TReX Questions (dlvc) 1. Will the dlvc Prototype have to broadcast on all 64 specified channels simultaneously or is the intent to provide a

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1 TReX Questions (dlvc) 1. Will the dlvc Prototype have to broadcast on all 64 specified channels simultaneously or is the intent to provide a frequency agile solution? a. The radio will not need to broadcast simultaneously across all channels but should be able to broadcast on any of them. For clarity, an RF radio is not part of the demonstration. 2. We assume that intent is for the prototype to use Ethernet/IP to represent the physical layers and attenuated coax for the radio frequency links. i.e. no over-the-air transmission required. Is this a valid assumption? a. No over-the-air transmission is required. For clarity, this is not a radio datalink demonstration, but a distributed processing architecture. Thus, we are not prescribing a design. 3. We assume the entire prototype will become government property following the demonstration. Is this a valid assumption? a. In accordance with paragraph 5.3, the Government desires government purpose rights, but will evaluate proposals that do not provide government purpose rights. 4. We assume the mobility or aircraft node will interface to the live training systems via 1550 databus or similar? Is this a valid assumption? a. We are not specifying a databus, though MIL-STD 1553 is a commonly used solution and a solution easily transferrable across all platforms is desirable. 5. Can the existing P-5 system support the 5G-ATW waveform? No. If so, may the selected vendor secure a P-5 system as government furnished equipment for the demonstration? a. No, but it should not be necessary. Paragraph 4.2 that states that the datalink may be simulated. 6. Relative to the requirement in 3e and 3g for 4 independent levels of security, does the Government expect the actual levels along with associated hardware (e.g. cross domain solution) and encryption to be active in the demonstration OR may be the vendor demonstrate 4 independent data channels to which various security apparatus may be independently applied in the operational environment. a. The vendor may demonstrate 4 independent data channels to which various security apparatus may be independently applied in the operational environment. To clarify, no actual classified data will be used in the demonstration. 7. We assume the demonstration prototype will not be required to connect to any existing government networks (i.e. no Authority to Connect or other Information Assurance approvals required). Is this a valid assumption? a. Yes 1

2 8. We assume the ground based computation node will be fed from existing models. i.e. there is no desire on the part of the Government to develop new models as part of the dvlc effort. Is this a valid assumption? a. The Government is not furnishing models. Part of the RFS is to determine how to structure models for dlvc architecture. 9. Is it permissible for a large defense corporation who would otherwise be excluded to participate in OTA via partnership or subcontracting with a qualifying entity? a. Traditional defense contractors are not excluded from participating in this action. Please refer to Paragraph 5.6 for eligibility requirements/guidance. 10. Will the government consider a request for extension to respond to the RFS? a. Amendment 1 extends the due date to 29 June Under this effort, does the government desire to modify the existing SLATE architecture to look at other alternatives? a. SLATE and dlvc are separate but SLATE could inform dlvc. Modifications to SLATE architecture are acceptable. 12. In paragraph 4.2 it references "the live system will be represented by a training pod form factor". Does the government intend to supply a P5 pod(s) (modified or other) for this effort or is it expected that these will be emulations? a. The hardware must be able to fit in a P5 pod, but will not be installed in a pod for the demonstration 13. Will the government supply a 5G-ATW emulation supporting DIS communications or other? No. If so, will the emulation support varying the bandwidth and support interference injection? a. DIS is available in the public domain. The Government does not require the use of 5G-ATW and vendors are free to use any waveform they feel would meet the requirements. 14. Does the government intend to simulate 100 live training systems? a. The prototype demonstration should simulate ~100 live training systems. 15. Will the government supply a Joint Terminal Attack Controller simulation to participate in the architecture demonstration? a. No 16. What is the source of the full-motion video (UAV, JTAC)? a. This requirement has been removed in amendment Do we need to demonstrate an accredited Cross Domain Solution? a. An accredited solution is desired, however the Government will entertain non-accredited solutions provided a path to NSA accreditation can be shown. 18. Do we need to demonstrate an NSA approved encryption? a. An NSA approved solution is desired, however the Government will entertain non-accredited solutions provided a path to NSA accreditation can be shown. 2

