MIL-STD-1553C Intrusion Detection and Prevention Hardware for MQ-8C

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DISCLAIMER

THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. IT IS A MARKET RESEARCH TOOL BEING USED TO DETERMINE POTENTIAL FIRMS CAPABLE OF PROVIDING THE SUPPLIES DESCRIBED HEREIN PRIOR TO DETERMINING THE METHOD OF ACQUISITION AND ISSUANCE OF A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT OBLIGATED TO AND WILL NOT PAY FOR ANY INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM POTENTIAL SOURCES AS A RESULT OF THIS SOURCES SOUGHT. THIS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY.

INTRODUCTION

The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO (U&W)), Multi-Mission Tactical Unmanned Air Systems Program (PMA-266) at Patuxent River, MD announces its intention to procure up to a quantity of sixteen (16) MIL-STD-1553C intrusion detection and prevention hardware kits over the course of three (3) years to provide protection and mitigation against cyber-attacks. The selected hardware is intended to be integrated into the MQ-8C Fire Scout Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV). The selection of the intrusion and prevention solution shall meet the parameters set forth in the Requirements section of this Sources Sought RFI. The solution must be available for procurement by 2nd Quarter FY23.

THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. It is a market research tool being used to determine potential and eligible firms capable of providing the hardware described herein prior to determining the method of acquisition and issuance of a Request for Proposal. The Government is not obligated to and will not pay for any information received from potential sources as a result of this sources sought.

BACKGROUND/REQUIREMENT

The Government has a requirement for an Intrusion Detection System and Intrusion Prevention System (IDS/IPS) capability that will add security to the MQ-8C’s MIL-STD-1553C data bus and harden the aircraft against cyber-attacks. The MIL-STD-1553C data bus system is the latest revision (February 2018) to the military standard. The Navy is conducting market research, through this RFI, to assess whether potential firms are capable of providing a suitable MIL-STD-1553C data bus intrusion and prevention system hardware solution to meet PMA-266 MQ-8C capability, design and operational requirements.

ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The anticipated period of performance will be from FY23 through FY24 and is expected to run for approximately 16-20 months from Contract award to Lab/Prototype deliveries. At least one Engineering Development Model (EDM) must be available for MIL-STD qualification testing approximately 12 months after Contract Award.

REQUIRED CAPABILITIES

• The IDS/IPS shall be capable of sitting in-line on a MIL-STD-1553C data bus and monitoring the bus traffic without interrupting the operation of the aircraft.


• The IDS/IPS shall be capable of sitting in-line on a MIL-STD-1553C data bus and monitoring the bus traffic without triggering built-in-test indications.


• The IDS/IPS shall be capable of sitting in-line on a MIL-STD-1553C data bus and monitoring the bus traffic without exceeding the MIL-STD-1553C data bus latency requirements. Maximum IDS/IPS latency shall not cause terminals to exceed maximum MIL-STD-1553C response times (section 4.3.3.8, 4.3.3.9).


• In the event that the IDS/IPS fails, the flow of MIL-STD-1553C data bus traffic shall continue unimpeded.


• On each data bus (A and B), the IDS/IPS shall provide between six security enclaves (threshold) and eight (objective) security enclaves. A security enclave is an area of a network. All data entering/leaving the security enclave is treated by the IDS/IPS in accordance with the security policy. Each enclave may contain one or more terminals.


• The IDS/IPS shall block anomalous messages on the MIL-STD-1553C data bus. This includes, but is not limited to, messages associated with:
  
  
  
  • A rogue bus controller
  
  
  • Impersonation
  
  
  • Denial-of-service attack
  
  
  • Malware corruption of an avionics box(called “Weapons Replaceable Assembly (WRA)” in the Navy/Marine Corp, “Line Replaceable Unit (LRU)” in the Air Force/Army)
  
  
  • Attempts to pivot from one compromised avionics box to another system. This means that if one avionics box has been compromised by an attacker, the attempt by an attacker to access other avionics boxes via the 1553 bus is noticed and an alert is generated.
  
  
  
  


• The IDS/IPS shall alert the aircraft to anomalous messages on the data bus.


• SWaP-C
  
  
  
  • An IDS/IPS shall be housed in a single avionics box located on the MIL-STD-1553 “A” bus and in a single avionics box located on the MIL-STD-1553 “B” bus.
  
  
  • The IDS/IPS shall weigh between two pounds (objective) and five pounds (threshold) per hardware device.
  
  
  • The IDS/IPS shall accept an input power source of 28VDC (nominal) in accordance with MIL-STD-704F.
  
  
  • The IDS/IPS shall consume no more than 30W of power.
  
