THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) IS FOR MARKET RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY The Government does not guarantee that this RFI will result in a Request for Proposal (RFP) or contract award. The Government will not provide reimbursement for any costs incurred by vendors who respond to this RFI. All questions relating to this notice shall be sent via email to Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) point of contact (POC), Lisa J. Yamakawa,
[email protected]. Product Manager Soldier Protective Equipment (PM SPE) of the Program Executive Office Soldier (PEO Soldier), Fort Belvoir, VA 22060 is seeking information from potential industry partners to support the Army's next generation protection system called Soldier Protection System Torso and Extremity Protection (SPS TEP). An operational need exists to provide the Soldier a personal protective system that allows the user to tailor his/her loads for mission-specific operations, thereby increasing survivability and mobility. The goal of SPS TEP is to provide the Soldiers with modular and scalable/mission-tailorable protection to reduce weight and increase mobility while optimizing protection. Currently the Army is in the final development stage and intends to down-select between four (4) designs, with one design moving into Low Rate Initial Production/Full Rate Production (LRIP/FRP). One of these four designs is the Government SPS TEP system. Should the Government design be selected a soft ballistic armor solution will be required for LRIP/FRP. This RFI is to gather information specific to producing the SPS TEP soft ballistic armor for the Government design, if selected, for LRIP/FRP. The objective of this technology demonstration effort will be to assess soft ballistic armor that meets the attached Technical Statement of Need (TSN). Specifically, this RFI seeks vendor information supporting their capabilities to manufacture soft ballistic armor that meets the requirements at TSN paragraphs 3.3 Ballistic Material Systems Requirement and 3.4 Ballistic Performance Requirement. For the purposes of identifying business size in accordance with (IAW) the RFI submission instructions below, vendors shall use North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 315990. In addition, prior to responding to this RFI, vendors shall take into consideration the Government's intent to make a final determination in June 2015 as to whether the immediate requirement will be formally solicited. The Government is interested in identifying vendors with the capability to propose a soft ballistic insert solution that can meet/exceed the Government's technical requirements in June 2015. Submission Requirements: All interested vendors shall respond to the RFI by submitting the below information no later than (NLT) close of business (COB) on 09 December 2014: - Technical supporting information such as test reports or past research and development efforts investigating material performance and a soft armor ballistic design that meets or exceeds the TSN requirements. - Detailed description, in the form of a technical white paper and/or other research and developments relative to the interests of this RFI. - Business name, address, identification of business size and point of contact information (name, phone number, & email address) of the vendor responding to the RFI. - Business name, address & business size of all anticipated subcontractors. - Proprietary information should be clearly marked and will not be disclosed outside the U.S. Government. Interested sources shall submit the requested information NLT COB on 09 December 2014 to ACC-APG POC, Lisa J. Yamakawa,
[email protected].