3 19. Can cost share of the total cost of the project be substantiated with assets a vendor can bring to bear to support this effort? (r.e. section 5.6 check box 3) a. Assets, properly valuated and displayed, may be utilized to meet the costsharing requirements. 20. What if a vendor can't check any boxes per section 5.6, will our submittal still be considered? a. In order to meet the eligibility requirements under 10 USC 2371b, one of the boxes must be able to be checked. 21. What is the source of the training pod form factor? Gov t provided? Purchased? a. The form factor will simply be dimensions that the components must fit in. 22. Will the training pod form factor have any installed hardware/software systems? a. No, but all components (including power supply and cooling) must fit in the form factor. 23. Is there a requirement for any user interface or for a display output at the ground computational node? a. User interface will not be evaluated in the demonstration. However, the Government will need to be able to monitor the training scenario progress during the demonstration. 24. Is the selected contractor expected to provide the computational equipment for the training pod form factor or will this be provided by the government as the expected or fielded form factor equipment? a. No equipment will be furnished by the Government. 25. Is the technical solution required to demonstrate multiple models for currently fielded radar systems, countermeasures systems, simulator systems and radar warning receivers? Or only to demonstrate multiple instances of a single type of each system? a. Multiple models is desired since it is more representative of combat and large force exercises. 26. Is the weather data (cloud ceiling/winds/gusts) expected to be transmitted to the aircraft node? Yes. Or is it only transmitted between the ground node and multiple simulators and constructive entities? No. 27. Is the ground node expected to be located at multiple ground locations across ranges? Or co-located with a central processing center? a. Either would suffice and inform later decisions. 28. The RFS states The 5G-ATW data link (or similar) may be simulated with a network cable connecting the physical layers. Does this mean an actual 5G- ATW data link waveform is not required to demonstrate the prototype? Yes. Or does this mean only the radio data link can be simulated with a network cable and actual 5G-ATW data link waveform and data packets must be transmitted between the prototype nodes? No. If so, how do we obtain a 5G- 3

4 ATW waveform and data packet format for development and testing? Simulate? a. If 5G-ATW were proposed, the vendor would need to simulate. 29. Can we get a complete list of variables, entity states, and events intended to be passed over the datalink? a. Events are listed in section 3.0. After considering this question, two additional parameters were added: IFF and IR sensor status and tracks 30. Establishes models and simulation at the ground node and aircraft node in order to reduce the data volume on a connecting datalink - what does Establish mean? Instantiate in a format consumable by multiple, unique weapon system OFPs? a. To clarify, we are not demonstrating the ability to interface with an OFP. The demonstration should focus on distributed processing architecture of ground and air data that is capable of being passed via a datalink. However, an architecture that can easily interface with multiple, unique, OFPs will reduce integration risk in the future. 31. What government organization is requesting development of a dlvc Prototype? a. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Simulators Division (AFLCMC/WNS) 32. Which government organization is the OPR for the dlvc Prototype? Who has primary mission need and responsibility for this prototype? a. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Simulators Division (AFLCMC/WNS) is OPR to meet a broad operational training infrastructure need across all Mobility and Combat Air Force systems 33. Which government organization will be the primary Point of Contact and liaison during the prototype development process? a. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Simulators Division (AFLCMC/WNS) 34. Is the dlvc Prototype supported by an approved Initial Capabilities Document (Joint or Service? or is it codified in a Joint Concept Implementation Plan? a. dlvc supports requirements in the Integrating Architecture for Air & Space Live, Virtual, and Constructive Environments (IA-ASLVCE) and Live Mission Operations Capability (LMOC) ICDs 35. Is the material solution for the cross data solution for four multiple, independent levels of security available? Or is the task in the prototype development to interface with or accommodate an existing cross data solution? a. There are COTS, NSA-accredited CDSs available publicly. An accredited solution is desired, however the Government will entertain non-accredited solutions provided a path to NSA accreditation can be shown. 4

