A -- MOBILE DETECTIONASSESSMENT RESPONSE SYSTEM -- EXTERIOR (MDARS-E)

Notice Date

January 18, 2001

Contracting Office

U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command Acquisition Center -- Washington Operations Office, 2461 Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria, VA 22331-0700

ZIP Code

22331-0700

Solicitation Number

DAAB15-01-R-1010

Point of Contact

Ms. Terri White (703) 325-6172

E-Mail Address

Contract Specialist (twhite@hoffman-issaa2.army.mil)

Description

The purpose of this announcement is to request comments from industry on the Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP) technical requirements and acquisition strategy for the Army's pending Mobile Detection Assessment Response System -- Exterior (MDARS-E) acquisition and to announce a Pre-Solicitation Conference at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center-San Diego (SSC-SD) on 3-4 April 2001. MDARS-E consists of a control station with exterior patrol units equipped with Mission Payload Suites. The MDARS-E procurement will be managed by the materiel developer, the Office of the Product Manager, Physical Security Equipment (PM-PSE), at Fort Belvoir, VA. The U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center (MANSCEN) is the combat developer. The MDARS-E is a subsystem of the MDARS. The MDARS program will integrate the MDARS-Interior (MDARS-I) for interior environments, such as warehouses, and the MDARS-E designed to operate in exterior environments, such as materiel storage yards, arsenals, petroleum storage areas, airfields, rail yards, and port facilities. Future versions of the MDARS-I and -E will operate in conjunction with fixed Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS). The objective of MDARS-E is to protect high dollar value and critical US assets by providing commanders with standardized, semi-autonomous IDS using unmanned vehicle technology. MDARS-E will introduce exterior patrol units employing a suite of sensors that is controlled by a control station that houses monitoring and annunciation equipment. MDARS-E will satisfy an immediate Army requirement for a semi-autonomous mobile capability for patrolling physical security sites at Department of Defense (DoD) installations. With minimal operator intervention other than system initiation, the patrol unit will automatically move randomly to and throughout designated patrol areas in exterior environments primarily during non-duty hours. While on random patrol, the patrol unit will semi-autonomously conduct surveillance, check for intruders, conduct product inventory, and check the status of facility barriers, such as gate and bunker/container doors. Operator's input from the control station will be required only if an intruder is detected or the patrol unit encounters an abnormal situation. If the MDARS-E patrol unit detects an intruder, the video link to the control station will be activated and an audio/visual alarm will be annunciated at the control station. The security officer will be able to see, hear, and talk to the intruder as well as send the patrol unit to a location where the intruder has been detected. The exterior patrol units: (1) detect intruders, (2) read the status of locks on storage structures (open or closed), and (3) determine the status of inventory items through the use of specialized Radio Frequency (RF) transponder tags. MDARS-E also will include RF/Microwave and Hardwire/Fiber Optic communication networks. Functional users of MDARS-E are anticipated to be supply and maintenance activities of the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). Approximately 18 depots are currently on the tentative distribution list for operational deployment of MDARS. MDARS-E will be operated by Department of Defense (DoD) security and law enforcement units. To date MDARS-E has undergone Program Definition and Risk Reduction, which has resulted in development of brassboard models and Government-developed Multiple Resource Host Architecture (MRHA) command and control software. The Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of MDARS-E, which will verify producibility of the MDARS-E system, is the subject of this DRFP. The EMD contract will be Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF). The EMD contractor will be selected on the basis of the proposal that offers the best value to the Government. The evaluation will use a tradeoff process. Evaluation factors will include Technical, Supportability, Cost, Performance Risk, and Management. The Government