Call for White Papers 005 Sep 21 2023.pdf

Solicitation: 692M15-19-R-00020-0004 Call 005

692M15-19-R-00020; Amendment 0004

WHITEPAPER CALL 005

DEVELOPMENT OF NON-SYSTEM SPECIFIC TECHNOLOGY TO

INTEGRATE UNCREWED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (UAS) INTO THE

NATIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM (NAS)

Date: September 21, 2023

I. BACKGROUND

This Call for Whitepapers (WP) is being issued under Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) #692M15-19-R-00020; Amendment 004 that was published on the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) website at https://sam.gov/opp/b4ad8d3812474faab6e518c73c564f10/view on September 21, 2023.

Offerors must review BAA #692M15-19-R-00020; Amendment 004 in its entirety, in conjunction with this request for WP when responding to this Call.

The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office (AUS) is issuing this Call for WP’s for the Interest Topics identified within BAA 692M15-19-R-00020; Amendment 004. To be eligible for consideration and potential contract award, the Offeror must meet the AUS requirements as stated in Section II of this Call for WP.

Since 2013, the UAS Test Sites (UASTS) have supported the FAA with UAS integration by providing an avenue for the UAS industry and stakeholder community to conduct advanced research and operational concept validation. There are seven designated UASTS1 listed 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)

II. AUS REQUIREMENTS

1. The Offeror is required to demonstrate or validate technologies that the FAA considers essential to the safe integration of UAS into the NAS at FAA designated UASTS.

2. This Call is for the demonstration or validation of UAS technology with a Technical Readiness Level (TRL) between 5 and 7.

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

3. Scope and Essential UAS Integration Interest Topics relevant to Call 005:

a. UAS001 - Detect and Avoid (DAA) Capability

b. UAS002 - Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight Operations (BVLOS)

c. UAS003 - Operation of Multiple Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS)

d. UAS004 - Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM)

e. UAS005 - Improvement of Privacy Protections Through the Use of Advances in

UAS Technology

f. UAS006 - Command & Control (C2)

g. UAS007 - Other Critical Priorities

III. WHITEPAPER SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

1. The Offeror must submit a Whitepaper associated with one or more of the Interest Topic areas listed above. This section provides instructions on submission requirements for the Whitepaper.

2. The Offeror must submit a Letter of Attestation (LOA), signed by a representative from one of the seven (7) UASTS who has the authority to represent the UASTS in this specific capacity, confirming that there is a formal working relationship between the Offeror and the UASTS.

3. The Offerer must submit a one-page TRL Determination Document, using the template provided, that describes the readiness level of their proposed technology prototype. The technology must be between a TRL of 5-7. TRL definitions can be found in the BAA Amendment 004-Section I, General Information, Paragraph 10.

4. Any Offeror proposing testing at multiple UASTS locations must submit a unique

Whitepaper for each UASTS individually.

5. The Offeror must provide a rough order of magnitude (ROM) for the federally funded award. For awareness, the FAA is providing notice that any resulting awards made from receipt of Whitepapers for Call 005 will be awarded on a firm fixed price basis.

NOTE: Offers that submit a WP without all the required documentation (e.g. LOA or TRL Determination) may be considered non-responsive and therefore not considered for further action.

6. WHITEPAPER FORMAT:

a. File Naming Format

i. For each Whitepaper, the Offeror must create an Offeror identifier with 8 characters: BAAC5 - CCCCCC-TT

1. BAAC5 – This code identifies BAA Call 005. Do not change.

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

3. TT – State abbreviation of the UASTS

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

1. Whitepaper Format: File name: BAAC5-CCCCCC- TT_WP_yyyymmdd

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

2. Letter of Attestation Format: BAAC5-CCCCCC-TT_LOA

3. TRL Determination Document File Format: BAAC5-CCCCCC-

TT_TRL

7. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: An Offerors Whitepaper must not exceed four (4) pages in length (single sided, single-spaced, Times Roman 12-size font, with 1-inch margins). The four (4)-page limitation does not include the Cover Page, LOA, the TRL Determination Document file, or the ROM pricing.