5 36. Will encryption devices and COMSEC accounts be provided by the government? a. The Government will not furnish any equipment. For clarity, no actual COMSEC will be used in the demonstration, just a demonstration of encryption. We are interested in ideas from vendors who may not yet have all the appropriate security clearances to expand the potential offerors. 37. Can work on this project be performed at a Contractor owned facility if the facility meets the security requirements? a. Yes. For clarity, no classified information will be used in the demonstration. We are interested in ideas from vendors who may not yet have all the appropriate security clearances to expand the potential offerors. 38. Will the 5thGen Advanced Training Waveform (5G-ATW) ICD be made available for level of effort calculations? a. 5G-ATW is not required for the demonstration, though it can be simulated. A preliminary system spec will be available through TReX upon award. 39. Is the contractor responsible for making changes to the 5G-ATW transmission protocol during testing or suggest changes the 5G-ATW based on the testing results? a. 5G-ATW is not required for the demonstration, however if the vendor chooses to use it, improvements are encouraged. 40. Will Compressed DIS protocol standards be made available to bidders for level of effort calculations? a. Compressed DIS (cdis) standards are in development for 5G-ATW. cdis is an architecture for 5G-ATW and, as such, is not a requirement for the demonstration. DIS standards are available through IEEE. 41. In 3.0 Technical Overview and Objectives what is the meaning of the reference signature as described in 3.2.C ii, iv and vii? a. How the entity can be detected across the electromagnetic spectrum 42. Will Simulated Tactical Data Link, specifically Link-16 for initial integration, be transmitted via cdis (IAW SISO-STD-002)? Or will the Simulated TDL, Link- 16, be transmitted using a Ground-based Link-16 Terminal? a. Combat datalinks such as L-16, MADL, or IFDL will not be broadcast on the training datalink and therefore are not required for the prototype. 43. What is the system composition (high level) of the Mobility Racks and Tactical Aircraft Pods? Is this Government Furnished Equipment (GFE)? a. No pods or racks will be supplied for the demonstration. The solution should fit inside the form factor of a P5 pod. 44. a. If the Tactical Aircraft Pods are GFE, will the pod specific power and interface hardware to the simulator environment such as the IRIG GPS timing interfaces be supplied as well? 5

6 a. Nod pod will be supplied. While timing information will be critical to synchronizing models, the method of synchronization (ie, IRIG, GPS, etc) is not specified. 45. b. There is a mention that, The live training systems will also be sending data about their performance, weapons, and status to the synthetic entities. Does this imply that these components, the Mobility Rack and/or Tactical Aircraft Pod, will be transmitting cdis PDUs (i.e. Entity State, Entity Electromagnetic, Transmitter, etc.)? a. Live aircraft will send the information in 3.2.a, however the information is not required to be transmitted via cdis PDUs. 46. c. DIS typically transmits Entity State PDUs at intervals that requires dead reckoning on the receiving systems. With this in mind, will the Mobility Rack or Tactical Aircraft Pod need to have an on-board system to perform dead reckoning? Or is the intent to have high-frequency interval to alleviate those needs? a. This is the heart of the demonstration. How do we provide a quality, usable model through a limited data stream? 47. There are references to environmental models (i.e. Clouds) on both Live and Simulator Objectives. Is there an expectation to have Simulated Weather affect Live Entities? Yes. Also, is there an expectation to have Live Weather affect Simulated Entities? Yes. 48. What component(s) of the system is responsible for modeling munitions fired from Live Weapons Systems? (Assumption: Live Entities are not shooting live munitions in dlvc Environment) a. Either, but vendors should consider both shooter and target dynamics. Live entities will not shoot live munitions for the demonstration. 49. Is there any expectation to virtually relocate Live Weapon Systems? No. For example, Fighters flying in range in Montana, but simulated targets, terrain, (and potentially weather) for another country? 50. For the prototype phase, are there pre-selected platforms that should be used/focused for prototype support? (i.e. particular threat aircraft, missiles, etc. and specific friendly counter systems) a. No. Any (preferably all) USAF mobility, fighter, or strike aircraft that can execute the missions in 3.1. will work. Any modern air, ground, and surface threats will meet the intent. 51. Our understanding is that 5G-ATW supports only ~1Mbps. Do we assume correctly that for the high data bandwidth (Section 3.3.d.ii) and dynamic bandwidth (Section 3.3.d.iii) scenarios we should demonstrate with a datalink that is similar to 5G-ATW, but not with 5G-ATW, itself? a. Yes. Similar to, but with the data bandwidth specified in Section 3.3.d.iii. 52. Section 4.2 (Phase 2 description) states that a training pod form factor stimulated by live aircraft emulation is to be used for the simulation; can this 6

