General Service Respirator

Trade Agreement: NONE Tendering Procedures: All interested suppliers may submit a bid Attachment: None Competitive Procurement Strategy: N/A - P&A/LOI Only Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No Nature of Requirements: General Service Respirator

W8486-134968/A Anderson, Karen Telephone No. - (819) 956-5496 Fax No. - (819) 956-3814

Department of National Defence (DND) Joint Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear General Service Respirator (J CBRN GSR) Project

1. Introduction 1.1 The Joint CBRN GSR project has a requirement for a new CBRN respirator to replace the current supply of C4 CBRN gas masks and C7A canisters now in service with the Canadian Forces (CF).

1.2 The project objective is to procure sufficient respirators to equip Air, Land, and Maritime Forces, including specialist units, in order to support Standing and Mission Specific Task Forces; Immediate Reaction Units; and High Readiness Units.

1.3 Approximately 80,000 systems will be required. Each system will consist of the respirator, including its filter system (e.g. canister(s)), the carrying bag and any accessories required per an OEM's design, and any test equipment adaptors as required. The project will examine concepts such as the provision of a common respirator for specialist joint forces and a specialized respirator system or adaptors for aircrew and other specialized forces.

2. Purpose 2.1 The purpose of this request for Letter of Interest (LOI) is to:

a. Determine whether potential suppliers would be interested in responding to a request for proposal in the future; b. Provide industry an expectation of high level requirements for the J CBRN GSR project;

c. Advise industry that the current project web site has been updated. This site is one of the means of communication between Canada and industry during the primary phases of the project. The J CBRN GSR public web site url is: http://www.materiel.forces.gc.ca/en/gsr.page? d. Advise Industry that although the project is currently in the definition phase DND is choosing to procure Military Off-the-Shelf (MOTS) or Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) respirators; e. Advise Industry of the estimated delivery schedule ; f. Advise industry that the most recent draft copies of the J CBRN GSR System Requirements Specification (SRS) will be provided on request to the Contracting Authority; g. Advise industry that, in the event that a Price and Availability (P&A) is issued, they will be requested to provide feedback or comments on the specific requirements in the P&A draft J CBRN GSR SRS; h. Inform industry that certain attachments to the Request For Proposal that may be released on MERX, such as the client library of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Warfare Agents, will identify classified performance and technical requirements based on threat agents or references to NATO and Canadian classified specifications. These attachments or referenced specifications will be classified up to and including the SECRET level. Companies wishing to receive these documents will be required to obtain and hold a valid Facilities Security Clearance (FSC) and a valid Document Safeguarding Capability (DSC) issued by the Industrial Security Division (ISD) of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) or by a National security authority recognized by Canada, at the SECRET level; and i. Advise industry that they are required to comply with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Controlled Technology Access Transfer (CTAT), and/or in-country equivalent, and required Technical Assistance Agreement (TAA) approvals must be obtained at the earliest possible date to facilitate participation in the J CBRN GSR Project.

NOTE: For item h above, potential suppliers will have to provide proof of compliance with the FSC and DSC requirements prior to receiving documentation which they will need to complete an official bid submission if/when an RFP is issue.

3. Joint CBRN GSR Requirements 3.1 The Joint CBRN GSR requirements for the system to be procured by the Joint CBRN GSR project are to address the capabilities deficiencies identified for the current supply. Some requirement details can be found in the draft SRS.

4. Invitation to Suppliers 4.1 Potential CBRN GSR suppliers are invited to submit their response to the Letter of Interest to the Contracting Authority listed on MERX. Please include the following in your LOI:

a. A brief company profile including a description of the corporation's capability and experience as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) outlining recent deliveries to national or allied forces along with detailed information on any proposed sub-contractors;

b. A brief, clear statement regarding corporate representation in Canada including the name, address, telephone number, etc. of the corporation's principal contact;

c. A brief profile of the corporation's capability and experience as an In-Service Support (ISS) provider as appropriate, stating where and how the experience was obtained;

d. The name, telephone and email address of the corporation's principal point of contact; and

e. Specific information on the corporation's ISS concept for the equipment that would be supplied and the expected service life and shelf life of their product.

5. Schedule 5.1 The following is a summary of the project delivery schedule:

Activity Planned Date First Equipment Deliveries Jul 2015 Final Equipment Deliveries Aug 2015

6. Government of Canada Responsibility 6.1 As the project is in the definition phase, the Government of Canada shall not be bound by anything stated in this request for LOIs or any other document provided with the request or documents provided by the Government of Canada following corporations' requests for such documents. Government of Canada reserves the right to change, at any time, all or part of the project requirements as it considers necessary, as the project progresses.

7. Request For Responses 7.1 Companies are requested to respond to this request for LOIs not later than the date indicated on MERX.

7.2 Formal responses to this Letter of Interest and all inquiries during the posting period should be directed to the Contracting Authority.

Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.