Azimuth Rotary Joint Replacement

PROJECT TITLE: Azimuth Rotary Joint Replacement LOCATION OF WORK: Vendor's facility. Supplies to be delivered to: Radar Operations Center 1313 Halley Circle Norman, OK 73069 NAICS CODE: 334519 - Other Electronic Component Manufacturing and the small business size standard is 500 employees. SET-ASIDE STATUS: Unrestricted DESCRIPTION: The purpose of this requirement is to replace Azimuth Rotary Joint used in the NEXRAD Weather Surveillance Radar WSR-88D. The current azimuth rotary joint design was introduced as part of the implementation of the dual polarized radar modification on all 160 WSR-88D (NEXRAD) radars operated by the NWS, DOD, and FAA. The current rotary joint design does not meet WSR-88D specifications for performance or reliability. Rotary joint failure symptoms/causes include missing wedges of data associated with its IF channels (Ch.3 and Ch.4), excessive air leaks associated with the use on non-airtight N-Type connectors, temperature sensitivity in the main stator rotor seal resulting in increased leakage in cold weather, and failure of various bearing assemblies attributed to heat-related hardening of bearing grease. The overall objective of this effort is to completely replace the existing inventory with a more robust design that meets or exceeds all WSR-88D specifications. This can be accomplished in one of two ways; (1) re-design of the existing rotary joint, or (2) introduction of a Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) or modified COTS design. This contract will be executed in three phases as described below: CLIN 0001: First Article - Prototype Delivery. The contractor shall deliver one (1) working prototype of the proposed design along with appropriate documentation describing proposed changes to the existing rotary joint design and/or modifications to the COTS design in order to make it NEXRAD compliant. Appropriate documentation includes detailed description of any new components introduced; vendor and part numbers for commercial components, or complete design disclosure for fabricated components. If a COTS design is proposed, no documentation is required. If a modified COTS design is proposed, the modifications must be fully specified in a design disclosure. The prototype unit will be delivered to the Government and tested in accordance with a test plan in order to evaluate the performance level of the prototype as compared to WSR-88D specifications. If required, the Government will provide a maximum of two AZ Rotary Joints of the existing design as Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) to undergo design analysis, testing, and modification by the contractor. Only one of the two units is required to be modified prior to delivery to the Government for test and evaluation. CLIN 0002: Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Deliveries. The contractor(s) shall deliver to the Government a quantity of 6 AZ Rotary Joints of the proposed design. The Government shall install up to 5 units in operational WSR-88D radars in order to observe performance and demonstrate design robustness. The LRIP units will be evaluated over a period of 8 months. Data will be collected from these radars in order to characterize the operational performance of each LRIP unit installed. Robustness will be evaluated as no performance degradation over the observation period; mechanical or electrical. The sixth unit delivered will be a spare to replace a single unit that experiences a failure. Any failed units will be returned to the contractor for failure analysis. CLIN 0003: Full Production - Delivery of Production Units. For COTS or modified COTS designs, the contractor shall deliver a quantity of 220 units of the same configuration that was tested and provided in CLIN 0002 with the exception of any changes approved by the Government. For units that are modified versions of the current design, the contractor will receive a quantity of azimuth rotary joints (as GFE) of the current design to be modified and delivered back to the Government. As with the COTS units, these initial modified units will be placed into spares stock at the (NLSC). As units of the current configuration fail, they will be replaced with units of the modified design, and the failed units will be provided to the contractor for modification and re-delivery to the Government. This round-robin process will continue until all legacy units have been replaced by re-designed units. Certificate of Conformance. Each unit delivered to the Government shall be accompanied by a Certificate of Conformance (CofC) that documents all test results that support the conclusion that the delivered units is in compliance with all appropriate specifications. DELIVERY SCHEDULE: First article unit (CLIN 0001) will be delivered to the Radar Operations Center (ROC) in Norman, OK TBD days after receipt of order. CLIN 1001 - Limited Rate Initial Production (LRIP) delivered in TBD days after acceptance of First Article. CLIN 1002- 220 full production units delivered within TBD days of an approved rotary joint. The Government anticipates awarding a fixed-price supply contract for the rotary joint. SOLICITATION ISSUE DATE: July 29, 2019 PROPOSAL DUE DATE: August 23, 2019 ANTICIPATED AWARD DATE: September 13, 2019 CONTRACTOR REGISTRATION: A contractor must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov. All offerors must have a Dun & Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) identifier. A DUNS number may be acquired free of charge by contacting Dun & Bradstreet at (800) 333-0505 or online at http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform. All responses to this notice may be submitted via e-mail to Sue Bratton, Contract Specialist, at sue.bratton@noaa.gov with copy to the Contracting Officer jennifer.a.johnson@noaa.gov. The phone number for the Contract Specialist is (303) 497-6155.