BAA 692M15-19-R-00020_Call 003 Questions and Answers.pdf

Questions and Answers BAA Solicitation: 692M15-19-R-00020-0002

Call 0003

1) How much was awarded under this BAA in prior rounds to those who have been given contracts?

Contract 697DCK-21-C-00235- General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

Contract 697DCK-21-C-00241- Raytheon Company Contract 697DCK-21-C-00233– Appereo Systems, LLC Contract 697DCK-21-C-00174- Scientific Applications & Research Contract 697DCK-21-C-00247- THALES USA, Inc.

Contract 692M15-20-C-00001-Vigilant Aerospace Systems Inc, of Oklahoma City, OK Contract 692M15-20-C-00002-UtopiaCompressions Corporation, of Los Angeles, CA Contract 692M15-20-C-00003 – Switch LTD, of Las Vegas, NV Contract 692M15-20-C-00004-Calhoun Analytics, of Beavercreek Township, OH Contract 692M15-20-C-00005 -Bell Textron, Inc of Ft Worth, TX Contract 692M15-20-C-00006-Scientific Applications & Research (SARA), of Cypress, CA Contract 692M15-20-C-00019-Scientific Applications & Research (SARA), of Cypress, CA

Answer: The award amounts for the previous BAA Call 1 and Call 2 awards can be found on the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS-NG) website at www.fpds.gov.

2) How many companies submitted white papers during Calls 1 and 2?

Answer: For Call 001, 58 companies applied. For Call 002, 41 companies applied.

3) How many white papers were received per Topic Category (001-007) under BAA Calls 1 and 2?

Answer: For Call 001 (some whitepapers included more than one topic):

i."UAS1901 Geo-Alt Limits" = 5 ii."UAS1902 Hazards Alert" = 2 iii."UAS1903 DAA" = 21 iv."UAS1904 BVLOS" = 27 v."UAS1905 OOP" = 4 vi."UAS1906 Multiple sUAS" = 2 vii."UAS1907 UTM" =14 viii."UAS1908 Other" = 9 ix."UAS1909 Privacy" =1

For Call 002 (some whitepapers included more than one topic):

x.“UAS001 Detect and Avoid Capability (DAA)” = 10 xi.“UAS002 Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight Operations (BVLOS)” = 11 xii.“UAS003 Operation of Multiple Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) = 1 xiii.“UAS004 Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management” = 17 xiv.“UAS005 Improvement of Privacy Protections Through the Use of Advances in

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technology” = 2 http://www.fpds.gov/ xv.“UAS006 Command & Control (C2)” = 3 xvi.“UAS007 Other Critical Priorities” = 9

4) Has FAA prioritized any specific topic area in the past calls? For example, was there a higher-ranking priority area for Call 3?

Answer: No, all of the listed topics are essential for the integration of UAS into the National Airspace System. All topics were of equal value and there was no scale against which they were measured except for having a complete response to the requirements contained in the BAA and the Call.

5) Are some topic areas already further developed with active contracts and research? Are any areas lagging behind and in need of more work?

Answer: The essential topics in the BAA and Call 003 were selected after reviewing the current state of knowledge and ongoing FAA efforts.

6) Does the FAA expect equal funding across all 7 topic areas?

Answer: No

7) Are any White Papers from past awardees publically available? If so, where?

Answer: No, previous whitepapers are not publically available because they were labeled “Proprietary and Confidential.” Many white papers and proposals included competition sensitive information.

8) Of the FAA’s partner institutions and universities, are they coupled with specific Topic

Areas? Should white papers from industry stakeholders propose which institutions to work with, or will FAA play matchmaker in these situations?

Answer: Qualified commercial entities must partner with one of the seven FAA designated UAS Test Sites (per Congressional language.) As some UASTS include institutions and universities, they would address those topic areas selected by the qualified commercial entity. FAA encourages QCEs to contact the UASTS directly. The UAS Test Site POCs can be found at https://www.faa.gov/uas/programs_partnerships/test_sites/locations/

9) What is the expected range of monetary amounts that could be awarded to these grants?

Answer: There is no expected range of monetary amounts. The amount requested should be determined (zero-based budgeting) based on the actual work needed to complete the proposed TRL 5-7 prototype demonstrations/verification.

10) Given that awards are not projected until late 2022, is there an ability to extend the submittal date? Four weeks is too short of a time period for larger companies with government contractor rules for approvals. Time periods shorter than 8 weeks will reduce your participation.

https://www.faa.gov/uas/programs_partnerships/test_sites/locations/

Answer: No, the white paper due date will not be extended.

11) Can you please confirm whether we can have a compliant white paper response without a

ROM and ROM details?

a. The notion of a two-step process seems to indicate that with further discussion, we could provide refined pricing, yet there is language stating that submittals without a ROM are not compliant and will not be considered.

Answer: The whitepaper and ROM are used by the Commercial Entities (CE) to provide us with an idea (high level) on what UAS technology they would like to demonstrate or validate and associated cost (ROM); we need the ROM to make sure that we don’t exceed our committed funds when we select the projects. Then, we give the selected CEs another 45 calendar days to provide us with the full proposals. If we extend the whitepaper’s due date, we may not be able to meet our schedule.

12) Would it be possible to get an extension, so that we can submit the white paper by Nov

5th?

Answer: No, the white paper due date will not be extended.

13) Can a company submit more than one white paper?

Answer: Yes. Each white paper must stand-alone and meet all requirements individually.