This notice is for market research purposes only and does NOT constitute a request for proposal. This notice shall not be construed as a contract, a promise to contract, or as a commitment of any kind by the Government. The Government is NOT seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals.

Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) on behalf of Program Executive Office Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) issues this Request for Information (RFI) notice. Per FAR 15.201(e), the purpose of this RFI is to improve the Navy’s understanding of industry’s capabilities and other market information pertaining to the production, manufacturing, and fielding of unmanned maritime systems.

PEO USC is specifically interested in technology that may fall into one or more of the following categories:

• Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) less than or equal to 75’ length overall
• Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) less than or equal to 75’ length overall
• Payloads that have been integrated into/onto USVs or UUVs
• Sensors that have been integrated into/onto USVs or UUVs

The Navy is seeking information to include industry’s technical capabilities, manufacturing capacities, supply chain partnerships, and current and planned investments as it pertains to the above categories. Interested parties shall respond using the attached questionnaire.

RESPONSE SUBMISSION

Interested parties shall deliver documentation to the Contracting Office via e-mail to the following:

Ms. Caryl Williams

Contract Specialist

[email protected]

Ms. Antoinette Miles

Contracting Officer

[email protected]

Responses must be UNCLASSIFIED. Responses containing proprietary information must be appropriately marked.

The Government requests that respondents complete and submit the RFI questionnaire posted. Each respondent is limited to a single submission of a questionnaire in accordance with this RFI. Questionnaire submissions shall be in Microsoft Word 2016 or later file format in no less than 1-inch margins and 12-point Times New Roman font.

Each submission shall include a cover page with the following information:

1. Business name;
2. CAGE code;
3. Business address;
4. Business website;
5. Business size status (i.e., SB, VOSB, SDVOSB, HUBZone SB, SDB, WOSB, LB);
6. Number of employees;
7. Employee security classification level;
8. Facility security classification level;
9. Point(s) of contact name;
10. Mailing address (if different from business address);
11. Phone number (s);
12. E-mail address;
13. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code under which the company traditionally does business and business type (e.g., larger business, small business) based on that NAICS code;

E-mail responses are preferred, but if your submission contains large files or information that is proprietary in nature to send, you may provide your submission using DoD SAFE (https://safe.apps.mil/). In order to obtain a link for DoD SAFE submission, the respondent must e-mail a request to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer no later than three business days prior and no earlier than 14 calendar days prior to the response deadline. The Respondent shall provide their name and e-mail as contact information so the Government can generate a pick-up request from the DoD SAFE application to be sent to the Respondent, which is valid for 14 calendar days. Respondents shall address their DoD SAFE Subject Line: “RFI Response to USV/UUV Industry Production and Manufacturing Capabilities [COMPANY NAME]”. Respondents shall click the “Confirm Delivery” button within the DoD SAFE app to receive a confirmation of pick up by the Government. The DoD SAFE system records submission times. Respondents are responsible for generating a drop-off time no later than 3 days prior to the submission date and time to ensure timely drop-off for their submission. The Government will not provide acknowledgment of responses received.

Proprietary information, if any, must be clearly marked. To aid the Government in its review and evaluation, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. Respondents that include in their submissions data that they do not want disclosed to the public for any purpose, or used by the Government except for evaluation purposes, shall --

1. 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 evaluate this White Paper. 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 on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this submission.”

The response deadline is 5:00PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 12 January 2024.

DISCLAIMER AND OTHER INFORMATION

This is a RFI notice only. This notice is not a Request for Proposal (RFP). In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. This notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation or obligation on the part of the Government. Neither unsolicited proposals nor any other kind of offers will be considered in response to this notice. Respondents are wholly responsible for any costs or expenses associated with submitting a response. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this notice or any further RFI(s) relating to a response. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this notice. The information obtained from submitted responses may be used in the development of an acquisition strategy. Only one response is necessary for this announcement. The Government will not be obligated to pursue any particular acquisition alternative because of this RFI. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Failure to respond to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP(s), if any are issued.

The Government will be utilizing non-government personnel under this RFI. The role of these non-government personnel is to function as technical advisors to the Government reviewers. These non-government personnel will have access to the information submitted in response to the RFI and will provide technical expertise and/or advice as required. All non-government personnel have Non-Disclosure Agreements on file with the Government.