1. Description 

1.1 The Project Manager for Tactical Radios (PM TR) seeks industry interest regarding availability of SBU Radios to support data and voice service to meet transport requirements for platoon-level dismounted soldiers. The primary focus will be within the platoon echelon and area of operation. Consideration factors include commercial Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 and/or National Security Agency (NSA) encryption, moderate to low data rates, minimal spectrum impact/needs, single and/or multiple Talk Groups, cost, and size/weight. The SBU radio will support data and voice integration with the Integrated Tactical Network (ITN). The SBU radio will support and integrate with Nett Warrior or similar system. The SBU Radio will support mobility operation in contested environment and diverse field terrain: direct line of sight, foliage, and urban environment. The SBU radio salient characteristics are the ability to operate securely by supporting FIPS140-2 within a 1.25MHz channel bandwidth to support a platoon size network.

1.2 THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION: The Government is not obligated to make an award as a result of this request. This Request for Information (RFI) is for informational purposes only; this is not an Invitation for Bid (IFB), a Request for Proposal (RFP), or Request for Quotation (RFQ). No solicitation document exists, and a formal solicitation will not be issued by the Government because of the responses to this RFI. The Government will not be liable for payment of any preparation expenses in response to this RFI and is in no way obligated by the information received. Any costs incurred by interested companies in response to, or as a result of, this announcement will NOT be reimbursed. The information provided will be used by the Government for the purpose of conducting market research. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. It is the responsibility of the interested parties to monitor the website for additional information pertaining to this RFI. 

2. Background

The Army desires for consideration a low cost, voice, and limited data radio to facilitate platoon command and control operations and situational awareness. The envisioned purpose of this radio is to bridge the gap between expensive higher order tactical transport networks and Soldiers operating at the tactical edge. While not mandated, NSA encryption is permissible. The ability to operate with minimal impact to limited spectrum is strongly desired. Within the platoon formation, data needs consist mainly of position reports and text. A small form factor with long battery life is needed to reduce the physical burden on dismounted Soldiers.

3. Requirements

3.1 Delivery Date:  PM TR anticipates the need for 30 receiver/transmitters and ancillaries delivered during the week of 23 – 27 Jan  2023 for proof-of-concept experimentation.

4. Responses

4.1 White Paper: Interested parties are required to respond to this RFI with a white paper. White papers shall be in Microsoft Word for Office 2000 compatible format. Respondents are asked to provide the information requested in paragraph 4.3, and to address the questions posed in paragraph 4.4. Respondents may provide supporting documentation along with their submissions. Responses shall be limited no more than 15 pages for the entire submission (including company information, answers to technical questions, supporting documentation, etc.)  Responses are due NLT 09 Jan 2023, 12:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time (EST) and must be submitted via e-mail only to the Government Points of Contact (POCs): [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected].

4.2 Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. In addition to Government civilians, Government support contractors may review and evaluate the whitepaper submission.  If any respondent does not currently have a Proprietary Data Protection Agreement (PDPA) that would permit the support contractors listed below to review and evaluate white papers submitted in response to this RFI, the respondent is requested to sign PDPAs with these support contractors for this purpose.  The following is a list of support contractor Points of Contacts who will review the responses.

Contract No.: W15P7T-17-D-0147, Task Order Number: W15P7T-19-F0001
Contractor: Netwerx, LLC
Handheld Manpack Small Form Fit (HMS) Lead Engineer:
Alan Clayton, [email protected], (858) 212-4987

Contract No.: W15P7T-17-D-0147, Task Order Number: W15P7T-19-F0001

Contractor: Sev1Tech, LLC

IVAS Radio Test Engineer:

John Tipton, [email protected], (302) 388-3278

Radio FSR:

Robert Dalton, [email protected], 931-494-7607

Contract Manager: Kate Giebler, [email protected], (703) 662-9778

Contract Number: W15P7T-14-D-A210

Task Order Number: W56KGU18F0009

Contractor: Booz Allen Hamilton

Sr. Wireless Communications Engineer: Jack Burbank, [email protected], Office: (443) 395-7623

Senior Software Engineer: Brian Little, [email protected], Office: (443) 395-7582

Contract Manager: Greg Ropinski, [email protected], Office (443) 866-1025

Sub-Contract Number: 1082-S6-OTA-90001

Task Order Number: N/A                       

Contractor: Sherpa 6, Inc.

Radio FSR: Kenric Yazzie, [email protected], 360-481-1326

Contract Manager: Coghlan, Mo, [email protected], 703-260-8188 x188

Agreements Officer Rep (AOR):  Alison Peters, [email protected], (703) 704-2149

Contract No.: W15P7T-17-D-0147, Task Order Number: W15P7T-19-F0001

Contractor: NetSEA Technologies, LLC

ITN Test Engineer Cory Blommers, [email protected], 254-702-5221

Contract Manager:  Michael Zezza, [email protected], 732-615-8856

OTA No: W15QKN-15-9-1004 (National Spectrum Consortium) / Project Number: NSC-19-9000

Augustine Consulting Inc

OTA Project Manager:  Theresa West, [email protected]; (856) 465-5338

Agreements Officer Rep (AOR):  Alison Peters, [email protected], (703) 704-2149

4.3 Company Information. The response should provide the following information:

i. Contact Information: Company name, mailing address, overnight delivery address (if different from mailing address), phone number, fax number, and e-mail of designated point of contact.

ii.  Security Clearance: State the security clearance level of the company facility.

4.4 Technical Questions. Respond to the following questions:

4.4.1 – Describe the current ability of your solution to meet description in Section 1. 

4.4.2 – Describe your radio/waveform and its ability to provide data and voice service.

4.4.3 – Describe your radio/waveform and its ability to support integration with Nett Warrior and Integrated Tactical Network (ITN). In regard to ITN Integration describe data and voice integration: For voice integration, i.e., crossbanding and data integration i.e. gateways.

4.4.4 – Describe any testing you have conducted on your proposed solution for mobility dismount movement operation.

4.4.5 – Describe any testing you have conducted on your proposed solution for diverse field terrain range performance.

4.4.6 – Describe any testing you have conducted on your proposed solution e.g., Environmental, Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (E3), Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)/Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), interoperability, performance.

4.4.7 – Provide a brief description of your approach to software/waveform updates and integration of new capabilities.

4.4.9 – Describe your product warranty if any.

4.4.10 – Describe ability to provide 30 radios bailed to the government for proof-of-concept pilot by beginning of 3 Jan 2023.

4.4.11 – Is the product FIPS 140-2 accredited?

4.4.12 – See Attachment entitled, “Paragraph 4.4.12 Attributes & Descriptions”.

5. Meetings and Discussions

The Government representatives may or may not choose to meet with respondents to this RFI. Such meetings and discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements.

6. Questions

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing via e-mail, NLT 19 Dec 2022, 12:00 PM EST, to the following Government POCs: [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected]. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information.

7. Summary

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY to identify sources that can provide Secure But Unclassified Radios. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government.  The Army has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought.  All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.