FIFTH GENERATION DATALINKS SUPPORT

The Department of Defense, United States Air Force (USAF), Air Force Test Center (AFTC), Specialized Contracting Branch (PZZC) at Eglin AFB is currently conducting market research seeking capabilities statements from potential sources, including small businesses (SB), 8(a), HUBZone, Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned (EDWOSB), Woman-Owned (WOSB), and Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVOSB) small businesses that are capable of the requirement listed below.

After receiving this notice, all interested vendors should submit a response demonstrating their capabilities to meet the requirements above to the POC listed below. Proposals are not being requested or accepted at this time. As stipulated in FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. No solicitation (Request for Proposal) exists at this time; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. The decision to solicit for a contract shall be solely within the Government’s discretion.

The NAICS Code assigned to this acquisition is 541512, Computer Systems Design Services, with a size standard of $34 million. Respondents should indicate their size in relation to this size standard and indicate socio-economic status (i.e. SB, 8(a), HUBZone, EDWOSB, WOSB, or SDVOSB). Respondents are further requested to indicate their status as a Foreign-owned/Foreign-controlled firm and any contemplated use of foreign national employees on this effort. The Government reserves the right to consider a small business set-aside based upon responses hereto for any subsequent action. All prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database to be awarded a DoD contract. No set-aside decision has been made. Note that a key factor in determining an acquisition to be a Small Business Set Aside is that small business prime contractors must perform at least 50% of the effort, as defined in FAR Clause 52.219-14.

Any information submitted by respondents to this sources sought is voluntary. This sources sought notice is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government reimburse any costs associated with the submission of information in response to this notice. Respondents will not be individually notified of the results of any government assessments. The Government’s assessment of the responses received will factor into whether any forthcoming solicitation will be conducted as a full and open competition or as a set-aside for small business, or any particular small business program.

AFTC/PZZC requires sustainment support for Fifth Generation Datalinks Support. Support will be required for a period of five (5) years post contract award. Description of anticipated work is in accordance with the following:

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE:

The 46th Test Squadron (46 TS) at Eglin AFB, FL is seeking a source to support a follow-on contract for the technical support and sustainment of the Fifth Generation Datalinks System (FGDS) located in Building 73 of the Datalinks Lab at Eglin AFB, FL.  The effort shall be for 5 years, based on an initial award for 12 months from contract award, plus options for 4 additional years in 12 month increments.  The 46TS has previously purchased a converted Fifth to Fourth Signal Interoperability Translator (FFIST), to include software and hardware updates based on the Northrup Grumman Freedom 500 family series radio to perform as a 5th generation simulator of F-22 Intraflight Datalinks (IFDL) and F-35 (Multifunctional Advanced Datalinks (MADL) waveforms. In addition, the 46 TS purchased two mobile labs with FFIST capability which duplicates the fifth to fourth test capability of the 46 TS FFIST fixed lab at Eglin AFB, FL. Most recently, the 46 TS acquired an F-35 Operational Facility (F-35 OPFAC) which augments the Datalinks Test Lab (DTL) fifth generation datalinks capability to provide a more operationally representative F-35 system based upon segments of the AN/ASQ-242, Communications, Navigation, and Identification (CNI) avionics suite. The FFIST Fixed Lab and the F-35 OPFAC are both located in Building 73-DTL, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The mobile lab facility is also managed by the 46 TS. The FFIST fixed system, FFIST mobile system, and the F-35 OPFAC shall hereinafter be referred to as the “Fifth Generation Datalinks Support” systems. Any further reference to “Fifth Generation Datalinks Support” shall encompass the FFIST Fixed lab, the FFIST mobile lab, and the F-35 OPFAC unless specified. The Contractor shall furnish all personnel, equipment, labor, tools, materials, supervision, transportation and other items with services necessary to provide sustainment support for the fifth generation datalinks. This contract will be for technical support with any hardware and software provided as incidental supplies. Contractor shall also provide risk management framework (RMF) bodies of evidence (BOE) to sustain authorization to operate (ATO) throughout the period of performance. Fifth to Fourth updates shall be in accordance with operationally fielded software and hardware. Upgrades shall include updates to operator and maintenance guides as needed. Updates may be installed by the contractor during scheduled visits or by Eglin AFB DTL personnel as directed by contractor’s engineering.

