DESCRIPTION OF INTENT: THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes. No contract will be awarded from this announcement. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) or an announcement of a forthcoming solicitation, nor is it a request seeking contractors to be placed on a solicitation mailing list. Response to this RFI is voluntary and no reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to it and any follow-on information requests. Data submitted in response to this RFI will not be returned. No solicitation document exists at this time, and calls requesting a solicitation will not be answered.

DISCLAIMER: Reference herein to any specific commercial company, product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government (USG) or the Department of the Army (DA). The opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the USG or the DA, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

PROPRIETARY INFORMATION: It is the responsibility of Industry, when providing any comments/responses, to properly mark such information that is considered proprietary or is otherwise restricted. The USG is not obligated to protect unmarked data. Nor is the USG obligated for like data in possession of third parties or for data which is afterwards placed in the public domain by the contractor or by third parties through no fault of the USG. Should the USG need to reproduce the protected data for distribution purposes between USG offices, all such data will be reproduced with restrictive legends in place.

The USG acknowledges its obligations under the Federal Acquisition Regulation 3.104-4 to protect confidential information provided to the USG (18 U.S.C. §1905). Pursuant to this statute, the USG is willing to accept any trade secrets or proprietary restrictions placed upon qualifying data forwarded in response to this RFI and to protect such information from unauthorized disclosure, subject to the following:

• Qualifying data must be clearly marked PROPRIETARY and be accompanied by an explanatory text so that the USG is clearly notified as to exactly what data so qualifies.
• Mark only data that is truly confidential.
• Do not mark data that is already in the public domain or is already in possession of the USG or third parties on an unclassified basis.
• Proprietary data transmitted electronically must have the PROPRIETARY legend on both the cover of the transmittal e-mail as well as at the beginning of the file. Proprietary information contained within the correspondence shall use the legends: "PROPRIETARY PORTION BEGINS" and "PROPRIETARY PORTION ENDS."

Support Contractors: The USG sometimes uses support contractors in evaluating responses. Consequently, responses that contain proprietary information may receive only limited or no consideration since the Respondent's marking of data as "PROPRIETARY" will preclude disclosure outside the USG and therefore will preclude disclosure to these support contractors assisting the evaluation effort. The USG will use its best efforts to evaluate those responses that contain proprietary information without using support contractors consistent with the resources available.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDING TO THIS REQUEST:  Responses to the RFI are due on 20 April 2020. Responses received after this, whether received by email or by mail, may not be considered. Please note that all questions and answers may be posted anonymously to this website. The cut-off date for questions is 24 March 2020. Questions that are received by this office after the deadline will be considered late and may not be answered.

Responses to this request for information should be sent via e-mail to Alessandro Padro at [email protected].  Alternate point of contact is Jenifer Kelso; j[email protected]. You are requested to put "M109/M992 Armor kits" in the subject line of the e-mail and attachments shall be in MS Word or PDF format. Any request for clarifications shall also be addressed to Alessandro Padro at [email protected].

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:

The M109 Family of Vehicles (FOV) has been the primary Self-Propelled, Medium 155MM Howitzer fielded in the U.S. Army’s arsenal inventory since the early 1960s. As the M109 FOV has gone through its natural life cycle, additional performance capabilities have been added to adapt to evolving threats and requirements. The latest upgrade from the M109A6 to the M109A7 has addressed many of the reliability, mobility and survivability issues with the M109A6 platform.  The M109A7 is currently in production.

The M109A7 is an aluminum armored, full-tracked 155mm self-propelled howitzer.  It is operated by a crew of four, including the driver.  The M109A7 is an upgrade to the M109A6 in that it includes increases in force protection and survivability, mobility, responsiveness of fires, Space, Weight, and Power (SWaP) capacity, and an enhanced Network Capability and Situational Awareness.

The M992A3 (Carrier, Ammunition, Tracked) provides tactical and operational fires during both offensive and defensive operations and is the companion vehicle that supplies the M109A7 with ammunition.  The M992A3 is an upgrade to the M992A2 Field Ammunition Artillery Support Vehicle (FAASV).

The primary purpose of this survey is to determine the capability of industry to produce and kit armor plates for shipment to storage locations.  The armor kits consist of multiple plates of aluminum/steel armor which are bolted to the outside of the vehicles via existing holes, to replace production configuration plates.  Kits would be shipped to locations in CONUS for storage.

OBJECTIVE:  The objective of this Request for Information (RFI) is to identify potential sources that may be capable of performing this requirement. 

GENERAL INFORMATION:  There is no risk to respondents for participating in this RFI.  Participation in this effort is strictly voluntary with no cost or obligation to be incurred by the USG. The USG will in no way be bound to this information if any solicitation is issued.  However, this is an important opportunity for industry to provide input on this program.  This RFI, and all information herein, is for informational planning purposes only and does not constitute a “Request for Proposal or Invitation for Bid,” nor is it to be construed as a commitment by the USG.

Q&A: Question: What is meant by "Replacing Production configuration plates? Is this a change in specification for protection?

            Answer: The RFI is in regards to Threshold 2 armor plates, which, in some cases, replace the Threshold 1 armor plates that are put on the vehicles during production.  The vehicle requirement for Force Protection and Survivability is different, depending on which armor set you are using.