  
  • The IDS/IPS shall measure no more than 125 in3 per hardware device.
  
  
  • The IDS/IPS shall meet its performance requirements while cooled by ambient air. Internally mounted components in the MQ-8C must meet their functional performance requirements during exposure to temperatures ranging from -29 degrees C to +71 degrees C.
  
  
  
  

REQUIRED READINESS

• The vendor shall provide test reports as proof that their proposed integrated IDS/IPS solution is currently at or above Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 on the DoD Technology Readiness Assessment (TRA) scale. This corresponds to Milestone A or above in the DoD Systems Engineering Technical Review (SETR) Process.

ANTICIPATED CONTRACT TYPE

The contract type is anticipated to be Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF)

ELIGIBILITY

The applicable NAICS code is 336413 with a Small Business Size standard of 1,250 employees. The Product Service Code (PSC) is 5998. Businesses of all sizes are encouraged to respond; however, each respondent must clearly identify their business

SUBMITTAL INFORMATION

Interested parties may submit a Capability Statement package identifying their interest and capability in response to this notice. Only Capability Statements received on or before (28 October 2022, 17:00EST) will be considered by the Government. The requested information is to assist the Government in conducting market research to determine potential business sources that have the assets, skills, experience, financial stability, qualifications, rights to technical data, and requisite knowledge required to support the requirement. A determination not to compete this proposed contract action based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Capability Statements received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Capability Statements submitted should be pertinent and specific in the technical/management/business area under consideration.

It is requested that interested businesses submit to the contracting office a brief capabilities statement package (no more than 10 pages in length on 8.5 x 11 inch paper with one-inch margins, single-spaced, Times New Roman 12-point font minimum) demonstrating ability to perform the tasking listed under the required capabilities. This documentation must address, at a minimum, the following:

1. Notice number from the beta.SAM posting to which you are responding.


2. Company Name; Company Address; CAGE Code; and Points-of-Contact (Primary and Secondary) name, phone number, fax number, and e-mail address;


3. Company profile to include number of employees, annual revenue history (3 or more years), office location(s), DUNS number, business size, and a statement regarding current small/large business size status;


4. Prior/current corporate experience performing efforts of similar size and scope within the last three years, including contract number, organization supported, indication of whether as a prime or subcontractor, contract values, Government point of contact with current telephone number, and a brief description of how the referenced contract relates to the product described herein;


5. Type of work your company has performed in the past in support of the same or similar requirement.


6. Can or has your company managed a task of this nature? If so, please provide details.


7. Company's ability to begin performance upon contract award without the requirement for additional negotiations or contract awards to procure rights to start performance for any resultant effort.


8. If qualifying as a small business, provide an explanation of your company's ability to perform at least 50% of the tasking described herein within the period of performance.

All responses, including capability statements, shall be submitted no later than (28 October 2022, 17:00EST). Responses shall be submitted electronically to the designated Contract Specialist, Erica Keller, in Microsoft Word format or Portable Document Format (PDF) at the following email address: erica.b.keller.civ@us.navy.mil.

No phone calls will be accepted. The Government may contact RFI respondents in order to seek clarification of submitted information or gain additional input.

All questions must be submitted via e-mail. The Government is not committed nor obligated to pay for the information provided, and no basis for claims against the Government shall arise as a result of a response to this sources sought.

DOCUMENT MARKINGS

It is incumbent upon sources providing responses to this Notice to accurately mark all data with all appropriate data rights, distribution and classification markings. All information submitted will be adequately safeguarded from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR 15.207. All submissions must be clearly marked with the following caption: For Official Use Only, Releasable to Government Agencies for Evaluation Purposes Only.

Responses that fail to comply with the above instructions or present ideas not pertinent to subject, may not be reviewed. All information received in response to this Notice that is marked proprietary will be handled accordingly. Information submitted in response to this Notice is submitted at no cost to the Government and will not be returned. The Government is under no obligation to provide responses or comments to information received from interested persons, but may request additional information following review. Note: If interested person is a foreign concern or if a U.S. interested person has a team member or partner who is a foreign entity, adherence to all International Traffic and Arms Regulations (ITAR) is required.

Interested sources are advised that the employees of commercial firms under contract to the Government will serve as technical reviewers of information provided in response to this Sources Sought. By submission of a response, a source gives the Government permission to release the entire response (inclusive of proprietary information) to employees of the organizations listed below. All employees of the organizations identified that will have access to RFI response data will have signed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) in place prior to accessing the data.

KBR, Lexington Park, MD

MAGAERO, Lexington Park, MD

Beyond the above commercial firms, the Government will not release any data received in response to this RFI, for which it has less than Government Purpose Data Rights, to any firm, agency, or individual outside the Government.

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