Phillips Laboratory, Directorate of Contracting, 2251 Maxwell Avenue SE, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5773

A -- OPTICAL COATING AND COMPONENT EVALUATION LABORATORY (OCEL) II SOL F29601-98-R-0012 POC POC: Dorothy D. Black, Contract Specialist, 505/846-4417, or Sanae Yata, Contracting Officer, 505/846-5119. Research and development sources are sought for the Optical Coating and Component Evaluation Laboratory (OCEL) contract to provide qualified onsite optical component characterization and evaluation and optical thin film deposition support to the Directed Energy Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory. This is a follow-on acquisition to Contract F29601-95-C-0021 for OCEL. Core research and development activities that will be performed on site at Phillips Research Site include theory and concept development; laboratory operation; and development, fabrication and evaluation of advanced optics and thin film coatings. This acquisition includes development and operation of instrumentation to evaluate and characterize optical components and optical thin films, and analysis of measurement data. This acquisition also includes design analysis, the application of technical expertise to solve optics evaluation and coating problems, and maintenance of laboratory coating and test facilities and diagnostic equipment. Optics characterization includes scatterometry, laser calorimetry, interferometry, spectrophotometry, and performance testing to determine optical scatter, absorption, surface shape, transmitted wavefront quality, reflectance, transmittance, thermal distortion, stress, durability, stability, and other properties of interest. Emphasis will be on high energy laser optics although the laboratory will support other Air Force requirements for optical property measurements. Custom experimental setups utilizing the laboratory's computer controlled instrumentation will be required. Thin film research and development will include coating design, investigation of techniques to improve thin film coatings for high energy laser applications, and deposition of multilayer coatings. An Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ), Cost- Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) type task order contract is contemplated with a task-ordering period of 5 years. Anticipated contract value is $6.2M. Small businesses having the capability to perform this work are invited to submit a Statement of Capability (SOC) in order to determine whether the acquisition should be set aside for small businesses. Based on the results of the SOC evaluation, the Government reserves the right to set aside this requirement for small businesses. Offerors shall indicate whether they are or are not a small business, a small disadvantaged business, 8(a), a woman-owned business, or Historically Black College or University. The statement of capability shall contain pertinent and specific information addressing the following areas: (1) Experience in state-of-the-art optics research and development, particularly high energy laser optics characterization and evaluation, computer controlled automated instrumentation, and high energy laser thin films. Offeror shall identify any Independent Research and Development programs conducted within the last three years in the technical areas being solicited and describe significant results of such projects. Technical expertise should address capabilities in performing scatterometry, laser calorimetry, interferometry, spectrophotometry, and performance testing. The offeror shall identify those efforts done in-house and those done by subcontractor. (2) Ability to plan and conduct tests at government facilities. (3) Research and management personnel professional qualifications and specific technical experience relevant and applicable to this work. Desired qualifications for technical and management personnel are B.S. in engineering or related field with 5 years experience. Technical personnel should specify specific, relevant experience to the optical coatings and/or component evaluation mentioned above. (4) Experience and ability to manage research resources to ensure the technical efforts are completed on schedule and within cost. Offerors must have financial, engineering, and managerial resources to support sporadic, quick turnaround efforts. (5) Offerors must demonstrate the in-house capability of performing at least 50% of the total effort. Documentation shall be provided on all subcontract work anticipated in performance of the effort to include an estimate of the anticipated subcontracting for the areas to be subcontracted. (6) A statement of ability to obtain, within 30 days of contract award, both an industrial security clearance and available storage facilities to support work at the SECRET level. Any responses received not addressing all of the above requirements will be rejected. The capability statements will be limited to 15 pages, single spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman, excluding resumes. Interested offerors are requested to submit a statement of capability within 15 calendar days of this announcement, substantiating each qualification described (original plus 3 copies) in (1) through (6) above for RFP F29601-98-R-0012 to Det 8 AFRL/PKDL, Attn: Ms Dorothy Black, 2251 Maxwell Avenue SE, Kirtland AFB NM 87117-5773. Only unclassified information shall be submitted. An original plus two copies shall be submitted. Potential offerors responding to this sources sought synopsis must indicate whether they qualify as a small business under SIC Code 8711 with a size standard of $2.5M. An organizational conflict of interest clause is anticipated in any resultant contract. This is not a request for proposal (RFP) and is not construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Any costs incurred as a result of this announcement shall be borne by the offeror and will not be charged to the Government for reimbursement. To prepare its proposal and perform services under the contract, the contractor will require access to Militarily Critical Technical Data whose export is restricted by U.S. export control laws and regulations. Only offerors who submit an approved DD Form 2345, Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement, to the contracting officer will receive a copy of the solicitation. Contact the Defense Logistics Services Center (DLSC), Federal Center, 74 North Washington, Battle Creek MI 49016-4312, (1-800-352-3572) for further information on the certification and approval process. Foreign owned firms are advised they will not be allowed to participate as the prime contractor. If your interest is in subcontracting possibilities, please indicate this clearly in your submission. All respondents desiring a copy of the future solicitations must provide a point of contact, complete mailing address, telephone and fax number, and e-mail address. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear significant concerns from offerors or potential offerors during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. Routine questions are not considered to be of "significant concern" and should be communicated directly to the Contracting Officer, Sanae Yata, (505) 846-5119. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the Contracting Officer or Program Manager, but to communicate contractor concerns, issues, disagreements and recommendations to the appropriate Government personnel. The Ombudsman doesnot participate in the evaluation of the proposals or in the source selection process. The Ombudsman for this acquisition is Mr Eugene DeWall, Deputy Director of Contracting, Det 8 AFRL/PK-D, (505) 846-4979, 2251 Maxwell Avenue SE, Kirtland AFB NM 87117-5773. (0146)

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