DRAFT RFP Uncrewed Maritime System for NOAA OMAO

The Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Eastern Acquisition Division (EAD), in support of the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO), Platform and Infrastructure Acquisition Division (PIAD), is requesting feedback for the attached Draft Request for Proposal (RFP) to to provide commercially available Uncrewed Maritime Systems (UMS) to support NOAA’s charting and surveying requirements for the Class B vessels.   OMAO has a need to maintain the NOAA capability to meet the at-sea data collection requirements of charting and surveying in support of OMAO’s mission to safely deliver effective earth observation capabilities; integrate emerging technologies; and provide a specialized, flexible and reliable team responsive to NOAA and the nation.  The procurement and deployment of UMS with the new Class B vessels will further NOAA fleet modernization efforts.NOAA is seeking a commercially available

or mature UMS that has been demonstrated in an operational environment to NOAA Readiness Level 8, IAW with the NAO 216105B Policy of Research and Development Transitions, “Finalized system, process, product, service or tool tested, and shown to operate or function as expected within user's environment; user training and documentation completed; operator or user approval given.” Tandem survey operations require a UMS that can be launched and recovered from the NOAA host vessel to work in remote operation, semi-autonomous, and autonomous mode to execute survey instructions while being operated independently or monitored by the host vessel.In conjunction with the Draft RFP EAD is requesting the following:Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) for each UMS.Information regarding pricing structure in an effort to gain optimal cost and performance efficiencies.  A draft Price Schedule is included with the draft RFPExpected effects on pricing resulting from the recently updated Buy American Act requirements.Industry to review the DRAFT RFP J.1 Attachment- Statement of Requirements and identify inconsistencies or issues that may not align with the commercial industry standards or best practices. Written responses received may result in one-on-one meetings between NOAA and industry to discuss its findings.  If one-on one meetings are to be held, EAD intends to schedule meetings with industry shortly after the closing of the posting.  After all meetings with industry are conducted, EAD will post the questions and answers identified during the meetings on SAM.gov.  Approximate particulars of the UMS are:Length Overall (Not to Exceed): 9.80 mBeam (Not to Exceed): 3.35 mHeight (Not to Exceed): 4.0 m Full Load (Not to Exceed): 6,350 kgPropulsion: Maine DieselEndurance: Operate continuously for 120 hours at 7 ktsCruising Speed: 1 to 12ktsSurvey System: Kongsberg EM2040 MkII 0.7 degree bathymetric sonarThe anticipated NAICS code for this requirement is 336612 – Boat Building and the size standard is 1,000 employees.This special notice is for planning purposes only and is issued in accordance with FAR Provision 52.215-3 Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (OCT 1997) provided at:  https://www.acquisition.gov/.No solicitation document exists at this time. Issuance of this notice does not constitute any obligation on the part of the Government to procure these items or services or to issue a solicitation. In addition, the Government is under no obligation to pay for information submitted in response to this notice, and responses to this notice cannot be accepted as offers. Any information that the firm considers proprietary should be clearly marked as such.  Information should be submitted via email to Elizabeth Eichelberger at Elizabeth.eichelberger@noaa.gov no later than 1:00 pm Eastern on December 16, 2022.