Weaponeering and Stores Planning (WASP) Systems Engineering

DISCLAIMER
THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT ONLY.  THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. ALL INFORMATION SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS VOLUNTARY AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT PAY FOR INFORMATION REQUESTED NOR WILL IT COMPENSATE ANY RESPONDENT FOR ANY COST INCURRED IN DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION PROVIDED TO THE GOVERNMENT. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL; IT IS A MARKET RESEARCH TOOL TO DETERMINE POTENTIAL FIRMS CAPABLE OF PROVIDING THE SOLUTIONS DESCRIBED HEREIN PRIOR TO AN ISSUANCE OF A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT OBLIGATED TO AND WILL NOT PAY FOR ANY INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM POTENTIAL SOURCES AS A RESULT OF THIS NOTICE. THIS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT OF ANY KIND. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR NON-FAR BASED AGREEMENT (E.G. OTHER TRANSACTION) AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. FAILURE TO SUBMIT A RESPONSE WILL NOT PREVENT A COMPANY FROM PARTICIPATION IN ANY FUTURE COMPETITION RELATED TO THE WEAPONEERING AND STORES PLANNING (WASP) SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.

INTRODUCTION

This sources sought announcement is being posted to satisfy the requirement of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) Policy, Guidance, and Instruction (PGI) 206.103-170(d). The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO (U&W)), Strike Planning and Execution Systems Program Office (PMA-281) at Patuxent River, MD is conducting market research to determine the amount of responsible sources that have the capability, experience, facilities, and capacity to provide Integrated Product Office support services for the Weaponeering and Stores Planning (WASP) program. The Government is seeking industry input for support to the WASP Integrated Product Office to define the technical content of each WASP version and improve the delivery of flight clearance information to Fleet users through systems engineering, test and evaluation products and services, configuration management, and WASP laboratory/infrastructure management. The work includes support in a classified environment up to SECRET.

NAVAIR intends to issue a sole source Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to KBR Wyle Services, LLC for the continued software development of WASP Integrated Product Office if no other responsible and capable sources are identified. This acquisition is being pursued on a sole source basis under the statutory authority of 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1), as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.103-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. This Request for Information (RFI)/sources sought will assist NAVAIR in developing an acquisition strategy for any potential future sourcing methods for supplies and services outlined in this document. No Request for Quote (RFQ) exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the RFQ.

BACKGROUND

The WASP software application provides automated weapons and store loading, and delivery planning, and is certified as a permanent flight clearance application. The WASP software application provides authorized stores and configurations, validation of loading, carriage, jettison and release limits, authorized release parameters, fuze arming, safe escape limits, drag, weights and moment arms, Launch Acceptable Region (LAR) planning, sensor footprints, employment planning, Weaponeering reports and kneeboard cards for the F/A-18A-F and EA-18G. The WASP software is a Federated Application and is hosted on the JMPS-M hardware and the F/A-18, EA-18G MPE. The WASP software application operates independently of the JMPS-M Framework (FW), common components, Unique Planning Components (UPC) and other Federated Applications.

Due to highly specialized and unique engineering and test requirements of the WASP Integrated Product Office, only the incumbent has the necessary domain knowledge on WASP architecture, WASP software requirements. KBR Wyle Services’ highly specialized system engineering support efforts include the decomposition of requirements from the F/A-18 and EA-18G family of Naval Aviation Technical Information Product (NATIP) manual as well as the design and execution of all automated testing of the WASP application.  In addition, they are responsible for the design and development of the internal WASP nomenclature used to support all authorized weapons and stores that are published in each update of the NATIP manuals. The release cycle of current WASP is tied to the release cycle of the F/A-18 and EA-18G family of NATIP manuals with updates occurring multiple times per year for each Type/Model/Series aircraft in the F/A-18 and EA-18G family of aircraft. As such, this vendor is the only source that can provide the highly specialized services without unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Navy’s requirement to deliver the unique the continued development, delivery, and sustainment of WASP systems.

ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

Q1 FY27 to Q1 FY32

REQUIREMENTS

NAVAIR is seeking to identify the market (U.S. wholly owned companies only) capable of providing WASP Integrated Product Office services. The Government owns and will retain ownership and unlimited data rights to deliverables developed under the contract, including source code and related data. Planned work includes system engineering support, Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) and testing in support of WASP software engineering analyses, requirement analyses and functional testing on multiple versions of the WASP software. The WASP software is certified as a permanent flight clearance application that is necessary for USN/USMC aircraft to maintain parity with their technical and safety-of-flight publications.

NAVAIR is seeking a potential contractor with the ability to provide research and development (R&D) to enhance the aircrew’s ability to plan safe stores loading and delivery of weapons onto targets. The contractor shall provide systems engineering products to PMA-281 WASP Integrated Product Office necessary to define the technical content of each WASP version with the goals of providing rapid delivery of essential data, providing test and evaluation products for WASP versions, providing configuration management of WASP technical source data and accessibility to data from off-site locations, and providing WASP lab facilities management and systems administration of WASP information technology resources.

NAVAIR is seeking a potential contractor with the ability to ingest and execute highly complex military requirements, interface documents and specifications, as well as experience in participating in the engineering change proposal construct. The potential contractor should have experience in the full scope of systems engineering to include requirements analysis and traceability, modeling and simulation, test and evaluation, complex integration, and risk management. The potential contractor should describe systems engineering experience with common systems engineering tools such as Azure DevOps Server (Microsoft), Confluence (Atlassian), and Jira (Atlassian) or other comparable tools through Model-based systems engineering practices.

The potential contractor should describe understanding and experience in cybersecurity practices. The potential contractor should have experience with U.S. Navy Aviation platforms in particular the F/A-18A-F, EA-18G, the NATIPS and NATOPS documents for each of these platforms.

The objective of this notice is to solicit technical and industry feedback regarding current or near-term mature solutions capable of meeting the Integrated Product Office support requirements described herein, including systems engineering, Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE), test and evaluation, configuration management, and WASP laboratory/infrastructure management in support of multiple domestic and FMS WASP versions. The responsible vendors must have the capability and experience to support the following mission areas, at a minimum:

Mission Area

Minimum Capability/Experience Requirements

Systems Engineering for WASP

a. Define and document technical content for WASP versions, including engineering analysis to improve delivery speed, reliability, and usability.

b. Develop and maintain WASP Concept of Operations (CONOPS) and technical documentation for interoperability with JMPS F/A-18 MPE and other mission planning tools.

c. Analyze and implement changes from technical source data (e.g., IFC, NATIP, NATOPS) impacting WASP.

d. Support Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and requirements traceability using government-approved toolchains.

Test and Evaluation for WASP

a. Plan and execute testing for each WASP version, including FMS variants.

b. Develop/maintain automated and manual test cases for WASP.

c. Monitor and report on Formal Qualification Tests (FQT) and perform ACAS or equivalent cybersecurity scans on WASP software.

Configuration Management for WASP

a. Manage WASP technical data, requirements, and change requests using government toolsets (e.g., Azure DevOps/TFS).

b. Maintain configuration control and secure, authorized off-site access to WASP data and repositories.

WASP Lab/Infrastructure Support

a. Maintain and secure WASP lab facilities, including classified/unclassified storage, backups, and disaster recovery.

b. Support RMF/eMASS ATO for WASP lab environments.

c. Configure and maintain WASP development/test workstations and servers.

Cybersecurity

Ensure compliance with DoW Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) and Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) for all WASP systems and environments.

ELIGIBILITY

The Applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 541330 with a Small Business Size Standard of $25.5M. The Product Service Code (PSC) is R425 – Support – Professional: Engineering/Technical

DISCLAIMER

Any proprietary information received in response to this request will be properly protected and handled accordingly; however, it is incumbent upon the respondent to properly mark all submissions. In order to complete its review, NAVAIR must be able to share information within the Government and any responses marked in a manner that will not permit such internal Government review may be returned without being assessed/considered. The data associated with the WASP program is export controlled and is not available to foreign sources or representatives.

