Information Request for Airborne Infrared Platforms and/or Sensors Capability for the Ballistic Missile Defense System

1. Background: Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is responsible for developing an integrated Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), integrating land, sea, air, and space based assets to defend the United States, friends and allies, and deployed forces from ballistic missile attack. 2. Description: A. Request for Information (RFI). This is a Request for Information (RFI) on platform and/or sensor options for developing an Airborne Infrared (ABIR) capability for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The MDA is investigating the potential of ABIR for meeting ballistic missile defense (BMD) needs. The BMD need of current interest is fire control quality tracking at or near threat burnout to support early intercept. The purpose of this announcement is to obtain insight into existing platforms and sensors that could be modified and/or integrated to field ABIR systems to support missile defense in less than five years. In an effort to conduct current market research in this area, MDA requests Commercial Industry, the National Laboratories and others describe their capabilities to support the ABIR mission. B. MDA is requesting contractors interested in this acquisition submit a capability statement that demonstrates core capabilities and expertise. MDA requests answers to the questions listed below. Specific topics of interest: 1. Platform Options a. Platform Availability i. How many flightworthy aircraft will there be by the end of CY2010? ii. How many flightworthy aircraft will there be by the end of CY2012? iii. How many flightworthy aircraft will there be by the end of CY2015? iv. Given a go-ahead in 2010, what is the production risk of having four flightworthy aircraft (with two ground control stations for UAS platforms) by 2012? v. Given a go-ahead in 2010, what is the production risk of having 15 total flightworthy aircraft (with 10 total ground control stations for UAS platforms) by 2015? b. Sensor Mounting i. What is the engineering and schedule risk for mounting an EO/IR pod to the aircraft? ii. What is the engineering and schedule risk for mounting a turreted EO/IR sensor of up to 22 inches diameter and 260 lb on the aircraft in such a way that it has a field-of-regard from a few degrees below the horizon up to at least +20 deg elevation over more than +90 to -90 deg in azimuth as measured from the nose? Is there a way to mount this sensor so that it can also look down to nadir? iii. What is the engineering and schedule risk for mounting an open cavity EO/IR sensor on top of the aircraft with a clear aperture of at least 35 cm that has a field-of-regard of approximately +20 deg to – 35 deg from broadside and can roll to cover the full elevation extent from -3 deg below horizontal on one side of the aircraft to -3 deg on the other side? The notional parameters of such a sensor are 3 feet diameter, 8 feet long and 1,100 lb. iv. Would any of these mounting schemes interfere with existing or potential satellite communication antennas? If so, is there another way to mount the satellite communication antennas to retain satellite communication capability? v. Would any of these sensor mounting schemes interfere with an existing mission for the aircraft, and what level of time and effort would be required to switch between configurations? vi. Have any of these sensor configurations been studied, planned or demonstrated? c. Aircraft Performance i. For each of the types of sensor configurations discussed above (pod, turret, open cavity) what would the maximum endurance be at 30 kft, 40 kft, 50 kft, and 60+ kft? External fuel tanks should be considered if applicable. ii. What is the maximum altitude that could be maintained for at least 6 hours? iii. What is the time-to-climb to each of the altitudes given above? iv. What is the airspeed (KTAS) during climb to the altitudes given above to preserve maximum endurance? v. What is the airspeed (KTAS) at each of the altitudes given above to preserve maximum endurance? vi. If the aircraft is capable of in-flight refueling, what is the maximum time aloft? vii. What is the time to turn 180 deg at altitude and what bank angle would be used? viii. What are the operational restrictions due to weather, both on take-off and landing, and during climb and descent? Please consider visibility, winds, surface air temperature, icing conditions and any other significant weather factors that would restrict operations. ix. Are there existing weather mitigations, e.g., deicing kits, for the aircraft? d. Communications i. What is the current satellite communication system on the platform and what sustained bandwidth is it able to support? ii. What band(s) does it operate in and which satellites does it use? iii. What is the current LOS communication system on the platform and what sustained bandwidth is it able to support? iv. Are these communication channels secure to NSA standards and jam resistant? v. What is the latency