7 hardware be emulated using another means (simulation of the waveform/hardware) and not a training pod form factor? a. The pod form factor will not be the stimulation. The prototype must fit in a pod form factor and will be stimulated by an aircraft emulation. 53. Who will be providing the desktop flight simulators that will be simulating constructive entities and computer generated forces, GFE or CFE? CFE. 54. What are the emulation tools that will be provided if the above will be GFE? N/A. 55. Are there any security considerations that need to be designed into the architecture/scenario? a. For the demonstration, no classified data will be used, however the objectives in 3.3 e & g should be demonstrated. 56. Section 4.3 states that training pod node and ground node will be delivered to the government at the conclusion of this demonstration; is this a negotiable item if proprietary hardware/software is used for the demonstration? a. Section 4.3 states the Government s desire, but a proprietary solution is negotiable (see section 5.3). 57. Can you provide a ROM value to help us size our 1/3 cost share to meet the OTA requirement? a. No. The solutions provided from vendors will help us to formulate this in follow on efforts. 58. Given the USG will be providing responses to questions from interested parties, and those responses may impact the solution for a given contractor, will the USG provide for an extension to proposal and price submittal in order to to allow review and incorporation of Govt responses to Questions a. Yes, the deadline has been extended to 29 June. 59. Will training applications (e.g., constructive weapons, threats, and targets) be provided as GFE? No. 60. Does the USG intend to demonstrate this capability with high fidelity models (ideally GFI), or are functionally representative models sufficient to demonstrate the dlvc architecture? a. Functionally representative models will be sufficient 61. What % of each of the scenarios provided in the RFS are % Live / % Virtual / % Const. a. Each scenario will be a mix of live, virtual, and constructive entities with the ability to integrate any percentage of the various entities. I.E. One scenario may have 4 live blue air plus 4 virtual blue air, plus 8 constructive blue air, against 31 constructive red air and one virtual red air while another could have an 8-ship strike package, all live, with all constructive threats and no virtual players. The prototype should be able to handle any mix. 62. When will the USG provide the cdis specification 7

8 a. Compressed DIS (cdis) standards are in development for 5G-ATW. cdis is an architecture for 5G-ATW and, as such, is not a requirement for the demonstration. DIS standards are available through IEEE. 63. Will the USG provide a cdis implementation? a. No. Compressed DIS (cdis) standards are in development for 5G-ATW. cdis is an architecture for 5G-ATW and, as such, is not a requirement for the demonstration. DIS standards are available through IEEE. 64. Is there one or more fixed scenarios and one or more performance metrics that will be used to evaluate the value of each proposed architecture? If so, can it be provided? a. The scenarios in 3.1 will be evaluated. The Government will focus on the ability to transmit the information in 3.2 and meet the capabilities of Will the performance of the dlvc architecture be evaluated with consideration for asymmetrical access to information driven by the multiple independent levels of security? a. Yes. 66. Will the characterization or mathematical model of the 5GATW radio network be available at contract award a. The Government is not requiring the use of 5G-ATW and vendors are free to use any waveform they feel would meet the requirements. A preliminary system spec is available through TReX and will be provided to the awardee. 67. Are the entities listed in above the maximum number of entities expected? a. No. These could be considered the maximum aircraft involved in the primary mission. However, on any given mission, there will also be additional ground entities, threats, targets, and potentially other aircraft (ie, the DCA mission in 3.1.c. would likely have high value aircraft and/or ground components being protected) 68. Will the Government provide the desktop simulators and automated Computer Generated Forces as GFE? No. 69. Will the government provide a Compressed Distributed Interactive Simulation (C-DIS) simulator for the prototype demonstration? a. No. Compressed DIS (cdis) standards are in development for 5G-ATW. cdis is an architecture for 5G-ATW and, as such, is not a requirement for the demonstration. DIS standards are available through IEEE. 70. Can we have access to the full cdis specification? a. No. Compressed DIS (cdis) standards are in development for 5G-ATW. cdis is an architecture for 5G-ATW and, as such, is not a requirement for the demonstration. DIS standards are available through IEEE. 71. Section 3.3.c of the RFS mentions an aircraft node with P5 pod form and later in describing the demonstration, it mentions, The live systems will be represented by a training pod form factor stimulated by a live aircraft 8

