U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Chemical Biological Center (CBC), Rock Island, IL, on behalf of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy via its Manufacturing Resiliency and Assurance Office, and Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program (10 U.S.C. § 2508), in conjunction with Army Contracting Command - Rock Island (ACC-RI), manages the Cornerstone Other Transaction Agreement (OTA), in accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 2371b. Cornerstone was created to "Assess and Strengthen the Manufacturing Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States."

ACC-RI, on behalf of CCDC CBC and Project Manager Maneuver Ammunition Systems at Picatinny Arsenal, intends to issue a competitive Cornerstone Initiative Request (CIR) for the development of a prototype process for the energetic plasticizer bis-2,2-dinitropropyl-acetal/formal (BDNPA/F), on or after 9 September 2019, with an estimated closing date of 30 calendar days after issuance.  The CIR for BDNPA/F is restricted to Cornerstone consortium members.

The objective of this effort is to develop a prototype manufacturing process to produce BDNPA/F in order to support the use of enhance high explosives (HE) formulations such as Picatinny Arsenal Explosives (PAX)-3, PAX-30 and PAX-42. Projected annual demand for BDNPA/F in 2020 and beyond is approximately 10,000 pounds per year. Low maturity prototype flow processes have been previously demonstrated using a series of continuous flow reactors; however, the discrete unit operations require optimization and improved efficiencies in order to meet the projected annual demand.

Period of performance is estimated to be 36 months.  If the prototype is successful, it is possible to award a follow-on production contract.

The CIR for BDNPA/F will be communicated to the Cornerstone consortium and companies with pending applications via email.  Entities are required to have begun the Cornerstone consortium membership process to receive the CIR and for their submitted proposal to be reviewed for consideration. Entities must be members of the Cornerstone consortium, with a signed Cornerstone Consortium Management Agreement, to be awarded this OTA task. Contractors may initiate a Cornerstone membership and gain additional Cornerstone OTA information by visiting the Cornerstone website:
http://ibasp-public.ria.army.mil/cornerstone/

Interested parties should stay alert for any changes that may be published to this FBO posting. Please email all questions and responses to the following mailbox:
[email protected]

This Special Notice is for planning purposes only and does not constitute a CIR or an obligation on behalf of the U.S. Government. Issuance of this Special Notice is not a guarantee of a future CIR or an award and is not a commitment of any kind by the Government.