Ruggedized Workstations RFI

Active

Contract Opportunity

Executive Summary

The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems X (PEO IWS X) is requesting information to identify sources capable of providing Ruggedized Workstations (RW), which are formerly referred to as consoles.

For the purposes of this RFI, the Navy is defining a RW as a static human machine interface capable of meeting Navy environmental qualification testing. In layman terms, the Navy is seeking a desk with monitors and peripherals (mouse, keyboard, trackball, etc.) that is safe and effective to operate on naval platforms.

RFI Background

PEO IWS X is currently developing hardware systems as part of the Integrated Combat System (ICS). The ICS supports the PEO’s objective to align the organization, processes, and resources to develop a common, tailorable ICS that drives efficiency and increases combat system capabilities, quality, and delivery speed. ICS platforms include an array of ships and sites (e.g., large and small surface combatants, aircraft carriers, amphibious ships, and other related programs such as U.S. Coast Guard, Foreign Military Sales, and other proposed future ship classes).

The ICS consists of software (SW) based capabilities operating within an advanced hardware (HW) suite. The advanced HW suite includes Compute Infrastructure (CI) (Network, Processing, and Storage), Ruggedized Workstations, and dynamic resourcing enabled through Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) principles to optimize those components. Ruggedized Workstations enable operator interaction with the ICS—traditionally as operator consoles—and this is the focus of this Request for Information (RFI).

RW devices enable operators to monitor, control and manage all aspects of ICS operation, including the entire kill chain—from initial surveillance through detection, track initiation, combat identification (CID), sensor-weapon pairing, threat engagement and battle damage assessment (BDA). Ideally, RW devices present timely, accurate tactical data to unambiguously inform operator decisions, and enable error-free ICS interaction that supports optimized engagement outcomes, while readily accommodating a broad set of operator end-users.

Problem Statement

Legacy RW systems (consoles) were required to have significant local compute capacity to enable the interface with the ICS. The requirement to have dedicated computing at each console drove the Government to utilize a local server at each console. Deploying a server at a console causes an extreme cost impact due to the quantity of required servers, but also drives additional complexity into the design by requiring a cooling system and custom manufacturing required to safeguard those resources at each console. Advancements in the ICS system has allowed for the legacy compute resources to be delivered remotely, thus creating an opportunity for a RW that has reduced physical components.

The Naval Vessel Operational Environment adds another layer of unique requirements. All RWs are required to meet the following standards for use on Naval vessels:

• Unique operational maritime environment: Naval Ships operate at sea and train for & wage war


• Operating Temperature: MIL-STD-810G, Method 501.6 and Method 502.6


• Non-Operating Temperature: MIL-STD-810G, Method 501.6 and Method 502.6


• Temperature Shock: MIL-STD-810G, Method 503.6, Procedure I-B


• Humidity: MIL-STD-810G, Method 507.6 for both storage and operational conditions


• Vibration: MIL-STD-167-1, MIL-STD-1472G, paragraph 5.5.5.3


• Non-Operating Vibration: MIL-STD-810G, Method 514.7, Category 2


• Shock: MIL-DTL-901E


• Ship Motion: DOD-STD-1399, Section 301A


• Airborne Noise: MIL-STD-1474D, Requirement 5 for grade A12 equipment


• Power: MIL-STD-1399-300B


• Structure Borne Noise: MIL-STD-740-2 for Type III equipment


• Altitude: MIL-STD-810G, Method 500.6, Procedure III


• Sand and Dust: MIL-STD-810G, Method 510.6, Procedure tailored for Settling Dust


• Salt Fog: MIL-STD-810G, Method 509.6


• Electrostatic Discharge: MIL-STD-1686 paragraph 5 Table III


• DC Magnetic Field: DOD-STD-1399 Section 70


• TEMPEST: NSTISSAM TEMPEST/1-92, Level II and NSTISSAM TEMPEST/2-95, Level II, Zone B


• Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI): MIL-STD-461F, MIL-STD-464

RFI Objective:

The Navy is interested in potential supplier’s ability to design, build, test, and produce RWs comprising of a desk, 3-eye horizontal display system and input devices (such as a keyboard, trackball, Variable Action Buttons, and foot switch). The Navy’s near-term goal is to reduce the cost of current RW’s (consoles) by taking advantage of computing power inorganic to the RW. The Navy believes this would be best implemented using a thin-client approach, therefore the RW needs to interface with non-local servers (computing cabinets not built into the RW). The Navy also recognizes that some built in compute processing may be required at each workstation and is seeking information on potential solutions to the problems described throughout this RFI.

