REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI). NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENT EXISTS. DESCRIPTION: The Marine Corps Systems Command's Program Manager for Ammunition (PM Ammo) is conducting a market research to determine the availability of a Cartridge, 9mm Blank, Single Round for use with the M9 Conversion Kit, NSN: 1005-01-457-4016 to meet the training requirements of the Marine Corps Working Dog (MWD) Program. All MWD teams are required to conduct monthly training and semi-annual qualification with gunfire conditioning. The purpose of the training is to condition the MWD during gunfire to be tolerant/controllable by the handler and back-up personnel. The intent of this RFI is to identify potential sources for a 9mm Blank that will allow Military Police Officers (MP) to safely use their current weapons and conversion kits. The 9mm Blank must be safely fired through the Marine Corp's inventory of qualified M9, 9mm Service Pistols with the use of current inventory of qualified M9 Conversion Training Kits, NSN: 1005-01-457-4016. SPECIFICATION: The Cartridge, 9mm Blank round shall be a center fire cartridge interoperable with the M9 Service Pistol and the M9 Conversion Kit, NSN: 1005-01-457-4016 without any other auxiliary equipment or configuration changes. When fired, the 9mm Blank shall be capable of decibel readings between 135+/-5 dB at 3 feet from the muzzle of the weapon. The blank round shall present no higher than medium risk as defined in MIL-STD-882E to the shooter, the MWD or observers when fired in confined spaces and at the minimum distance of 3 ft. from the muzzle. The cartridge must be capable of being stored at temperature extremes of -50 degrees Fahrenheit to +160 degrees Fahrenheit, and being operated between -25 degrees Fahrenheit and +125 degrees Fahrenheit. The Marine Corps will use the results of this announcement to determine what capabilities exist in the marketplace. SUBMISSION INFORMATION: Responses to this RFI should not exceed ten (10) pages and should be submitted within 15 days of this notice. Vendors responding to this RFI should submit a description of their capabilities along with Technology Readiness Level (TRL) if not a fielded system, sketches, drawings, specifications, brochures, and production capability. Vendors shall submit data that supports claims that their 9mm K9 Blank Cartridge design will conform to the M9 Pistol and M9 Conversion kit. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this effort is 332992, Small Arms Ammunition Manufacturing; the Small Business Size Standard is 1,000 full time employees. Firms shall indicate their business size based upon NAICs code 332992 and identify a corporate point of contact. NOTE: This is a Request For Information (RFI) and will be used for planning purposes only and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP). There are no solicitation documents. Responses to the RFI cannot be accepted by the Marine Corps to form a binding contract. The Government will not pay or provide reimbursement for any costs incurred in the preparation or delivery of the request for information. Issuance of this notice does not constitute any obligation on the part of the Government to procure these items or to issue a solicitation. Any information that the vendor considers proprietary should be clearly marked as such. REQUESTED RESPONSE DATE: Responses to this RFI should be signed and dated. Only electronic submittals will be accepted. Send Electronic mail to the Contracting Specialist, Ms. Cametra Puryear at
[email protected] by 06 June, 2014. This notice may be updated as additional information becomes available. Please check the FBO site for updates to this announcement and register to receive e-mail notices of any updates to the FBO announcement. For more information on this RFI, please contact the above point of contact. E-mail communications are preferred.