REQUEST FOR INFORMATION RFI-ACT-SACT-17-39

Transcription

1 Headquarters Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Norfolk Virginia REQUEST FOR INFORMATION RFI-ACT-SACT This document contains a Request for Information (RFI) Call for Industry and Academia collaboration regarding exploration of autonomous/ unmanned vehicles for logistics (via air and land domains) and demonstration of cutting edge autonomous capabilities during exercise Trident Juncture 2018 LIVEX in the late fall of Suppliers wishing to respond to this RFI should read this document carefully and follow the guidance for responding. Page 1 of 9

2 General Information Request For Information No Project Title Autonomous Logistics Delivery Support to Sustainment Operations (ALDSSO) Due date for submission of requested information Contracting Office Address September 30, 2017 NATO, HQ Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) Purchasing & Contracting Suite Blandy Rd, Norfolk, VA, Contracting Points of Contact Technical Points of Contact 1. Ms Tonya Bonilla tonya.bonilla@act.nato.int Tel : Ms Catherine Giglio catherine.giglio@act.nato.int Tel : Primary: LtCol. Vaughn Grizzle Vaughn.grizzle@act.nato.int Tel: Alternate: LtCol Miguel Lopez de la Vieja Miguel.Lopez2@act.nato.int Tel: Page 2 of 9

3 SECTION I - INTRODUCTION HQ Supreme Allied Commander Transformation 1.1 Summary. HQ Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (HQ SACT) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) announcement in order to facilitate collaboration between The Logistics, Deployment and Sustainment (LDS) Branch and industry/academia regarding the use of autonomous / unmanned vehicles to support logistics sustainment operations. The purpose of this RFI is to involve industry and academia, through the demonstration of capabilities of different platforms, in order to deepen in advance thinking about military exploitation of emerging technology and showcase new capabilities in an operationally representative environment. This work is discovery in nature; but could support development of future concepts, doctrine, STANAGs, etc. 1.2 This engagement herein referred to as Trident Juncture 18 ALDSSO is further described in Section III. It will take place in the fall of 2018 in Norway, in the frame of the exercise Trident Juncture Disclaimer. This is a Request for Information (RFI) only, and in no way constitutes a current Request for Proposal (RFP) or a commitment to issue a future RFP. The purpose of this RFI is to involve industry/academia, through collaboration, in Trident Juncture 2018 LIVEX. HQ SACT has not made a commitment to procure any of the items described herein, and release of this RFI shall not be construed as such a commitment, nor as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement will be required or sought. Further, respondents are advised that HQ SACT will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in responding to this RFI, nor will HQ SACT pay costs associated with participating in Trident Juncture 18. The costs for responding to this RFI and participating in Trident Juncture 18 shall be borne solely by the responding party. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any subsequent RFP if issued in the future. SECTION II BACKGROUND 2.1 ACT Framework for collaborative Interaction (FFCI) ACT has implemented a Framework for Collaborative Interaction (FFCI) to increase opportunities for industry and academia to contribute to ACT capability development efforts through collaborative work. Such collaboration enables HQ SACT, and NATO as a whole, to Page 3 of 9

4 benefit from industry/academia models, advice, capabilities and experience in the course of this work. In addition to the benefits ACT gains from such projects, this collaborative effort will provide industry/academia with an improved understanding of NATO s capability requirements and associated issues and development challenges to be addressed by ACT. Potential collaborative projects are on specific topics that are of mutual interest to both parties but shall be restricted to collaborations in non-procurement areas. Several mechanisms have been already developed to support the initiation of collaborative projects between industry/academia and ACT ranging from informal information exchanges, workshops and studies, to more extensive collaboration on research and experimentation Depending on the level and type of interaction needed for a collaborative project, a specific agreement may be needed between parties. The FFCI agreement for any specific project, if required by either party for the project to proceed, will range from Non-disclosure Agreements (NDA) for projects involving exchange of specific information to more extensive Declaration of Mutual Collaboration (DOMC) to address intellectual property and other issues. For the topics listed below, it is not envisaged that the level of contribution will be such that RFI respondents will wish to sign a NDA before entering into any significant collaborative work through this issue can be addressed on a case-by-case basis More extensive information on the ACT FFCI initiative can be found on the ACT web site being developed to support FFCI projects at ACT, as the driving agent of transformation for NATO, supports the Trident Juncture 2018 ALDSSO project. The collaborative interaction sought is focused on informal information exchange directly with the project team between August 2017 and the conclusion of Trident Juncture 2018 in early RFI respondents would be willing to share their technical knowledge, expertise, and observations with NATO and nations participating in the exercise during the planning process for the deployment of the vehicles and the specific scenario development for them. SECTION III - DESCRIPTION OF THE AUTONOMOUS LOGISTICS LOGISTIC DELIVERY SUPPORT TO SUSTAINMENT OPERATIONS (ALDSSO). Page 4 of 9