The Government is seeing information on how interested companies would provide RW’s that address the following topics:

• Cost: Maximize cost saving techniques.


• Shipboard Qualification: RWs must be able to successfully meet the standards listed above for Shipboard use.


• Hatchability: Any system must be able to be brought onboard for installation or removal through a standard door (hatch) without requiring access (hull) cuts.
  
  
  
  • Standard hatch opening is 26” x 66”
  
  
  
  


• Manufacturability: Any system must be able to be manufactured at the scale required to support the Navy’s battle force ships and Aegis Ashore facilities.


• Maintainability: Any system must be able to be maintained while a ship is deployed.


• Installability: The ability to install rapidly to reduce total installation time.


• Modularity: The ability to implement a design change at the sub-assembly level without major impacts cascading to the assembly level design.

Any system identified should include the capacity to prototype new innovative technologies, operational capabilities, fabrication, integration, and associated logistics processes. The Government is looking for creative solutions drawn from a broad cross-section of commercial industry, other Government agencies, and/or across the DoD to achieve our RW objectives. The Government may be willing to update current requirements and/or standards if a sufficiently innovative approach presents itself. While we have identified the major technical areas that we know about today, the Government also seeks to create a highly adaptable model to enable us to solve tomorrow's problems.

REQUIREMENTS OVERVIEW

The Navy issues this RFI to help determine the interest, technical capability, and qualifications of industry to meet the Government’s needs to produce cost effective and reliable RW devices that deviate from the current state of practice for Navy console methods and technologies. Interested parties are requested to provide the following information in their responses:

Section 1 of the response shall provide administrative information, and shall include the following as a minimum:

• Organization name, mailing address, overnight delivery address (if different from mailing address), phone number, fax number, and name and e-mail of designated point of contact.


• Business type (large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business, HUB Zone small business, woman-owned small business, very small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business).


• Country of origin for main component(s)

Section 2 of the response shall provide a technical description and information, and shall include the following as a minimum:

1. Company Qualifications and Experience:
   
   
   
   1. Describe your capabilities, capacity and experience with designing and producing hardware systems using COTS hardware
   
   
   2. Describe your experiences producing equipment to Military Specifications
   
   
   3. Describe your experience working directly with government organizations.
   
   
   4. Describe your experience and approach for developing a comprehensive Test and Evaluation program for shipboard systems
   
   
   
   


2. Technical Approach:
   
   
   
   1. Provide your overall technical approach to design, manufacture, assemble, integrate, test, and evaluate the RW system
   
   
   2. Describe innovative methods for reducing cost and optimizing schedule.
   
   
   3. Describe your approach to integration of display software provided by third party vendor infrastructure
   
   
   4. Describe your risk management approach for execution of contract deliverables as related to cost, performance and schedule.
   
   
   5. Please suggest a comprehensive and cost effective Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL) for this requirement.
   
   
   
   


3. Cost & Schedule:
   
   
   
   1. For the technical approach outlined in section II above, provide an estimate of costs associated with First Article qualifications and required time to perform.
   
   
   2. Provide an estimated unit cost for each RW
   
   
   3. For the technical approach outlined in section II above, provide an estimate of production lead-time and cadence (e.g., X per month starting at Y months after award).
   
   
   
   


4. Data Rights:
   
   
   
   1. For the technical approach outlined in section II above, provide details on any limitations of technical data rights, specifically proprietary information, that would not be shared with the US Government.
   
   
   
   


5. Other:
   
   
   
   1. The Government will consider all comments received on the RFI. The Government does not commit to providing a response to any comment. The subsequent revision to any specification based on comments received remains solely at the Government's discretion. Comments are not included as part of the page count noted in SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS.
   
