Scope of Work: The U.S. Army Product Manager Force Sustainment Systems is conducting market research through a request for information regarding industry's interest and capability in providing an expeditionary ballistic protection system for military shelters and other critical assets. Firms responding shall indicate whether or not they are a small business. Responses shall consist of an unclassified white paper. At a minimum, the white paper shall provide a description of the technical approach and a statement on the ability to meet the attached objectives and system requirements. This is not a request for quotations; this notice is for market research only. No solicitation document exists. The information received under this announcement may be used by the Government for developing an acquisition strategy. Email your questions to
[email protected]. System Requirements: The system shall consist of armor panels and any associated hardware. The system shall be self standing. The system shall provide ballistic and fragment protection from firearms and fragmenting munitions. The system shall be modular and capable of surrounding military shelters and other critical assets. Each panel module shall be 86 quote mark H x 48 quote mark W. A module may be comprised of a single panel or a combination of panels (stacked in tandem), whichever will best achieve the requirements. However, no single panel shall weigh more than 147 lbs. The system shall withstand the blast loading associated with fragmenting munitions threats. The system shall be man portable with a team of four soldiers, meaning no individual component shall weigh more than 147 lbs. The system shall deploy at a minimum rate of one linear foot per minute (four minutes per module), including any associated anchoring. The system shall be deployed without any special tools or equipment. When deployed, the system shall withstand the same wind conditions as a soft wall shelter - steady winds up to 55 mph with gusts up to 65 mph. The system shall be capable of being packaged in a TRICON shipping container. Each container has 88 quote mark H x 90 quote mark W x 76 quote mark D as useable storage space. The packed system shall not sustain damage when transported by military vehicles or customary military transport vessels. They system shall be capable of deployment and strike in extreme environments (+1200F to -500F) and shall be resistant to degradation in extreme environments. The system must continue to provide ballistic protection when deployed outside in extreme environments for up to two years. All components of the system must be fire resistant. The system shall weigh no more than 10 pounds per square foot of protection. The system shall not rely on soil fill to achieve protection requirements. Objectives: The vendor shall aim to reduce system cost in any way possible. Due to the large surface areas to be protected in a base camp, keeping system cost low is very important. The vendor shall provide data which demonstrates the ballistic and fragmentation protection capability of the proposed panel material. The vendor shall provide data which demonstrates the blast overpressure capability of the proposed system. The vendor shall provide means to define system design and orientation. The vendor shall provide manufacturing capability. The vendor shall provide manufacturing capacity. The vendor shall provide system unit cost per linear foot. The vendor shall describe employment of protection system. The vendor shall describe how the system will be self standing.