A -- Airborne Infrared Surveillance Follow-On

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is seeking potential sources for the continued demonstration and evaluation of the Airborne Infrared Surveillance (AIRS) capability in support of the MDA Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). This effort utilizes an electro-optic/infrared sensor designed, developed and integrated into the host aircraft by the incumbent L-3 Communications, Aeromet Division. The sensor is hosted on a Gulfstream II aircraft operated by L-3/Aeroment and is used as a test asset for data collection by the MDA. The aircraft/sensor combination is called the High Altitude Observatory (HALO) II. The key technical capabilities requiring further demonstration and evaluation are: 1) cued and autonomous search, detection, and acquisition; 2) real-time missile tracking and 3-D state vector generation; 3) real-time discrimination of object(s) of interest; and 4) real-time connectivity with MDA’s Command, Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) system. The effort will include data collection, analyses and potential modification of the sensor suite mounted on the HALO II aircraft. The HALO II sensor suite will be used to collect infrared surveillance data against targets of interest to the MDA. This data will be processed in real time on board the HALO II to form state vectors and object sighting messages to be downlinked to the MDA C2BMC system as fire control solutions. The required effort consists of detailed test planning, engineering evaluations, minor modifications, and experiments and demonstrations for the HALO II aircraft and its support equipment. Credible potential sources would require the capability to perform the following: 1. Systems engineering to develop designs to integrate improvements to the MDA airborne test assets that facilitate real time in-flight demonstrations of key BMDS capabilities. 2. Develop and maintain software for sensor data processing and target tracking. 3. Investigate, demonstrate, and evaluate target identification feature extraction, discrimination, and tracking algorithms. 4. Demonstrate connectivity to MDA’s C2BMC system. 5. Upgrade the communications system on HALO II and other airborne assets. The potential value for the continued design, development and evaluation of the AIRS system could be $10M per year for a five-year project depending on future technology decisions. The incumbent Contractor is L-3 Communications, Aeromet Division. Interested parties are invited to submit a capability statement, not to exceed three (3) pages to this synopsis’ points-of-contact by no later than 15 days from the date this synopsis is published. The capability statement must summarize the respondent’s strengths in relationship to the following criteria: 1. Describe the qualification and capability to perform the type of work specified above. 2. Describe present or recent experience with DoD and / or NASA for the type of work specified above. If planning to team or subcontract, identify the firm(s) and segregate the information on the capability statement by firm. THIS SYNOPSIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND DOES NOT REPRESENT A COMMITMENT ON THE PART OF THE GOVERNMENT TO ISSUE A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS OR AWARD A CONTRACT. THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT PAY FOR ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN RESPONSE TO THIS SYNOPSIS.