   
   
   

SUBMISSION OF RESPONSES:

Unclassified responses should be in PDF or Microsoft Word format and emailed to Julia Winovich, Contract Specialist, julia.a.winovich.civ@us.navy.mil, with a copy to the Contracting Officer, Stephanie Little, stephanie.m.little6.civ@us.navy.mil, by 13 December 2024 17:00 EDT. The subject line of the email should read as follows: “Response Ruggedized Workstation RFI Response N00024-25-R-5201”.

FORMATTING:

Respondents to this RFI must adhere to the following details:

1. Submissions shall be single spaced, typed or printed in Times New Roman font with type no smaller than 12-point font.


2. Submissions shall not exceed ten (10) pages. Product specification, sketches, or listings of authorized distributors do not count toward the page limitation.


3. Paper should be 8 1/2 x 11 inches with a minimum of 1 inch margins around the page. Any text contained within tables, graphs, etc. should be 8-point Times New Roman font or larger.


4. Included files should be created/prepared using Microsoft Office 2010 compatible applications. Graphics, photographs, and other data that may not be compatible with Microsoft Office 2010 should be submitted in Portable Document Format (PDF) format.


5. Submitted electronic files should be limited to the following extensions:

• .docx Microsoft Word


• .xlsx Microsoft Excel


• .pptx Microsoft PowerPoint


• .pdf Adobe Acrobat


• .mmpx Microsoft Project


• Submitted electronic files should not be compressed.

DISCLOSURE:

This RFI is not a request for proposals and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation; it does not constitute a solicitation or a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Navy is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. In accordance Far 15.201(e), responses to the RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The information provided in this RFI is preliminary and does not reflect approved Government specifications. The Government will not reimburse the cost of any submission or other expense in response to this RFI – the entire cost of any submission or other expense will be at the sole expense of the source submitting the information. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

Failure to respond to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if any is issued. If a solicitation is issued, it will be synopsized on the System for Award Management (SAM) website at (SAM.gov). The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. It is the responsibility of potential respondents to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement. The information requested by this RFI will be used within the U.S. Government to facilitate decision making and may be used in the development of the acquisition strategy and any future RFPs. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this RFI is voluntary. Other requests for information contained in this RFI shall be referred to NAVSEA 02 – Julia Winovich, julia.a.winovich.civ@us.navy.mil, and Stephanie Little, stephanie.m.little6.civ@us.navy.mil.

An acknowledgement of receipt will be provided for all responses received. If you do not receive an acknowledgement within two working days, please notify the points of contact listed in this notice. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

Proprietary information, if any, must be clearly marked. To aid the Government in its review and evaluation, please segregate proprietary information and label it as such for appropriate handling by the Government. Respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and clearly identifying any proprietary information or trade secrets contained within their response. All information received that includes proprietary markings will be handled in accordance with applicable statutes and regulations. Respondents that include their submissions data that they do not want disclosed to the public for any purpose, or to be used by the Government except for RFI response consideration purposes, shall mark their submissions as follows:

1) Mark the title page with the following legend: This response includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed – in whole or in part – for any purpose other than to consider this response. The data subject to this restriction are contained in sheets [insert numbers or other identification of sheets]; and

2) Mark each sheet of data it wishes to restrict with the following legend: Use or disclosure of data contained in on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this submission.

Respondents are advised that ManTech, Technomics, and 2Mi third party support contractors, who provide support to the PEO IWS X program, may assist the Government in its review of responses received under this notice and therefore may have access to the submitted material. These contractors have executed Non-Disclosure Agreements with the Department of Navy. Respondent shall provide notification on its cover page if the Respondent does not consent to the use of the aforementioned contractors. Unless otherwise stated by the Respondent, a submission received in response to this notice constitutes consent that the above-mentioned contractors may have access to all information provided in the Respondent’s submission. Unless otherwise stated by the Respondent, a submission received in response to this notice constitutes a Respondent’s consent for the Government to disclose all information provided in the Respondent’s submission to the above-mentioned third-party support contractors, for the purposes of the Trade Secrets Act.

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