Offerors are advised to refer to baseline 692M15-19-R-00020-0004 Section III for instructions on WP preparation, submission, and review procedures.

IV. OTHER INFORMATION

Call 005 Awards are contingent upon Congressional Reauthorization of the UAS Test Sites operation beyond September 30, 2023.

1. ANTICIPATED AWARD DATE: On or before September 30, 2024

2. FUNDING: Funding is subject to change at Government discretion and availability.

Potential Offerors should be aware that due to unanticipated budget fluctuations, funding in any or all areas may change with little or no notice. The Government reserves the right to select all, part, or none of the WP’s received for a proposal, subject to the availability of funds.

3. BAA TYPE: This is a Call for WPs only, and will be governed by the “two-step” process described in the General Information section of BAA #692M15-19-R-0020; Amendment

004. Awards resulting from this two-step approach will be on a firm fixed price basis.

4. QUESTIONS DUE DATE AND TIME: Technical questions must be received no later than October 12, 2023, 3:00 pm EST and must be submitted via email to the Contracting Officer at Edward.J.Mitchell@faa.gov. Questions received after this time and date may not be considered. Questions and answers will be posted to SAM.gov.

5. WHITEPAPER DUE DATE AND TIME: WP’s are due no later than October 31, 2023, 3:00 pm EST via email to Edward.J.Mitchell@faa.gov.

6. FAA LEGAL DISCLAIMER:

mailto:Edward.J.Mitchell@faa.gov

Submissions in response to this project proposal must be strictly limited to Remote ID and other sources of FAAderived safety data. Remote ID is the capability of an unmanned aircraft or “drone” in flight to provide certain identification, location, and performance information that people on the ground and other airspace users can receive. See 86 Fed. Reg. 4390 at 4391 (Final Rule for Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft). Consistent with 14 C.F.R. § 89.110 and § 89.115, compliance with Remote ID requirements (when not operating in an FAA-recognized identification area or FRIA) may be achieved by operating a standard Remote ID aircraft (i.e. an unmanned aircraft manufactured to broadcast identification, location, and performance information for both the unmanned aircraft and the control station), or by equipping an unmanned aircraft with a Remote ID broadcast module (i.e. a module that broadcasts identification, location, and performance information about the unmanned aircraft and its takeoff location), subject to the conditions outlined in the rule.

This project proposal excludes any research, development, testing, operation, or data collection involving UAS detection or mitigation (also commonly referred to as “counter-UAS”) systems, capabilities, or technologies. UAS detection capabilities are technically distinguishable from Remote ID compliant capabilities. For example, radio frequency (RF) based capabilities designed for the detection of UAS do not rely upon the unmanned aircraft, or a module installed on the unmanned aircraft, for broadcasting specific information to receivers. Rather, RF-based UAS detection systems may function by exploiting the communications transmitted between an unmanned aircraft and its ground control station in order to gain information about the flight and its operator. RF-based UAS detection activities that record, decode, capture, intercept, or interfere with UAS could implicate conflicting provisions of federal law, including but not limited to, the Pen/Trap Statute and the Wiretap Act. In addition, UAS mitigation/counter-UAS capabilities could implicate federal law, including but not limited to the Aircraft Sabotage Act.

The FAA does not support the use of mitigation systems by any entities that do not have express authority from Congress. See, Advisory on the Application of Federal Laws to the Acquisition and Use of Technology to Detect and Mitigate Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Interagency Legal Advisory on UAS Detection and Mitigation Technologies (faa.gov).

UAS detection and/or mitigation capabilities are outside the scope of this project. Any proposals involving UAS detection and/or mitigation capabilities or data, as well as any other technologies that function in a similar manner, will be subject to further review by the FAA’s Office of the Chief Counsel and may be returned to the sponsor for further revision to ensure the proposal is within the scope of the FAA’s statutory authority and mission.

https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/uas/resources/c_uas/Interagency_Legal_Advisory_on_UAS_Detection_and_Mitigation_Technologies.pdf https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/uas/resources/c_uas/Interagency_Legal_Advisory_on_UAS_Detection_and_Mitigation_Technologies.pdf