Army posts wide area motion imagery RFI

On July 28, the U.S. Army posted a request for information for wide area motion imagery (WAMI)/ wide area aerial surveillance (was) payload for manned and unmanned platforms. Responses are due no later than 4:00 PM EST September 8.

The Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) Belvoir is conducting Market Research, on behalf of CERDEC-Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD), in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10, to determine the state-of-the-art in Wide Area Motion Imagery (WAMI) / Wide Area Aerial Surveillance (WAAS) systems, referred to simply as WAMI for the remainder of this document. In addition, this RFI requests respondents’ answer specific questions regarding their basic qualifications in developing or upgrading Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) and/or WAMI hardware and software.

Responses are requested of those sources that have the existing capability or plans to develop and deliver WAMI payloads with the characteristics meeting or exceeding those detailed below:

The WAMI system shall consist of multiple Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) including but not limited to an Imaging Sensor Unit (ISU) and Storage and Processing Unit (SPU). The ISU consists of a pointing and stabilization unit (e.g. stabilized turret) that houses the sensor optics, focal planes, and supporting electronics. Essentially everything required to operate the WAMI sensor except for data storage and processing. If the ISU requires an external electronics box the external box must be included in the ISU weight calculations. The SPU refers to the storage and processing computer as well as the processing/exploitation algorithms running on the hardware. The SPU will also host the ISU’s command, control and status SW. This RFI is separated into two portions. A vendor may optionally respond to one of the two sections or both sections. The first section requests information on the ISU; responses to this section are limited to 20 pages. The second section requests information on the SPU; responses to this section are limited to 15 pages. The responses to the SPU section should focus on unique processing techniques and algorithms provided by the vendor. A discussion on the target hardware for the PSU is encouraged but not required.
The WAMI system shall be a day/night persistent surveillance system that is capable of covering a large area of interest at moderate ground sampled distance (GSD) resolution. The WAMI system shall provide persistent airborne surveillance of an area centered at a geo-designated point while the host aircraft orbits that point. The system shall collect Electro-Optical (EO) and Infrared (IR) imagery and associated metadata. The system shall be capable of tracking and geo-locating targets of interest (vehicles and dismounts).

The WAMI system’s ISU shall provide gap-free ground coverage at a nominal altitude of 18,000 feet Above Ground Level (AGL) and a ground speed of 100 – 200 knots. Every point in the coverage circle shall be imaged once per frame. The WAMI system should include provisions for Non-Uniformity Correction (NUC) of both the EO and the IR imagery. Calibration sources shall be provided for the IR sensor. The WAMI system’s ISU shall include provisions for Forward Motion Compensation (FMC) and Image Rotation Compensation. Additionally, the ISU shall be capable of, at a minimum, the threshold requirements in Table 1. However, while achieving threshold requirements is the minimum, vendors are highly encouraged to explore the trade spaces between the threshold and objective requirements. The objective priority parameter can help guild the tradeoffs being considered.

Full information is available here.

Source: FedBizOpps