Fuel and Lubricants Engineering Services and Support

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY AND IS NOT AN INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB), A REQUEST FOR QUOTE (RFQ), A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP), OR AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF A FORTHCOMING SOLICITATION. AS SUCH, YOUR RESPONSE IS NOT AN OFFER. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENT EXISTS AT THIS TIME AND RESPONDERS WILL NOT BE PLACED ON A SOLICITATION MAILING LIST. PROVIDING A RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE IS COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY AND NO REIMBURSEMENT WILL BE MADE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS REQUEST OR ANY FOLLOW-ON REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION. THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT RANK SUBMITTALS OR PROVIDE ANY REPLY TO INTERESTED FIRMS.

The Army Contracting Command-Detroit Arsenal (ACC-DTA) is issuing this Sources Sought Notice as part of a market survey to determine the level of interest among QUALIFIED small and large business contractors to provide engineering and technical service support, and facilities maintenance services, to the United States (U.S.) Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC). This requirement is in support of the Fuels and Lubricants Branch (F&L) located at U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) and Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) in Warren, Michigan.

DESCRIPTION OF EFFORT: The furnishing of engineering and technical service support, and facilities maintenance services to assist the F&L Branch in fulfilling its overriding mission of providing Research, Development, Testing, and Engineering (RDT&E) support of homogeneous and integrated fuels, lubricants, greases, hydraulic fluids, coolants, thermal management fluids, degreasing solvents, and corrosion preventative compounds to the U.S. Army’s ground vehicle and ground support equipment fleet. Execution of these services additionally calls for support by contractor services for the testing of engines, vehicles, axles, and other vehicle or engine components. It also encompasses chemical laboratory testing of these automotive materials and the support of projects for the F&L Branch that are managed and carried out by F&L personnel. Additionally, the contractor shall provide building maintenance services and equipment calibration.

DEVCOM GVSC is interested in responses from laboratories/organizations that have a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between fuel, lubricants, engine systems, electric drive systems, and their interactions as applicable to military ground systems and operations. Engineering and technical service support to the F&L Branch entails an engineering approach to analyzing, developing, and enhancing ongoing F&L projects. Specific work areas include (but are not limited to):

Performing Physico-chemical analyses and testing of fuels, lubricants, greases, coolants, thermal management fluids, hydraulic fluids, degreasing solvents, and other functional fluids

Participating in meetings of national and international standards organizations

Performing Engine durability testing (up to and including 1,500 bhp)

Performing Powertrain and engine and fuel system component testing

Design, fabrication, and installation of component test rigs

Developing and administering test methods

Performing Vehicle and fleet testing

Performing Fuel blending, handling, and storage

Performing Testing to specific American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and Military Standards

Performing Tribological testing of selected material pairs

Performing Fuel bladder long term testing including fuel flow meters and system level gauges

The performance of work directives under these work areas is expected to require (i) the consideration of cost variables and affordability issues; and (ii) the conduct of cost/technical trade-off analyses. The work primarily applies to Department of Defense (DoD) ground vehicles and support equipment. Performance of assignments requires a mix of on-site and off-site personnel and may occur at varied Contiguous United States (CONUS) and Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) locations to include contractor facilities and Government facilities.

RESPONSES:

If you consider your organization capable of providing comprehensive engineering and technical support services to the F&L Branch, as set forth above, please respond to this sources-sought request with the following information:

1) A brief description of your company, including name of the organization, mailing address, website, Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), and Tax ID Number.

2) Your organization’s size category for each of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes provided below (Please visit https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards for more information, if needed):

NAICS Code: 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)

3) The business status of your company (Socio-Economic Factors: 8(a), HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, etc.).

4) Past Engineering/Technical Support Contracts: List all prior Government contracts that your company has had over the past three years, but no more than ten in total, for work that is similar in whole or in part to the F&L service support requirements as described above; cite contract number, dollar value and Point of Contact (POC) and give a brief description of what the contract was for. The majority (50% or greater) of experience identified should derive directly from your company rather than from another business concern that your company may have been partnered or teamed with.

5) Capability Statement: Explain, in no more than two pages, your company’s capabilities, emphasizing how they correspond to the elements of F&L service support as noted above. Specifically emphasize your firm’s experience level and ability to generate and analyze data from the following tests or services:

Dynamometer testing for engines up to 1,500 bhp under ambient, elevated, or reduced temperature conditions.

Specific engine and component tests such as fuel mapping, fuel injector spray pattern, fuel pump durability, cold temperature starting, axle durability and efficiency testing, water pump testing, and tribological wear and friction testing, and surface characterization.

Fuel blending, handling, and storage capability as it relates to synthetic and enhanced fuels.

Testing to specifications of military interest such as MIL-DTL-83133, MIL-DTL-5624, MIL-DTL-16884, etc. Development of new test methods to meet U.S. Army requirements.

Ground equipment testing and evaluation of generator sets, and water / fuel handling and pumping equipment, for example.

Testing of air and fluid filtration systems, both on-vehicle and off.

Evaluation and testing of military systems such as field test kits or additive injection systems.

Mineral and synthetic powertrain lubricant testing and evaluation.

Coolant, thermal management fluid, degreasing solvents, brake fluid, grease, hydraulic fluid, and solid film lubricant testing and evaluation.

Vehicle instrumentation and fleet testing, both in-house and at military installations.

Post-test disassembly and certified wear rating on components.

