACTS JUNE 1998. THE TWO (2) SUCCESSFUL CONTRACTORS WILL BE REQUIRED TO DEVELOP AND DELIVER UP TO TWO (2) PROTOTYPE RTCHS TO ABERDEEN TEST CENTER FIVE MONTHS AFTER AWARD OF THE CONTRACT. TACOM WILL TEST AND DEMONSTRATE THE PROTOTYPES FOR APPROXIMATELY FIVE MONTHS. THE TESTING WILL REVIEW THE CRITICAL CAPABILITIES OF THE PROTOTYPES. SPECIAL EMPHASIS WILL BE MADE ON THE RELIABILITY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF THE PROTOTYPES FOR THEIR INTENDED USE. THE CONTRACTORS WILL BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THIS TESTING PHASE. PHASE II: WE INTEND TO LIMIT COMPETITION FOR THE PRODUCTION CONTRACT TO ONLY THE TWO CONTRACTORS THAT WERE AWARDED PROTOTYPE CONTRACTS IN PHASE I. THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR THE PRODUCTION CONTRACT WILL BE RELEASED TOWARDS THE END OF THE TESTING PHASE. A BEST VALUE DETERMINATION WILL BE MADE BETWEEN THE TWO CONTRACTORS USING EVALUATION CRITERIA AND THE RESULTS OF THE TESTING AND DEMONSTRATION AT THE ABERDEEN TEST CENTER. WE INTEND ON ISSUING A FIVE YEAR REQUIREMENTS CONTRACT FOR THE PRODUCTION OF APPROXIMATELY 300 RTCHS UNDER THIS PROGRAM. WE ANTICIPATE AWARDING PHASE II PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS CONTRACT IN THE SUMMER OF 1999. THE POINT OF CONTACT IS THE U.S. ARMY TANK-AUTOMOTIVE AND ARMAMENTS COMMAND, ACQUISITION CENTER, AMSTA-AQ-SBB/MS. LAURA ARTZ, WARREN, MI 48397-5000. TELEPHONE: (810) 574-8041, FAX: (810 ) 574-7596, EMAIL: ARTZL@CC.TACOM.ARMY.MIL OR THE CONTRACTING OFFICER, JOHN CASH (810) 574-8131. SEE NOTE : N/A. ALL RESPONSIBLE SOURCES MAY SUBMIT AN OFFER WHI CH WILL BE CONSIDERED. (0328)

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