currently anticipates that the follow-on production effort will be performed by the EMD contractor on a sole-source basis. In order to minimize development risks, the Government anticipates a four-year EMD effort broken out as follows: (1) Within 18 months of contract award, design, develop, fabricate, and conduct Product Qualification Tests-1 (PQT-1); (2) Conduct a one year field evaluation at a DoD supply depot; (3) Within six-months after the field evaluation, refurbish, redesign, and retest the EMD system as required; (4) Deliver the system to a Government test facility for Government-observed, Contractor-performed technical testing (PQT-2 and Logistics Demonstration) and subsequent Government Operational Testing (OT); and (5) Support OT. In preparation for the release of the MDARS-E Request for Proposal (RFP), the Government is seeking comments from industry on the acquisition strategy discussed in this announcement and the DRFP, which will be posted to the CECOM Acquisition Center (CAC) Interactive Business Opportunities Page (IBOP) on or about 1 February 2001. Specific questions that the Government seeks answers to are: (1) Is plus or minus 30 degrees realistic for the 360-degree volumetric coverage for the intrusion detection sensor? If not, what is realistic and why? (2) Is it realistic to expect the Contractor to design, develop, fabricate, and conduct PQT-1 tests within 18 months after contract award? If not, what is a realistic time and why? Please respond to this DRFP by 1 March 2001. Comments are solicited on the MDARS-E Draft RFP documents consisting of the Specification (ESPEC.PDF), Statement of Work (ESOW.PDF, ECDRLS.PDF), and pertinent Technical Data (MRHA. PDF, IDD.PDF). These documents will be posted on the CAC IBOP at "http://abop.monmouth.army.mil/" on or about 1 February 2001. These documents are downloadable. This DRFP is identified on the IBOP as "MDARS-E, DAAB15-01-R-1010, Pre-Solicitation". Comments in response to this DRFP are to be submitted via CAC-Washington (CAC-W) Web Site http://128.190.157.111/. Procedures for electronically submitting comments are provided at the CAC-W Web Site. At least Netscape Navigator Version 2.01 or Microsoft Explorer Version 3.0 is required. Vendor Name, Company Address, and Email Address must be entered before the comment can be accepted electronically. Fields on the form apply to both questions and comments. Click on "Mail To WebMaster" if you have problems using this site. You may also phone or e-mail Mr. Barry Burneskis at (703) 325-1712 or jburne@hoffman-issaa2.army.mil. The Government will hold a two-day Pre-Solicitation Conference at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center -- San Diego (SSC-SD), 3-4 April 2001. Those planning to attend are requested to notify the Contracting Officer by 1 March 2001 by e-mailing your company name and point of contact (name, e-mail address, and phone number) to Ms. Terri White at twhite@hoffman-issaa2.army.mil. Also visit requests, referencing the MDARS-E Pre-Solicitation Conference, should be sent to the following address by 1 March 2001: Commanding Officer, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego (SSC-SD), Code D03541, 49275 Electron Drive, San Diego, CA 92152-5435; Telefax (Automatic): (619) 553-6169, Verify: (619) 553-3203. The tentative agenda for this Conference is as follows: 3 April 2001 0830-0900 Sign in 0900-0930 Briefing by Contracting Officer (Welcome, Administrative Matters, Purpose of Conference) 0930-0945 Briefing by Product Manager, Physical Security Equipment (PM-PSE) (Introduction of the Key Government Briefers) 0945-1000 Break 1000-1200 Briefing by Technical Team (Overview, Concept of Operations) 1200-1330 Lunch 1330-1430 Demonstration of MDARS Prototype System in Operation 1430-1445 Break 1445-1600 Continuation of briefings (Specification Requirements) 1600-1700 Questions from attendees and answers 1700 Break for the day 4 April 2001 0830-0900 Sign in 0900-1000 Continuation of Technical Team briefings (Description of Work to be Performed) 1000-1130 Static Display Demonstration of Prototype MDARS-E: Patrol Units, MDARS-I Platforms, and Control Station. 1130-1300 Lunch 1300-1400 Continuation of Technical Team briefings (Overview of Technical Documents) 1400-1700 Open agenda for questions and answers. Identification of action items. 1700 End of conference

Web Link

CECOM Acquisition Center Interactive Business Opportunities (http://abop.monmouth.army.mil)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010122/ASOL006.HTM (W-018 SN50B1Z7)