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GOAL:  The purpose of this market survey questionnaire is to obtain information relative to industry capability to satisfy the Product Director (PdD) – Paladin requirement for production of armor kits for the M109A7 Paladin and M992A3 Carrier, Ammunition, Tracked (CAT).

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION:

Request for access to the documents listed below assisting in answering the RFI questions shall be submitted to Alessandro Padro at [email protected].  Contractor’s CAGE code shall be provided along with this to see if requestors qualify to receive the restricted documents.

1. 57K8221 - Kit underbelly armor (SPH and CAT common)
2. 57K8214 - Armor Kit Theater Provided Equipment (SPH)
   (3) 57K8215 - Armor Kit Theater Provided Equipment (CAT)
    
   INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING THIS RFI: 
    

1. Please respond to every question.

1. Number each response with the appropriate question number.
    
2. Questions do not have to be repeated in the response.
    
3. A “No Response” indication can be provided for those question with no answer.
    
4. If a response will satisfy another question, state: “See response to question XX.”
    
5. Include relevant sales media and product manuals. If providing an ACROBAT formatted manual, annotate the manual to indicate which material is applicable to the questions. If preferred, include Internet Web links to locations where animations/videos may be viewed.
    
6. If providing sales media and/or manuals containing a restricted distribution statement, issue a release statement indicating that the restricted material may be distributed to Army personnel involved with this RFI.
    
7. Spell out any acronyms in their first instance.
    
8. Clearly mark any proprietary information. If applicable, the front page of the response package should state, “Proprietary Information Contained.”

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION:

1. Manufacturer

1. Name: 
    
2. Mailing Address: 

1. CAGE:                                          DUNs Number: 

Business Type (Check all that apply);

8(a)

Minority Owned

Disabled Veteran

Small Business

Hub Zone

Small-Disadvantaged

Large Business

Women Owned

1. Personnel Responding to this Questionnaire

1. Name: 
    
2. Title: 
    
3. Responsibility/Position:   
    
4. Telephone/Fax Numbers: 
    
5. E-mail address: 
   
   
   Questions, comments, or concerns, should be addressed to: Alessandro Padro, Contract Specialist, by phone at 586-282-0090 or by email at a[email protected] . Alternate point of contact is Jenifer Kelso; j[email protected]: 586.282.9180.   All product brochures and/or literature that cannot be sent via email can be sent to:  Army Contracting Command- Detroit Arsenal, 6501 E. 11 Mile Rd, ATTN: Alessandro Padro, SFAE-GCS-FC, BLDG 229, Mail Stop: 531, Detroit Arsenal, MI  48397-5000.
    
   QUESTIONAIRE
    
   ARMOR COMPONENTS AND KITTING
    

1. Describe your company’s most recent experience with tracked combat vehicle steel/aluminum add-on armor related upgrades.
   1. Identify if your company provides armor packages for tracked combat vehicles.
   2. What program or vehicle were these provided for?
       
2. Describe your company’s experience working with source controlled components.
    
3. Please describe in detail your company’s expertise in the below categories.   
   1. Welding – Type of welding, materials used, certifications, Testing Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI)
   2. Stamping – Press tonnage, capacity, material grades, thickness/ width
   3. Machining/Forming of aluminum/steel armor/ballistic plates
   4. Painting – Chemical Agent Reactive Coating (CARC) paint capability (outsourced)
   5. Assembly  - Kitting
   6. Other- Additional capabilities
       
4. Describe your company’s experience in providing, removing, disassembling, reworking, and installing Modification Work Order (MWO) kits on tracked combat vehicles by answering the questions below:
   1. Type of kits, number of components in each kit, and the total number of kits your company has provided.
   2. Quantity and type of components your company manufactured for inclusion in kits.
   3. Quantity and type of components your company purchased for inclusion in kits.
   4. What program(s) were the contract(s) issued for and what were the periods of performance and deliverables?
       
5. Does your company have facilities available to store MWO kits? If yes, what is the capacity and describe your inventory control process.
    
6. Quality:
   1. Describe the Quality Management System (QMS) you company operates under?
   2. Describe the Quality inspection equipment available to insure conformance of your products?
   3. Describe the Standard(s) welders and Non-Destructive Test (NDT) inspectors are certified to?
   4. What is your organizations history with DCMA/USG issued Corrective Action Requests (CAR)?  Discuss any Level II or III CARs issued to include reason for issuance, how it was resolved and time frame it took to resolve.

COST/SCHEDULE/PRODUCTION RATE

1. Cost and Schedule:

1. How long after production contract award can your company deliver the first kits?

1. Please describe any price impacts of production rate or schedule (e.g., a production interruption charge).

1. Discuss any impacts material lead times would have on production rate/schedule.

COMMERICALITY

1. Are Armor Kits you provide considered Commercial? If so, in what way are the Armor Kits considered a commercial item?
    
2. Are there any warranties offered on the purchase of Armor Kits? If so, what are the details of the warranty?
    
3. Do you offer any general pricing information on the Armor Kits? If so, what is the general pricing information?