BASIC SERVICES:

The Contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, tools, materials, vehicles, supervision, and other items and services necessary to perform all fifth generation datalinks support services, tasks and functions. Individual task orders may include but are not limited to on-call technical support, sustainment, and hardware/software upgrades or enhancements. The Contractor shall provide on-call technical support during normal business hours (0800-1600) Eastern Time to assist with Fifth Generation Datalinks Support operations, problem identification, and diagnosis and will recommend repair actions for both the Fifth Generation Contractor Furnished Equipment (CFE) and Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) equipment on the Fifth Generation Datalinks Support systems. Initial response time from the contractor to the customer will be four hours maximum for this support. The Contractor work week is based on a 9/80 schedule. One week will be Monday through Friday and the following week will be Monday through Thursday. These weeks alternate. The contractor will provide both a primary and alternate contact number to the Government Program Manager. The contractor shall provide telephone support for meetings and telephone conferences. The estimated meetings and conferences are one per year. Finally, the contractor shall provide on-site technical support. Travel planning will be initiated upon direction from the government. Response time for on-site technical support shall be within three business days. All travel costs will be reimbursed in accordance with FAR 31.205-46.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REQUIREMENTS:

The Contractor shall provide quality customer support services to include proactive configuration management for the delivered fifth generation datalinks support systems to assist the customer in tracking available software and hardware updates. In addition, the contractor shall identify updates to the currently installed fifth generation datalinks support systems. Possible sources for software updates are contractor identified anomalies that affect the fifth generation datalinks support software, Eglin identified anomalies with currently installed fifth generation datalinks support software, and Eglin requested enhancements to currently installed fifth generation datalinks support software. The contractor shall determine which fifth generation datalinks upgrades associated with hardware and/or hardware modifications or upgrades are required which specifically affect Datalinks testing. The contractor shall provide for any upgrade or enhancement to the currently installed fifth generation datalinks support configuration. The fifth generation datalinks support upgrades and enhancements associated with hardware and/or software modifications or upgrades will be defined in individual task orders. Contractor shall also provide Risk Management Framework (RMF) Bodies of Evidence (BOE) to sustain authorization to operate (ATO) throughout the period of performance. As part of configuration control, the contractor shall provide an estimate (ROM) as requested by the customer for any upgrade or enhancement to the currently installed fifth generation datalinks support configuration. The ROM shall include information on required hardware and software upgrades or enhancements, and any Diminishing Manufacturing Source (DMS) issues that will affect COTS equipment contained in the fifth generation datalinks support systems.

CAPABILITIES STATEMENT:

All interested U.S. vendors should submit a response that explicitly demonstrates their capability to provide/perform the requirement stated in this notice. It should be noted that the FGDS is composed of the Northrop Grumman Communications , Navigation, Identification (CNI) Suite of hardware and software.  All technical data is the property of Northrop Grumman Corp.  Northrop holds all the data rights to the intellectual property.  The 46TS will not be furnishing any Northrop Grumman owned technical data or intellectual property as part of any contract award. The response should be brief and concise, yet clearly demonstrate an ability to meet the stated requirement. The response must not exceed five (5) pages, 8.5” x 11” paper, 12 point, Times New Roman font, with a minimum of one (1) inch margins all around. Responses should include the company name, CAGE code, point of contact, address, and phone number. Small businesses with only partial capabilities of this requirement are encouraged to submit their response demonstrating the portion of the requirement they are capable of providing/performing. This information will allow the Government to identify areas of possible breakout or possible subcontracting opportunities.

All correspondence sent via email shall contain a subject line that reads “Fifth Generation Datalinks Support”. If this subject line is not included, the e-mail may not get through e-mail filters at Eglin AFB. Filters are designed to delete emails without a subject or with a suspicious subject or attachment. Attachments with files ending in .zip or .exe are not allowable and will be deleted. Ensure only .pdf, .doc, .docx, .xsls, or .xls documents are attached to your email. All other attachments may be deleted. Package sizes greater than 5 megabytes shall be submitted via the ARL Secure Access File Exchange, located at https://safe.arl.army.mil/.

All responsible sources may submit information that shall be considered by the agency. If late information is received, it may be considered, depending on agency time constraints. All routine communications regarding the announcement should be directed to the contractual point of contact listed in this posting. The Government may or may not use any responses to this sources sought as a basis for a subsequent project/requirement. Any project/requirement developed from the sources sought responses may be the subject of a subsequent acquisition; any such subsequent acquisition will be posted in FedBizOpps.gov separately. Responses to this sources sought will not be returned. The Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received, or provide feedback to the respondents with respect to any of the information submitted under this sources sought. No requests for a bid package or solicitation will be accepted; a bid package or solicitation does not exist at this time. In order to protect the integrity of any possible future acquisition, no additional information will be provided and no appointments for presentations will be made in reference to this sources sought.

Only Government employees will review submitted responses to this sources sought. Respondents are advised that employees of commercial firms under contract with the Government may be used to administratively process submissions and perform other administrative duties requiring access to other contractor’s proprietary information. These administrative support contractors include nondisclosure agreements prohibiting their contractor employees from disclosing any information submitted by other contractors or using such information for any purpose other than that for which it was furnished.

RESPONSES ARE DUE NO LATER THAN 5:00 P.M. (CENTRAL) ON 10 FEBRUARY 2026.

Direct all questions concerning this requirement to the POCs listed in this notice.