REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Airborne Remote Sensing Services for Strategic Intelligence and Reconnaissance

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Airborne Remote Sensing Services 2021 ONWARDS (RFP ASIR 2021+)

Deadline for Submissions close 13:00 Australian Eastern Standard Time (1:00pm) on Wednesday 14 April 2021, unless closed earlier.

The National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) invites proposals for the provision of Airborne Strategic Intelligence and Reconnaissance (ASIR) services. Successful proposers will be experienced, highly motivated, highly capable providers who will enter into contracts to provide specialised remote sensing services commencing in 2021 (for the 2021-2022 fire season and onwards).

The services sought are generally airborne remote-sensing services, or the acquisition and provision of geo-located, geo-rectified imagery using electro-optical (EO) sensors mounted aboard fixed wing aircraft.

The services are required principally to support the management of bushfires in Australia and are also likely be used in the management of other emergencies and for other remote sensing tasks such as environmental monitoring.

Key service requirements include:

  • rapid acquisition of high-quality synoptic information over broad areas, at short notice
  • the ability, in one mission, to be able to conduct image acquisition at a number of locations that may be hundreds of kilometres apart
  • the ability to deliver, to emergency managers, high-fidelity information products in near-real-time, from any operating area in Australia.

In broad terms, this RFP:

  • Invites proposals for the supply of services that are immediately available during the Australian southern bushfire season (approximately September to April) in each year of a Contract Period of up to five years.
  • Invites proposals for the supply of services that are immediately available in Western Australia for a longer period (approximately August to May) in each year of the Contract Period.
  • Explores the possibility of some level of services being available in Australia for an extended period, or even year-round, in each year of the Contract.
  • Explores the possibility of supplying some products through image acquisition using non-conventional platforms.
  • The services sought by this RFP are intended to complement other existing capabilities that gather intelligence at a more tactical level.

Note: Proposals cannot be accepted after the closing time.

RFP DOCUMENTS

This RFP comprises several documents:

  • Request for Proposals : Airborne Remote Sensing Services for Strategic Intelligence and Reconnaissance document : 2021 onwards, including:
    • Part A: Introduction and Background
    • Part B: The RFP Process
    • Part C: Service Requirements and the Table of Services
    • Part D: RFP Response
    • Appendix 1: How to use TenderLink for this RFP
    • Appendix 2: How to use ARENA for this RFP
  • AFAC Specimen Contract (v2021.01.01), including Schedules. Proposers should note that this is not the Specimen Contract version applicable to Call When Needed processes
  • All relevant NAFC Standards and Guidance Notes (available on nafc.org.au, information > standards).
  • Several template documents (Response Forms) are provided for proposers to download from NAFC’s Electronic Tender Portal (TenderLink), complete, and submit as part of their proposal. These response forms include several forms based on specific aerial firefighting scenarios, as well as Pricing Forms.

The Response Forms are:

  • Section 1 Organisation Information
  • Section 2 Declarations
  • Section 3 Proposal Summary
  • Section 4 Organisation
  • Section 5 Management Systems
  • Section 6 Infrastructure & Maintenance
  • Section 7 Remote Sensing Systems and Products
  • (Note there is no Section 8 response form. This section relates to Aircraft information that needs to be provided in ARENA)
  • Section 9 Aircraft or Platform
  • Section 10 Provision of Services
  • Section 11a Pricing Response Form
  • Section 11b Pricing Summary
  • Section 12 Contract & Other Compliance
  • Section 13 Certifications

DOWNLOADS
All files above are available in the following zip package:

RESPONDING TO THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Please carefully read the entire RFP document before preparing your proposal. When responding to questions in the RFP please ensure your response addresses the question asked.

TenderLink
Proposals must be submitted electronically using TenderLink. Proposers will need to be registered in the TenderLink in order to submit a tender.

To access TenderLink go here: http://portal.tenderlink.com/nafc and select the ‘RFP LAT 2021+’ proposal.

Appendix 3: How to Use TenderLink section of the RFP document steps users through the TenderLink registration and submission process. The submission process includes downloading a number of response forms from the portal, completing them and uploading these documents back to the tender portal.

Proposers will require access to recent versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, running under Microsoft Windows to complete the response forms.

ENQUIRIES
Further enquiries regarding the content of the Request for Proposal and the Specimen Contract should be directed to NAFC via email to tenders@nafc.org.au.

For probity and fairness reasons NAFC is not able to deal with telephone enquiries regarding this proposal.