Participation in meetings of national and international standards organizations such as ASTM, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), etc. Indicate if your company is a voting member of those organizations.

Long-term testing of fuel bladder storage systems up to 250,000 gallons.

Facilities maintenance services to include, but are not limited to:

Supervision: The contractor shall provide general supervision of laboratory operations, and overall facilities (including but not limited to the following examples: normal operation, changes/repairs, etc; tracking and reporting environmental data (including but not limited to the following examples: fuel usage, oil usage, emissions output, etc).

Building Maintenance: The contractor shall provide general upkeep and repair of physical building (including but not limited to the following examples: roofing, walls, flooring, gutters, glass, etc), general upkeep and repairs of building infrastructure (including but not limited to the following examples: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC), domestic plumbing, process plumbing, electrical, interior/exterior painting, etc).

Equipment Maintenance: The contractor shall provide general upkeep and repairs of building equipment (including but not limited to the following examples: chiller, freight elevator, exhaust system, cooling tower, lathe, milling machine, drill presses, band saws, test equipment routine maintenance, etc).

Equipment Installation: The contractor shall provide general installation of test equipment, or modifications to building/infrastructure to accept installation of new test equipment or test stand installations (including but not limited to the following examples: electrical modification, pluming modification, etc).

Equipment Inventory/Records: The contractor shall provide Government property administration (including but not limited to the following examples: record keeping, audits, utilization, routine inventory, etc).

Equipment Repair: The contractor shall repair of any item that is Government property (including but not limited to the following examples: cooling tower, dyno controller, dynamometer, emissions bench, etc).

Safety Compliance: Includes, but not limited to: safety audit participation, safety related actions taken at facility (including but not limited to the following examples: signage, waste handling, storage, etc), corrective actions to improve/ensure safety.

Stockroom Operations: The contractor shall operate the building stockroom (including but not limited to the following examples: receiving and storing incoming shipments, maintaining inventory of commonly used items, government property administration, etc).

Janitorial Services: Includes, but not limited to: general janitorial services provided for Government facility (including but not limited to the following examples: office cleaning, restroom cleaning, laboratory cleaning, etc).

Laboratory Housekeeping: The contractor shall provide general housekeeping of laboratory spaces (including but not limited to the following examples: glass ware cleaning and stocking, organization of test equipment and supplies, sample administration and clean out, etc).

Calibration: The contractor shall provide calibration of all Government owned test hardware to ensure data integrity including but not limited to the following examples: wet laboratory equipment, hand tools (including but not limited to the following examples: torque wrenches, measurement devices), test installations (thermocouples, load cells, pressure transducers, etc).

The performance of these services requires the consideration of cost variables and affordability issues.

The work primarily applies to the GVSC Fuels and Lubricants Research Facility (GFLRF). Specify in your response the extent that your own organization would be capable of performing all facets of the effort without reliance on partners or other entities.

6) Subcontracting and Teaming Availability: Would you be interested in subcontracting opportunities under the effort described above? Would you have an interest in teaming with one or more other firms or organizations to compete for the effort as a prime contractor candidate?

7) Potential Offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) in order to conduct business with the Government.

RESPONSES DUE:

Interested organizations may submit their capabilities, and qualifications to perform the effort in writing to the identified point of contact no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 29 May 2026. Please submit all responses to Ms. Angela Rymill at angela.g.rymill.civ@army.mil and Mr. Adam Wingo at adam.w.wingo.civ@army.mil. Such capabilities and qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining if this procurement can be accomplished on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed effort on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. Oral communications ARE NOT acceptable in response to this notice. No questions will be taken at this time. If and when a solicitation is posted, questions will be taken at that time.

Please format the subject line of the response email as follows: “Response to F&L Market Survey – [Your Organization Name].”

All interested parties and organizations are encouraged to respond to this request for information. All material submitted in response to this RFI must be unclassified and properly marked. No manufacturer/distributor shall be given a copy of another manufacture’s/distributor’s product information collected in this survey.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

              The Government appreciates the time and effort taken to respond to this market survey. The Government acknowledges its obligations under Title 18 U.S.C. §1905 to protect information. Pursuant to this statute, the Government is willing to take into account any PROPRIETARY restrictions placed on qualifying data forwarded in response to the survey questions and to protect it from unauthorized disclosure subject to the following:

Clearly and conspicuously mark qualifying data with the restrictive legend (all caps) “PROPRIETARY” with any explanatory text, so that the Government is clearly notified of what data needs to be appropriately protected. Marked data already in the public domain, in the possession of the Government or third parties, or that is afterward placed into the public domain by the owner or another party through no fault of the Government, will not be protected once in the public domain. Data in the possession of the Government will be protected in accordance with the Government's rights in the data.

If protection of specific areas is required within electronic files, use the restrictive legends “PROPRIETARY PORTION BEGINS” and “PROPRIETARY PORTION ENDS” to clearly mark proprietary data.

In any reproductions of technical data or any portions thereof subject to asserted restrictions, the Government will also reproduce the asserted restriction legend and any explanatory text.

The Government uses support contractors and consultants at times in evaluating information including Market Research responses. Responses that contain proprietary information will only be analyzed by contracted support personnel after binding non-disclosure agreements have been signed and returned to the Government. Data analyzed by contracted personnel will be maintained in the same manner as received by Government personnel in accordance with Title 18 U.S.C. §1905.