The Army request for proposals (RFP) for the Cerberus System, a suite of trailer mounted elevated sensors designed to provide persistent surveillance in a combat zone, is under way.
The work is a total small business set-aside. Interested firms must respond by Oct. 17, for the potential 12-month, single firm fixed-price contract award. The procurement also has three options, including buying more spares to support an additional year of maintenance for all systems procured under this contract. Additional spares procured shall be in a lot to support either 31 or 114 Cerberus systems. The period of performance for this option is up to 12 months from the execution of this option.
The Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) plans to buy 83 Cerberus systems modified to integrate with a government furnished “golden unit” Standard Ground Station (SGS) with initial provisioning spare parts and new equipment training.
The current Cerberus system, produced by FLIR Systems Inc. (FLIR), is comprised of integrated components that serve as a mobile surveillance system enabling commanders to monitor, assess, and act with an appropriate degree of force to defeat threat activity from a safe distance. It detects personnel out to 8 km and vehicles out to 14 km.
Cerberus provides 360 degree visual coverage with an electro-optic color daytime camera, an infrared black/white day or night camera, a laser range finder with pointing azimuth indicator for precisely locating targets of interest and can be towed by a Humvee.
The government wants to buy similar systems developed by industry for similar purposes. Under this acquisition, the successful offeror will be required to modify their existing system design for compatibility with a government furnished standard ground station in accordance with a government provided interface control document or leverage existing commercial interfaces, a list of which will be included with solicitation documentation. The delivered system is expected to operate integrated with SGS as the operator interface.
The RFP executive summary states the current Cerberus baseline consists of a trailer-mounted tower with multiple detection and assessment sensors and a monitoring station, self-contained on a single mobile platform. A laptop for the Command Post allows wireless remote monitoring and control of the tower. A Ground Surveillance Radar, Unattended Ground Sensors for detection, day camera, and thermal camera mounted on a pan/tilt platform are used for detection, recognition and identification of targets. The pan/tilt is cued by the ground surveillance radar and slews the cameras to the target or to operator designated targets.
It is envisioned that U.S. forces and coalition partners would use Cerberus systems as a force protection and/or intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) asset on a 24/7 basis to assist in preventing attack from air, ground, IEDs and Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIEDs).
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