on commands to the aircraft and data passed back to the ground? vi. Is it possible to do relay communication from a forward platform through a rear platform and then to the ground via LOS or satellite communications? vii. Are there planned upgrades to the communication system that will be available in FY12 and FY15, e.g., encryption or laser communications? e. Basing i. What operational support is required at a base, e.g., runway length, hangars, specialized handling equipment, fuels? ii. How many ground crew are required to prep, recover and maintain the aircraft? iii. What specialized equipment are required to maintain the aircraft? iv. What is a typical turn time (wheels down to wheels up) if there are no unexpected maintenance items? v. How many sorties can be flown at this operational tempo before the aircraft is likely to require additional time on the ground for maintenance? vi. What additional ground time should be considered for planned and unplanned maintenance if the aircraft is to be operated for one week? vii. What additional ground time should be considered for planned and unplanned maintenance if the aircraft is to be operated for four weeks? viii. What additional ground time should be considered for planned and unplanned maintenance if the aircraft is to be operated for three months? ix. Which US military OCONUS bases are currently capable of supporting an operational unit of these aircraft? 2. IR Airborne Sensor Options a. Optics i. List the wavebands of your sensor(s). a) If there are multiple wavebands, do they operate simultaneously? b) If they do not operate simultaneously, how long does it take to switch wavebands? Provide spectral response(s) for each waveband. ii. What is the clear aperture of your sensor? a) List the focal length and/or f # of your sensor for each waveband. iii. What are the IFOV and FOV? a) If there are multiple FOVs, how long does it take to switch between them? b) What is the blur circle diameter of each? iv. What is the Noise Equivalent Irradiance (NEI)? a) List each waveband and FOV combination separately. b) Provide table of NEI measured values vs. background temperature and integration time. c) Our interest is primarily on observing point targets against cold and uniform backgrounds. v. What is the solar exclusion angle of your sensor? b. Focal Plane Array (FPA) and Readout integrated Circuit (ROIC) i. What is the manufacturer and model of your FPA/ROIC chip? a) Are there multiple FPAs in your sensor? b) What is the detector material? c) What is the pixel pitch? d) What is the quantum efficiency of the FPA(s)? e) What percent of the total pixel area is active? f) How many pixels are there in the FPA? (number of rows and columns) g) What is the well size? h) Does the ROIC operate in snap shot mode? i) If not, what mode does it operate on? ii. What is the frame rate of your sensor? a) Can it be varied? b) If so, what are the limits of the sensor frame rate? iii. What are the limits of the integration time (min, max)? a) Does the sensor support automatic integration control?. b) Is there a fixed frame readout time, or does the chip work in “read-while-integrate” mode? c) Does the ROIC have variable gain and/or auto gain control? c. Absolute Pointing Related Questions i. What is the standard deviation of the absolute pointing error that your sensor provides? a) Over what period of time is the quoted level of pointing accuracy maintained? b) How often does it require stellar calibration or some other method of absolute pointing calibration in order to maintain specified pointing accuracy? ii. What are the IMU and gyros used in your sensor? a) Specify manufacturer and model number. b) What are the random walk, drift, and scale factors of your IMU? c) Do you use GPS to actively correct for random walk and drift? iii. What is the angular stabilization of your sensor’s boresight expressed as RSS angular jitter? iv. Where are the IMU and gyros located in your sensor? d. Gimbal Related Questions i. What is the maximum angular rate of your gimbal or pointing mirror? ii. What is the maximum angular acceleration of your gimbal or pointing mirror? iii. What is the slew endurance (if applicable) of your sensor as a function of angular acceleration and velocity? iv. What is the settle time of your gimbal or mirror to reach the above quoted RSS boresight stability? a) Provide as function of angular rate and acceleration v. What is the field of regard of your sensor? a) Provide gimbal or mirror only field of regard (unobstructed), and field of regard after platform obstruction has been accounted for. e. Processor Related Question i. Does your sensor have an auto-tracker capable of simultaneously tracking point targets against a uniform background? If so, a) What is the maximum number of targets that the tracker is capable of processing simultaneously? b) What is the angular precision of the auto-tracker? c) Is the tracker capable of reporting tracks in an absolute reference frame? d) What is the accuracy of the reported tracks? f. General Questions i. What is the altitude regime over in which your sensor is designed to operate? Are there concerns such as icing, fogging, and/or heat dissipation due to operations at above 35,000 ft? ii. Are there any concerns related to the use of your sensor in continuous scan mode over an extended period of time? If so, for how long? iii. What are the weight and dimensions of your sensor/gimbal combination? iv. Is your sensor currently in production? If not, will the sensor be ready to support experiments in 2012, and production in 2014-15? 