Standoff Chemical Detector for Vehicles

(RFI) DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center (CBC) Spectroscopy Branch This Request for Information (RFI) is issued in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(c)(7) for the purpose of conducting market research. This RFI is not a solicitation, request for proposal, or request for prototype proposals. No contract will be awarded from this announcement. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any costs incurred in preparing or submitting a response to this RFI. No telephone calls, or one‑on‑one meetings will be accepted or conducted as a result of this notice. All responses,

questions, and comments shall be submitted via email to: Benjamin Gilson (Contract Specialist) – [email protected] Elizabeth Nordell

Contracting Officer) – [email protected]

Responses are due no later than April 15, 2026 at 5:00 PM Eastern. All submissions shall be provided in Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, or PDF compatible format. Proprietary information must be clearly marked and segregated. 1.0 PURPOSE DEVCOM CBC is conducting market research to identify potential sources capable of providing optical standoff imaging technologies suitable for integration onto unmanned ground platforms to detect, map, and characterize chemical contamination on materiel surfaces. This RFI seeks to assess industry interest, capability, and technical maturity in support of DEVCOM CBC’s mission to remove the Warfighter from contaminated environments and accelerate post‑incident recovery operations. The Government intends to use the information received to refine

requirements, assess technology readiness, and inform future acquisition planning. This RFI does not commit the Government to any future procurement. 2.0 TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION DEVCOM CBC is seeking information on standoff imaging technologies that can be used to quickly scan vehicle surfaces to locate and identify chemical contamination to inform the decontamination process and post-decontamination verification prior to returning materiel to service. Partial solutions that only address the ability to rapidly scan vehicle surfaces to detect gross chemical contamination will be allowed, provided the technology is already TRL 7 or higher and commercially available. These solutions should not need additional S&T development, only platform integration and testing, which will be done by DEVCOM CBC. Proposed optical sensors, at a minimum, should possess the following characteristics: Ability to scan surfaces from a 2-5 m standoff distance Ability to integrate onto an unmanned ground platform (use of pan/tilt stages are acceptable). Integration onto a robotic arm is acceptable, provided system weighs under 45 lbs. Ability to scan vehicle surfaces at a rate of 5 m2 per minute Operable under a wide range of environmental, operationally relevant conditions (i.e., temperatures, relative humidity levels, dusty and windy conditions, low-light) On-board processing of imaging data for real-time detection of contamination Ability to export imaging information into external software for contamination mapping models. Ideally the system will have the ability to export segmentation maps to align with Image Segmentation pixel-by-pixel convolutional neural network mapping approach. Detect the presence of gross chemical contamination (threshold) to trace quantities of chemicals Detect surface contamination in a variety of presentations (droplets, thin films, deposited particles, etc.) Detect chemical contamination on a variety of surfaces, primarily chemical agent resistive coating (CARC), glass, and rubber Detects chemicals in the presence of aqueous-based decontamination solutions Be able to detect a variety of chemical agents, pharmaceutical based agents (synthetic opioids) and degradation products in liquid/solid forms. Lower TRL technologies may need additional science and technology development, but should address the

objective