5 3.1 Background. Exercise TRJE18 will be an Allied Command Transformation (ACT) sponsored High Visibility Exercise (HVE) Live Exercise (LIVEX) followed by a Command Post Exercise (CPX) that will train and evaluate Joint Force Command Naples' (JFCNP) command and control of the enhanced NATO Response Force 2019 (enrf19). The level of ambition is to plan and execute the response of the enrf19, including VJTF tactical units, to an Article 5 situation using the NATO Crisis Management Process (NCMP) at the level of a Major Joint Operation (-) in a high intensity collective defence context. The LIVEX will take place in Norway, parts of the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic. In the frame of the exercise, several transformational activities have been scheduled. One of them is the Autonomous Logistics Delivery Support to Sustainment Operations. 3.2 Objectives. Demonstrate, in a realistic environment, how autonomous vehicles can be used for transportation of light and heavy freight, in land or air domain, remotely controlled or using autonomous technology to reduce risks and manpower. Show to the nations, organizations and observers involved in the exercise the performance of autonomous / unmanned platforms operating in the frame of a NATO operation supply chain. Share knowledge and experiences with the authorities, representatives and potential users of the technology shown. Facilitate the exchange of information among the industry, academia and NATO nations focused on alliance transformation. 3.2 Planned activities. Those platforms / vehicles selected should deliver freight between two locations where units are located. The details of the distance, lines of communications to use and the scheduled will be coordinated with the direction of the exercise. The activities described below are a guideline for the planning. The detailed definition of the activities will depends on the answer to the RFI and the platforms selected. Page 5 of 9

6 Air Scenario: In case of the air platforms the basic scenario will be based on the impossibility of using land lines of communication. The delivery of cargo must be done by air avoiding the interrupted lines of communication. Movements in Norway will happen between logistics facilities. Vehicles operations will not be integrated in the exercise. It is going to be a simultaneous activity with a specific planning. Land Scenarios: There are two basic scenarios for the land platforms, based in the type of autonomy of the vehicles: - Land scenario 1: High threat in the lines of communication that avoid the safe movement of convoys. The use of unmanned land vehicles is needed to avoid casualties. - Land scenario 2: A demanding situation where there is a lack of manpower to drive trucks. Movement of autonomous vehicles or semi-autonomous vehicles (self-driving trucks) is required to be able to deliver supplies with the minimum of drivers involved. Movements of the vehicles will happens between logistic facilities in Norway using public roads. Vehicles operations will not be integrated in the exercise. It is going to be a simultaneous activity with a specific planning. 3.3 Expected input from industry/academia. Industry /academia will provide platforms to carry out delivering of supplies in the frame of a military operation. Participants will share experiences and knowledge for the nations to be able to consider future development and acquisitions of autonomous vehicles for logistics purposes. 3.4 Expected benefits to industry. Through this collaboration, ACT, as the driving agent of transformation for NATO, expects that industry / academia will gain awareness about the particularities of the use of autonomous and unmanned platforms in the logistic domain of a multinational operation in the frame of NATO. It will be an opportunity to engage with potential users of the platforms. Page 6 of 9

7 SECTION IV - REQUESTED INFORMATION 4.1 Intent. The intent of this RFI is to call for formal collaboration with industry and academia in order to present autonomous / unmanned platforms that are being used or tested for the delivery of supplies by air or land during the exercise Trident Juncture Evaluation. An evaluation team will be organized in ACT HQ to analyse, evaluate and select the answers to the RFI. The evaluation team will be leaded by ACT Logistic, Deployment and Sustainment Branch with the collaboration of personnel from Operational and Experimentation Branch, Legal Advisor Office and Budget and Finance Office. For the evaluation, several areas are going to be considered. There is a prioritization of the areas taking into account the goals for the transformational activity in the frame of the exercise. Areas to consider. 1. Payload capability. 2. Autonomy Time Distance. 3. Crew. (Number of people that it is needed to operate the system) 4. Interoperability -How is it transmitted the information related to location Proposal of participation in the exercise Number of Platforms to be deployed Flexibility in the dates. For each item, a mark between 1(low) and 10(high) will be given. This mark will be multiplied by the figure between brackets to give a final figure out of Answers to the RFI. The answers to this RFI should be submitted by and must contain detailed information in each of the areas depicted in the previous paragraph - Page 7 of 9

8 documents, technical dossiers, movies, etc.- Additional information, not related with the required areas, should be considered in case that, at the end of the evaluation process, several answers had the same score. The lack of information in some of the areas will not add value in the evaluation process. 4.4 Follow-on. Post-submission, selected RFI respondents may be contacted to provide detailed information on their proposals. 4.5 Handling of Proprietary Information. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and clearly marked as such. Please be advised that all submissions become HQ SACT property and will not be returned. They will be treated as proprietary information with the same due care HQ SACT treats its own proprietary information, including the exercise of due care to prevent unauthorized disclosure. 4.6 Questions. Questions of a technical nature about this RFI announcement shall be submitted by solely to the above-mentioned POCs. Accordingly, questions in an shall not contain proprietary and/or classified information. HQ SACT does not guarantee that questions received after September 30, 2017 will be answered. Answers will be posted on the HQ SACT P&C website at: Response Date. September 30, Summary. This is a RFI only. The purpose of this RFI is to involve industry and academia, through collaboration, in the exercise Trident Juncture HQ SACT has not made a commitment to procure any of the items described herein, and release of this RFI shall not be construed as such a commitment, nor as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement will be required or sought. It is again, reemphasised that this is a RFI, and not a RFP of any kind. Page 8 of 9

9 Tonya Bonilla ACT Contracting Officer - Allied Command Transformation (ACT) NATO/HQ SACT Tel: (757) , tonya.bonilla@act.nato.int Page 9 of 9