The Vertical Take Off and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) system is a joint USN/USMC system to provide an Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability to support littoral operations. This SOO will describe the Government’s acquisition philosophy and objectives for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) and Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Phases of the VTUAV acquisition. The successful VTUAV system will be an affordable, versatile, and maintainable system that meets the Navy and Marine Corps requirements offering Best Value for the Government in an effective, economical, and timely manner.

The purpose of the VTUAV acquisition is to design, develop, test, and produce a product baseline for the VTUAV system sufficient to allow for a Milestone III (full rate production) decision. The Government requires the contractor to:

If a Government specification or standard is not clearly required, the Government encourages the contractor to use Commercial, Industrial and Corporate specifications and standards in lieu of Government specifications and standards if they are preferred by the offeror. Government specifications and standards, if needed, should be used as guides, with any modifications, tailoring or partial application described. Foreign specifications and standards may be used if existing equipment from non-U.S. suppliers is being proposed.

4. GOVERNMENT OBJECTIVES

1. Acquisition Objectives: The Government’s acquisition objectives are as follows:

1. Obtain a prime contractor with the facilities, personnel, and experience to design, develop, integrate, support, test and deliver a VTUAV system, including logistics support, that meets the Government’s requirements as described in the Performance Specification PRFSPEC-263-01 and Acquisition Logistics Support Specification ALSS-263-01 for both EMD and LRIP. The contractor will assume Total System Performance Responsibility (TSPR) and give consideration should be given to Total Ownership Costs (TOC). The contractor will be expected to significantly influence the life cycle costs of the VTUAV System. The contractor’s system must meet all Key Performance Parameters (KPPs). The KPPs must be met and proven with LRIP systems during the formal Operational TestingTechnical Evaluation. The Government will exercise the principles of Cost as an Independent Variable (CAIV) to determine overall best value.
2. Achieve a 36-month or less EMD phase with three (3) two LRIPs culminating in Initial Operating Capability (IOC) the fourth quarter of FY03. The Government will use the selected contractor’s Statement Of Work (SOW), Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL), Integrated Management Schedule (IMS), Contractor’s Work Breakdown Structure (CWBS), and VTUAV System Detail Specification submitted with the proposal as the contract baseline to start EMD. The contractor shall shall provide a program that meets the key milestones. The Government’s goal is for a system that has an open systems architecture for hardware and software that supports future system growth. The Government’s goal would like is to maximize the use of non-developmental hardware and software. The Government’s goal is to minimize Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) for this contract.
3. Achieve a system design that to facilitates a product improvement program to achieve the objectives described in the performance specification.

2. Test Objectives: The Government’s test objective is to perform a series of ground, flight, shipboard tests and evaluations to ensure the VTUAV System meets the requirements of the performance specification and the ALSS. The Government intends to conductIt is envisioned that an operational assessmentwill be conducted before operational test to reduce program and test risk. The developmental test phase will culminate in full system testing prior to the start of operational testing. The Government and contractor will use an Integrated Test Team (ITT) approach to manage all test-related activities. The use of modeling and simulation is encouraged. Full system testing will be conducted at a governmenet test facility. The contractor will provide a VTUAV System with sufficient instrumentation to accomplish all test objectives.
3. Management Objectives: The Government’s management objective is to use various management techniques to gain program insight. The following information is provided so the contractor can tailor a program that supports the Government’s in meeting the objectives.