U.S. DOT has $7.5M to test & eval more CPNT – Request for quotations

by | Nov 30, 2024 | Blog

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What’s New: The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced it will finance another round of test and evaluation of complementary PNT technologies.

Why It’s Important: There are lots of technologies out there. U.S. DOT is responsible for civil PNT policy and must understand them at a fairly detailed level.

What Else to Know:

  • This is the second time this year DOT has done this kind of evaluation. In June it contracted with nine different providers.
  • Current administration policy (and by that we mean OMB policy) is to not acquire or contract for any systems for on-going use to address PNT-related operational or cyber threats. DOT and others are merely allowed to admire the problem.
  • The hope is that by better understanding available technologies, users will adopt them. Many users counter that:
    • “Why should we believe the government when they say we should do this if it hasn’t acted to protect itself?” and,
    • “We don’t want to contract for a service, buy equipment, and integrate things into our enterprise if it is not going to be around for the long term. We are going to wait and see what the government does for itself and will probably do the same because we know what the government gets will be sustained.”
  • All of which goes to reinforce the PNT Advisory Board’s finding that the federal governance structure for PNT is outmoded and ineffective. “No one is in charge.”

 

Complementary Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (CPNT) Services Rapid Phase II

Complementary PNT (CPNT) Technology Testing and Evaluation Rapid Phase II
I. Purpose:
This is a multiple award solicitation. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is planning to expand the number of Complementary Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (CPNT) technologies for test, evaluation, and performance monitoring of positioning, navigation, and/or timing (PNT)-dependent systems for critical infrastructure sectors. Taken together with efforts of other Federal partners through
the executive branch interagency process, this initiative will enhance the resilience of the Nation’s PNT dependent systems by  stimulating the implementation and adoption of technologically mature CPNT services to achieve safer, more secure critical infrastructure for the Nation.
The U.S. DOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) located in Cambridge, MA, is soliciting proposals from vendors with operationally ready CPNT services and who are interested in fielding those services for test and evaluation in the Rapid Phase of U.S. DOT’s CPNT Action Plan. This Request for Quotation (RFQ) is a solicitation for proposals that meet the high-level requirements listed in Sections II-VI. Proposals received by the RFQ submission deadline will be evaluated for selection and
subsequent award. The U.S. Government will not pay for any effort expended in responding to this solicitation.
The Volpe Center seeks proposals from industry to deploy very high Technical Readiness Level (TRL ≥ 8) PNT services at operational or operationally equivalent field ranges. Performance of proposed PNT functions should meet levels needed by one or more national critical infrastructure sectors as outlined in the Federal Radionavigation Plan (FRP). The primary objective of the Rapid Phase II execution is to evaluate the performance of deployed CPNT technology under nominal and adverse conditions and an expansion of the diversity of technologies currently being tested during the initial Rapid Phase. To achieve this goal, proposals from current vendors undergoing technology testing under the Initial Rapid Phase will only be considered if a different technology is proposed by the vendor and a partnership is identified for Rapid Phase II testing.