3. Provide any other useful information on ABIR platform or sensor options. Acronyms: ABIR: Airborne Infrared BMD: Ballistic Missile Defense FOV: Field of View GPS: Global Positioning System IFOV: Instantaneous Field of View IMU: Inertial Measurement Unit IR: Infrared Kft: kilofeet KTAS: Knots True Airspeed LOS: Line of Sight NEI: Noise equivalent irradiance NSA: National Security Agency OCONUS: Outside Continental United States RSS: Root sum square UAS: Unmanned air system US: United States C. Place of performance. Not applicable. D. Government-Furnished Information (GFI) / Government-Furnished Equipment (GFE). GFI/GFE is not applicable. E. Responses: Responses are limited to a maximum of fifteen pages excluding the cover page. Responses in excess of 15 pages may not be reviewed. Any written response format is acceptable and both paper and electronic media are requested. Verbal responses will not be accepted. Additional information beyond the topics above is allowed and should be included in the overall 15-page limit. We expect responses to contain unclassified information. If it is necessary to include Classified information, please contact the Contracting Officer prior to submitting your capability statement. The cover page should contain: (1) company name and address, (2) primary point of contact and one alternate, (3) telephone number and email address, (4) Cage Code, (5) NAICS code, (6) small business category, if applicable. For all email correspondence, please use the following subject line: “HQ0006-XX-RFI Airborne Infrared (ABIR) Capability.” MDA will not acknowledge receipt of responses to this RFI. If a receipt is desired, potential sources should submit statements via email and select “read receipt request” from electronic mail options. Responses should be classified no higher than collateral SECRET and should identify areas which might be subject to data limits or restrictions. F. Marking. Potential sources are responsible for adequately marking proprietary information contained in their response. Any proprietary information MUST be marked as such, on a page-by-page basis. The Government intends to use third party, non-Government (contractor) support personnel as subject matter experts in the review of responses received, including the review of any marked or unmarked proprietary information provided. Appropriate non-disclosure agreements have been executed between the third party, non-Government (contractor) support personnel and the Government and are on file with the Government. A submission of a response to this RFI constitutes the respondent’s acknowledgement and agreement that the information provided in the response, including any marked or unmarked proprietary or source selection information, may be disclosed to the these third party, non-Government (contractor) support personnel. G. Compensation. This is a market research announcement for informational planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposal, nor is it to be construed as a commitment by the Government. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to pay for any information, or otherwise reimburse responders for any costs associated with their respective submissions in response to this RFI. Any response will be treated as information only. Respondents will not be notified of the results of any review of this RFI; however, clarification of submissions may be requested by the Contracting Officer. Participation in this effort is strictly voluntary. The Contracting Officer for this RFI is Elizabeth Moulder, 256-450-1014, [email protected]. MDA requests responses be received at the below address no later than fourteen (14) calendar days after the original posting of this request. Respondents will be notified expeditiously if additional clarification is required. Please mail paper and/or electronic media responses to the following addresses: Missile Defense Agency (MDA/DE) Attn: Ms. K. Anderson 7100 Defense Pentagon Washington, D.C. 20301-7100 and Missile Defense Agency (MDA/DACV) Attn: Ms. Karen Beveridge 7100 Defense Pentagon Washington, D.C. 20301-7100 Note: If sending classified electronic media response, please send to the following SIPR account: [email protected] and concurrently send an unclassified e-mail notification to the individuals listed below. Direct questions on the above request for information to the following points of contact: Ms. K. Anderson 703-692-6241 [email protected] DACV Points of Contact: Ms. Karen Beveridge 703-882-6629 [email protected] Ms. Elizabeth Moulder 256-450-1014 [email protected]