SUBMITTAL INFORMATION

Interested persons may submit a Capability Statement package identifying their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals. Only Capability Statements received prior to the closing date of this notice will be considered by the government. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract action based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Capability Statements received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Capability Statements submitted should be pertinent and specific in the technical/management/business area under consideration, on each of the following qualifications.

1. What type of work has your company performed in the past in support of the same or similar requirement?

2. Can or has your company managed a team of subcontractors before? If so, please cite contracts and teaming arrangement.

3. Please provide details on your company’s capability to perform the PWS scope areas:

a. WASP Systems Engineering:  Experience defining, documenting, and implementing technical content and changes for WASP or similar mission planning software.

b. WASP Test & Evaluation:  Experience developing/executing automated and manual test cases, and supporting FQT and cybersecurity scans for WASP or similar systems.

c. WASP Configuration Management:  Experience managing WASP (or similar) technical data and change requests using government toolsets, including secure off-site access.

d. WASP Lab/Infrastructure:  Experience maintaining secure, accredited lab environments and supporting RMF/eMASS ATO for WASP or similar classified systems.

e. Cybersecurity:  Demonstrated compliance with CMMC and FIPS for mission planning or similar DoD software.

4. Does your company have a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost estimate, anticipated Period of Performance, and if applicable, anticipated cost sharing arrangement to meet the objectives in this notice? If so, please provide the information for Government consideration.

5.Does your company have experience working in classified environments up to SECRET, including operation/maintenance of classified computing labs and ATO maintenance under RMF? Provide details.

6. Provide a statement including current small/large business status and company profile to include number of employees, annual revenue history, office locations, CAGE code, DUNS number, etc.

7. Respondents to this notice must also indicate whether they qualify as a Small, Small Disadvantaged, Small Disadvantaged Veteran Owned Small Business, Women-Owned, 8(a), HUB Zone or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern.

RESPONSES

Interested parties are advised against submitting a Capability Statement that merely mimics information in this notice, provides brochure-like information, or provides general information. Responses to this notice are not to exceed 15 pages in length on 8.5 x 11-inch paper with one-inch margins and font no smaller than 10 points Times New Roman. The government requests that respondents deliver responses electronically via e-mail in Microsoft Word or PDF format with proper data markings for unclassified and proprietary information no later than 15 working days after the posting date of this notice.

Classified material SHALL NOT be submitted. All submissions shall include this Sources Sought Notice Reference Number, company name, company address, CAGE code, DUNS number, and a point-of-contact who is able to discuss the Capability Statement submitted. Point-of-contact information shall include name, position, phone number, and email address.

Acknowledgment of receipt will be provided. All information submitted will be adequately safeguarded from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR 15.101. All submissions shall be clearly marked with the following caption: Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), Releasable to Government Agencies for Evaluation Purposes Only.

Responses that fail to comply with the above instructions or present ideas not pertinent to subject, may not be reviewed. All information received in response to this notice that is marked proprietary will be handled accordingly. Information submitted in response to this notice is submitted at no cost to the government and will not be returned. The government is under no obligation to provide responses or comments to information received from interested persons but may request additional information following review. Note: If an interested person is a foreign concern or if a U.S. interested person has a team member or partner who is a foreign entity, adherence to all International Traffic and Arms Regulations (ITAR) is required.

No telephone requests for additional information will be accepted. The RFI/Sources Sought shall be submitted/transmitted via email to austin.m.gunther2.civ@us.navy.mil by the closing date of this posting.

CONTACTS

Any and all questions about this announcement shall be submitted to the following Government POC:

NAVAIR Patuxent River Procurement Group

Attn: Mr. Austin Gunther

austin.m.gunther2.civ@us.navy.mil

Strike Planning and Execution Systems Program Office (PMA-281)
Attn: Joseph Southam
joseph.h.southam.civ@us.navy.mil