692M15-19-R-00020 White Paper Call 001.pdf

Solicitation: 692M15-19-R-00020 Call 001

692M15-19-R-00020

WHITE PAPER CALL 001

DEVELOPMENT OF NON-SYSTEM SPECIFIC TECHNOLOGY TO

INTEGRATE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (UAS) INTO THE

NATIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM (NAS)

Date June 3, 2019

This call for White Papers (WP) is being issued under Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

692M15-19-R-00020, which was published on faaco.faa.gov on June 3, 2019. Respondents must refer to the solicitation document entitled 692M15-19-R-00020 and must read it in conjunction with this call for WP’s. All instructions set forth in solicitation 692M15-19-R-00020 apply to this call.

The Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Office is issuing this call for WP’s for all

Topics identified in this document. To be eligible for consideration and potential contract award, the applicant must be a Qualified Commercial Entity (QCE) seeking to demonstrate or validate technologies that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) considers essential to the safe integration of UAS in the National Airspace Systems (NAS) at FAA designated UAS test sites.

Since 2013, the UAS Test Sites have supported the FAA with unmanned aircraft systems integration by providing an avenue for the UAS industry and stakeholder community to conduct more advanced research and operational concept validation. The seven UAS Test Sites1 are as follows:

University of Alaska Fairbanks (AK)

North Dakota Department of Commerce (ND)

New Mexico State University (NM)

State of Nevada (NV)

Griffiss International Airport (NY)

Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi (TX)

Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (VA)

The FAA’s UAS Program and Data Management Branch (AUS-410) is responsible for coordinating and managing special UAS projects, DroneZone, and the UAS Support Center. As a function of special projects, AUS-410 also manages the UAS Test Sites Pilot Project.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019 (Pub. L. 116-6) appropriated $6 million in matching funds for a qualified commercial entity to demonstrate or validate technologies the

FAA considers essential to the safe integration of UAS in the NAS at FAA designated UAS Test

Sites. The appropriation language states:

1 49 USC Section 44803 refers to UAS Test Ranges. The UAS Test Sites are those Test Ranges.

“…Provided further, That of the amount appropriated under this heading, up to

$6,000,000 shall be used for providing matching funds to qualified commercial entities seeking to demonstrate or validate technologies that the Federal Aviation Administration considers essential to the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the

National Airspace System at Federal Aviation Administration designated UAS test sites:

Provided further, That not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the

Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall identify essential integration technologies that could be demonstrated or validated at test sites designated in accordance with the preceding proviso.”

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

This Call is for the development of non-specific systems of a Technical Readiness Level

(TRL) between 5 and 7.

Topics:

o UAS1901 Develop and enforce geographic and altitude limitations;

o UAS1902 Provide for alerts by the manufacturer of an unmanned aircraft system regarding any hazards or limitations on flight, including prohibition on flight as necessary;

o UAS1903 Detect and Avoid capability;

o UAS1904 Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight Operations;

o UAS1905 Operations over people;

o UAS1906 Operation of Multiple Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems;

o UAS1907 Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM);

o UAS1908 Other critical priorities (Counter UAS is excluded in Call #1); and, o UAS1909 Improve Privacy Protections Through the Use of Advances in

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technology.

The Applicant must submit a Letter of Attestation, signed by a representative from one of the seven UAS Test Sites who has the authority to represent the test site in this specific capacity, confirming that there is a formal working relationship between them and the test site.

The Applicant must submit a completed TRL Calculation (Excel file) demonstrating their

TRL.

Any Applicant proposing testing at multiple UASTSs must submit a unique White Paper for each UASTS individually.

AWARD INFORMATION:

1. ANTICIPATED AWARD DATE: September 2019

2. FUNDING: Under this call, the Government intends to award seven or more contracts, but reserves the right to award fewer contracts than seven. The anticipated funding across all awarded contract for this call is a total of $6 million. Once the total obligation across all contracts awarded for this call reaches $6 million, no additional contract awards will be made. The Government reserves the right to retain all submitted white papers for future consideration. White papers must show the estimated cost of the effort. The estimated cost of the effort must include the offeror cost matching the Government funding on at least a dollar for dollar basis or greater. WPs must also describe the proposed working relationship between them and the UASTS and proposed level of involvement of the UASTS for purposes of this proposal.

NOTE: This funding profile is an estimate only and not a contractual obligation for funding.

All funding is subject to change due to Government discretion and availability. Potential respondents should be aware that due to unanticipated budget fluctuations, funding in any or all areas may change with little or no notice. Awards under this call are expected to range from $425,000.00 to $850,000.00; however, the Government reserves the right to award smaller or larger contracts or assistance instruments. The Government reserves the right to select all, part, or none of the WP’s received, subject to the availability of funds.

3. BAA TYPE: This is a call for WP’s only, and will be governed by the “two-step” process described in the General Information section of the 692M15-19-R-00020. Respondents that submit a WP without the Letter of Attestation, and TRL Calculation Excel file may not be considered or eligible for further consideration. Respondents that submit a proposal without first submitting a WP may not be eligible for award.

4. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: This Call submission should not exceed seven (7) pages in length (single sided, single-spaced, Times Roman 12-size font, with 1-inch margins). The seven (7)-page limitation does not include the Cover Page, Letter of Attestation, or the TRL

Calculation Excel file. Refer to baseline 692M15-19-R-00020 Section III for instructions on

WP preparation, submission, and evaluation.

a. File Names Format:

i. For each White Paper, an Applicant must create an Applicant identifier with

8 characters: CCCCCC-TT

1. CCCCCC - 6 alpha/numeric characters for the commercial entity name

2. TT – State abbreviation of the UASTS

ii. All White Papers and attachments must be submitted using the correct file naming convention.

1. White Paper Format: File name: CCCCCC-TT_WP_yyyymmdd

a. yyyy - year; mm - month; dd – day; where yyyymmdd is date of email submission

2. Letter of Attestation Format: CCCCCC-TT_LOA

3. TRL Calculation Excel File Format: CCCCCC-TT_ TRL

5. QUESTIONS DUE DATE AND TIME: Technical questions must be received no later than

June 7, 2019, 3:00 pm EST and must be submitted via email to Stephen.Jenniss@faa.gov and the Acquisition Management Team (AMT) Mailbox, as listed below. Questions received after this time and date may not be considered. Questions and answers will be posted to

FAACO.

6. WHITE PAPER DUE DATE AND TIME: WP’s are due no later than June 28, 2019, 3:00 pm EST via email to Stephen.Jenniss@faa.gov and AMT Mailbox, as listed below.

7. BAA Points of Contact:

a. Contract Officer (CO): Stephen Jenniss. Stephen.Jenniss@faa.gov

b. Technical Point of Contact (TPOC): John Reinhardt. 9-AFN-UAS-

BAA@faa.gov

AMT: 9-AFN-UAS-BAA@faa.gov