LOW BACKGROUND INFRARED (LBIR) SERVICE CONTRACT Bridge

LBIR Service Contract August 6, 2021 Page A - 1 STATEMENT OF WORK LOW BACKGROUND INFRARED (LBIR) SERVICE CONTRACT 1. BACKGROUND Ground based Mid-Course Defense (GMD) and Aegis SM-3 interceptors systems use Kill Vehicle (KV) sensor-seekers to discriminate and intercept lethal objects launched via intermediate range and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Effective discrimination and targeting requires KV onboard sensors to accurately measure the radiometric characteristics of potential targets. To ensure accurate performance, KV sensors are characterized during production with Raytheon Missiles & Defense (RMD) Low-background Scanning Point Source (LSPS) test chambers. Also, KV mission scenario testing is performed by John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU-APL) Infrared Seeker Space Calibration and Test (ISSCAT) chambers, Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) test chambers, and Next Generation Intercept (NGI) test chamber. These laboratories use blackbodies and also infrared emitter arrays to test and evaluate the KVs. These sources provide the stimuli to the KV that simulates the infrared signatures of objects in the threat scene. The emitter arrays provide the KV with complex real-time scene generation. This enables the testing and evaluation of the KV guidance algorithms and the KV discrimination between reentry vehicle, debris, and countermeasures. To ensure that these test chambers provide consistently repeatable and accurate measurements, thus ensuring consistent KV sensor measurement results from year to year, periodic calibration using measurement/calibration standards is required. These calibration standards must be traceable to the System International (SI) units of radiometric power and wavelength as maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Air Force Metrology and Calibration (AFMETCAL) established the Low Background Infrared (LBIR) facility at the NIST, and serves as the Department of Defense (DOD) Missile Defense Agency (MDA) executing agent for the facility. The LBIR Facility located at the NIST Sensor Science Division in Gaithersburg, MD provides the infrared user community with a calibration base that includes both spectral and broadband measurements in a 20 K background environment. The spectral calibration capability is currently developed in three areas: spectral calibration of low-background infrared detectors, characterization of optical components, and three cryogenic transfer radiometers, Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) Transfer Radiometer (BXR), Missile Defense Transfer Radiometer (MDXR) and User Transfer Radiometer (UXR) used to evaluate highly collimated infrared sources (e.g. Test Chambers) such as those located at RMD, JHU-APL, AEDC and NGI. The broadband measurements are performed for the calibration of blackbodies in radiance mode. 2. TASKS 2.1. Scope of Work – The Contractor shall provide maintenance, research, engineering support, and service assistance utilizing Government furnished laboratory equipment and facility in the Sensor Science Division (SSD) at the Low Background Infrared (LBIR) Facility. This support entails assisting in building new hardware, participating in the development and deployments of optical and infrared sensors and sources, and operating such instrumentation to provide radiometric measurements at NIST and at various off-site facilities such as -- 1 of 6 -- LBIR Service Contract August 6, 2021 Page A - 2 Raytheon and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The Contractor shall provide all support for project oversight, administration, and technical execution of the tasks outlined in this section. Additionally, the contractor is responsible for maintaining accurate records of project activities for the purpose of reporting as described in section 6 of this SOW. 2.2. Provide support for the calibration, operation and maintenance of the Low Background Infrared (LBIR) Facility including the BXR, MDXR and UXR infrared transfer standard radiometers, the Broadband Calibration Chamber (BCC), the Spectral Calibration Chamber (SCC), the 10 Centimeter Chamber (10CC), the 30 Centimitter Chamber (30CC or Floyd) and ancillary refrigeration systems and hardware. Specific tasks include but are not limited to the following: 2.2.1. Conduct maintenance, improvement and operation of the existing calibration chambers and all associated equipment. 2.2.2. Refrigeration Systems – The refrigerators consist of 2 He compressors and two refrigerator cold boxes. There is one model RS and one model RSX compressor from Linde Inc. which shall be maintained as per the manual instructions. This includes but is not limited to evacuating and replacing the charcoal filters every 10,000 hours of operation and replacing the rotary scroll compressor every 100,000 hours of operation. During operation the compressors shall be periodically checked for operational failure and oil blow through. For start up and shut down the operator shall follow the documented standard operating procedures (which can be provided upon request). Close contact shall also be maintained with the NIST physical plant to make sure all support services, such as chilled water and electrical power, are functioning for the periods of time the compressors are running. There are two Model 1620 Cold Boxes from Linde Inc. which shall be maintained as per the manual instructions. This includes but is not limited to re-lubrication of all essential parts every 250 hours of operation, baking out of the charcoal filters every 3000 hours of operation, and rebuilding of the piston and valve systems every 3000 hours of operation. It also includes the periodic checking for He leaks to minimize the rate of He loss. For start up and shut down, the operator shall follow the documented standard operating procedures (which can be provided upon request.) 2.2.3. Chamber Systems – There are numerous cryogenic vacuum chambers (space simulation chamb…