9 emulation. could you give more details on what you mean by that? For example: 72. a. Would you like us to use an existing, unmodified P5 pod? No. 73. b. Would it be acceptable to use the P5 housing with new components inside? It would be acceptable, but Government will not provide a pod and, as such, this option is not expected. 74. c. Is it necessary for the P5 housing to be part of the demonstration or would it be acceptable to demonstrate the architecture with hardware that could operate within the space, power, and cooling constraints (but without the P5 housing actually being present)? a. Yes, and this is the expected approach. Note that if additional power/cooling is needed from the standard P5 pod, it could be added or could replace P5 components. 75. In Section 3.1, where the RFS describes the Air mobility and combat scenarios, it appears that the highest entity count is for the Offensive Counter Air scenario, which has a total of 96 live and synthetic entities. Previously, in Section 2 it mentioned that during a training exercise, ~100 live training systems and 1000 total entities might be involved. Would a solution that meets your latency requirements for the scenarios in section 3.1 be a success for you? Or are you looking for a demonstration that works for 100 live and 1000 total entities? a. The Government is looking for a demonstration that works for roughly 100 live and 1000 total entities, to include those in the scenarios of 3.1. These could be considered the maximum aircraft involved in the primary mission. However, on any given mission, there will also be additional ground entities, threats, targets, and potentially other aircraft (ie, the DCA mission in 3.1.c. would likely have high value aircraft and/or ground components being protected) 76. Data generation: Which sensors are you looking to be modeled (and for what platforms) by the live aircraft emulation and displayed in the virtual visual system depiction? a. To clarify: The virtual vision system referenced in 3.2.b.viii. would be the indications shown to the simulator aircrew based on the data sent over the link (i.e. whether targets can be detected, tracked, targeted, etc, display of environmental conditions, location of targets, etc). If depicting a cockpit view, the cockpit should display indications on all of the sensors indicated in 3.2 and could be of any appropriate USAF aircraft, though more than one aircraft may be required since no aircraft performs all of the missions. 77. Data generation: Would a low fidelity model that generates representative data volume be sufficient? Yes. 78. Can we have access to the 5G-ATW specification? 9

10 a. 5G-ATW is not required for the demonstration, though it can be simulated. A preliminary system spec is available through TReX and will be provided to the awardee. 79. Would a solution that uses 5G-ATW as the data link be preferable to one that used a similar data link? No. 80. Is it a requirement to demonstrate how the platform node would tap into the mission busses on the platform? No. 81. Given the breadth and diversity of topic areas, can an organization submit more than one submission to the request for solutions? a. Respondents to the Request for Solutions should submit only a single response which provides an all-encompassing solution. 82. The NAICS code posted with the FBO notice for the Distributed LVC Prototype Project (Solicitation Number: TREX-18-dLVC) is Other Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing. That NAICS code has a size standard of 1,000 employees. Under section 5.6 (Nontraditional business status) of the RFS below, do we use that NAICS code for the SB determination or is there a different NAICs used for TReX efforts? a. NAICS code utilized on FBO was purely for dissemination purposes and has no bearing on nontraditional business status. NAICS code should be ignored for responses purposes. 10