PEO-SW Family of Special Operations Vehicles (FOSOV)

Submissions Closed 12 January 2024

U.S. Persons Only

Purpose
SOFWERX, in collaboration with USSOCOM PEO-SOF Warrior (PEO-SW), Family of Special Operations Vehicles (FOSOV), specifically the Non-Standard Commercial Vehicles (NSCV) Program, is hosting a series of events, to engage with Industry, Academia, and Government labs, and identify potential solutions for integrating portable and adaptive technologies, including but not limited to Information Technology (IT) and Communications (Comms) kits. Over time, competing and emerging requirements have driven IT and Comms kits to increase in complexity and cost at the trade-off of Special Operations Forces (SOF) mission flexibility, driving the need to develop an updated strategy and identify new, novel solutions.

Background/Synopsis
The FOSOV Program Office has historically added SOF capability to include C4ISR through Systems Engineering and Integration to the vehicle design. In many cases, the vehicles are intended to have the same capability for fielding and deployment. As radios, amplifiers and other technologies have evolved over the years, limiting factors and trade-space have made it difficult to adapt mission capability in the field. FOSOV must deploy Tiger Teams to Areas of Responsibility (AOR), where SOF has freedom of movement, to upgrade technology in Ground Mobility Platforms. In future conflicts, FOSOV will need the ability to deploy new technology insertion packages in semi-permissive or contested environments. FOSOV desires the ability for program engineers to innovate and for operators to deploy and adapt solutions in the field through new deployment strategies and configuration control mechanisms and seeks interface control strategies and/or material solutions that enable technology updates in contested or denied areas of operation. In the future, FOSOV expects SOF will use indigenous vehicles rather than vehicles manufactured in the US and the portability of technology packages/kits between vehicle classes and types will be critical to mission success.

Objective
The objective of this event is to explore potential solutions with Industry, Academia, and Labs based upon an understanding of current FOSOV use cases and operational landscapes for future conflicts.  FOSOV will discuss the challenges of deploying solutions to inherently contested/denied areas of responsibility to ensure full understanding of the limitations and explore new and innovative solutions to rapidly integrate and deploy technology across all of FOSOV Ground Mobility Platforms.  Respondents may address capability for the existing NSCV fleet, or aim at changing how future ground mobility solutions are fielded. 

Why You Should Participate
USSOCOM seeks to enter into non-FAR or FAR-based agreements with Industry, Academic, and National Lab partners whose solutions are favorably evaluated by PEO-SW Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). As such, the follow-on Assessment Event (AE) is considered competitive and solutions will be evaluated independently of one another primarily for technical merit. This serves dually as notification of the intent to research the feasibility of an agreement under 10 U.S. Code, Section 4022 and/or Section 4022(f), and as notice of pre-solicitation activities IAW FAR 5.204.

Event Timeline
Completed Phase 1 - 18 July 2023 Government Only Collaboration Event (CE): SOFWERX will host the Collaboration Event (CE) with Government stakeholders focused on FOSOV needs. During this event, Government stakeholders will identify and prioritize requirements and desirements for the FOSOV needs and will also identify current limitations with existing tools and ideate ways to fill capability gaps. Problem statement(s) will be developed to frame FOSOV needs. Outcomes from the Government Only Collaboration Event will shape the Industry, Academia, and Laboratory Collaboration Event on/around 30 August. 

Tentative Agenda
All times listed are in ET
8:00 – 8:20: Participants arrive at SOFWERX
8:20 – 8:25: SOFWERX Welcome
8:25 – 9:30: Stakeholder Overview & Problem Set
9:30 – 9:45: Break
9:45 – 10:25: Current Limitations Breakout
10:25 – 11:25: Ways to Overcome Limitations Breakout
11:30 – 12:30: Lunch (on your own)
12:30 – 2:30: Problem Statement Development
2:30 – 2:45: Break
2:45 – 3:45: Problem Statement Briefs
3:45 – 4:30: Voting 
4:30 – 5:00: Path Forward

Note: Agenda is subject to change

Completed Phase 2 - 07 November 2023 Collaboration Event (CE): SOFWERX will host a Collaboration Event (CE) with Industry, Academic, and Laboratory partners focused on FOSOV needs. During this event, Warfighters will interact with potential solution offerors and further communicate operational needs and desirements. Participation in this event is not mandatory, however, it is designed to provide insights to ensure potential offerors understand the problem set(s) fully and to increase the likelihood of matching their technologies with Warfighter needs. This CE is also an opportunity for attendees to meet and form partnerships that may provide a more comprehensive solution. If you do not wish to participate in the CE, you are free to submit your technology on/around date TBD for the AE. 

Tentative Agenda
All times listed are in ET
9:00-9:30: Attendees Check-In
9:45-9:50: SOFWERX Welcome Remarks  
9:50-10:50: Topic Areas Brief 
10:50-11:00: Break  
11:00-12:00: Topic Areas Brief Cont.
12:00-1:30: Lunch (On Your Own)  
1:30-2:45: Large Group Q&A 
2:45-3:00: Wrap-Up and Follow-On Event Schedule
3:00: Networking
An Optional SOFWERX 101 & Tour will be offered at 3:00PM

Note: Agenda is subject to change
This event will be held in-person at SOFWERX.

Completed Phase 3 - 08 December 2023 to 12 January 2024 Submissions to the Assessment Event (AE) Open: Interested respondents who could potentially provide solutions that meet the needs of USSOCOM are encouraged to submit their capability for USSOCOM review. To submit your technology for potential Phase 5 attendance, please review the assessment criteria and follow the submission instructions below.

Completed Phase 3a - 14 December 2023 Q&A Telecon: Interested offerors may participate in a virtual Q&A session to better understand the PM's specific technology objectives. The telecon will take place on 14 December from 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET. RSVP to the Q&A Telecon below.

Completed Phase 4 - 15 January 2024 to 26 January 2024 Downselect: USSOCOM will downselect those respondents/submissions they feel have the highest potential to satisfy their technology needs. Favorably evaluated submissions will receive an invitation to attend the AE on/around 29 January.

Phase 5 - 12 February 2024 to 15 February 2024 Assessment Event (AE): During the AE, selected participants will be allotted a one-on-one session with the USSOCOM evaluation panel to pitch, demonstrate, and/or discuss their solutions. The forum will include a Q&A portion and discussions may continue outside of the event. Solution brief presentation guidelines will be outlined in the event invitation and solutions will be assessed according to the criteria in the link provided below. If the USSOCOM evaluation panel favorably evaluates a solution brief, negotiations for Phase 6 may immediately begin.

This event will be held in person at SOFWERX. 

Phase 6 - Path Forward: Successfully negotiated awards may fall under any combination of these categories:

• Business to business research and development agreement as a sub-award through the SOFWERX Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) (15 U.S. Code Section 3715)
• OTA for research or prototype projects (10 U.S. Code Sections 4021, 4022)
  • An award under 10 U. S. Code, Section 4022 may result in the further award of a follow-on production agreement without additional competition based on successful prototype completion. The Government may make this follow-on production award based upon successful prototype criteria, which will be determined for each prototype project.
• Procurement for experimental purposes (10 U.S. Code Section 4023)
• Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (15 U.S. Code Section 3710a)
• Prizes for advanced technology achievements (10 U. S. Code Section 4025) and/or prize competitions (15 U.S. Code 3719)
• FAR-based procurement contract 

NOTE: Awardees may need to be compliant with NIST SP 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in Non-Federal Systems and Organizations

How You Can Participate
Government, Industry, Academia, National Labs, and Non-Traditional Attendees