Agile Platform for Expeditionary C2 (APEX) Statement of Objectives (SOO).pdf

Statement of Objectives (SOO): APEX (Agile Platform for Expeditionary C2)

1. PURPOSE

The purpose of this Statement of Objectives (SOO) is to acquire contractor services to provide rapid, secure, and continuous software development for the Command's portfolio of command and control (C2) applications. This effort is designed around the principles of the Department of

Defense (DoD) Software Acquisition Pathway (SWP), as outlined in DoDI 5000.87. The government's goal is to partner with a contractor(s) who can deliver mission-focused capabilities to the warfighter at the speed of relevance by leveraging modern practices within a government-provided software factory and Platform as a Service (PaaS) environment.

1.1 Background

The primary characteristic defining the Operational environment is its 24/7/365 Global

Tempo. Because Command and theater operations never cease, these applications are under constant load. This load originates not only from the centralized Primary

Operations Center, but also from the highly decentralized Regional Operations Divisions embedded within geographic operation centers worldwide, alongside en-route hubs and aircrews. This distributed user base dictates that the vendor must be capable of supporting both centralized global strategic planning and decentralized, theater-specific tactical execution across the C2 continuum.

2. SCOPE

The scope of this effort includes the full software lifecycle support for National Security System level C2 application(s), specifically focusing on custom software engineering, design, and continuous code development. This is a performance-based acquisition where the contractor is responsible for providing the necessary resources, processes, and expertise to achieve the objectives defined in Section 4.0 and the functional areas below:

2.1 Program and Project Management

2.2 Human-Centered Design and User Engagements

2.3 Agile and DevSecOps-based Custom Software Development (Figure 1: Notional

View of N-Tier approach below)

2.3.1 Design, Develop, and Code New or Modernize Presentation Layer UI/UX

Capabilities

2.3.2 Design, Develop, and Code New or Modernize Access Layer Capabilities

2.3.3 Design, Develop, and Code New or Modernize Business Layer

2.3.4 Design, Develop, and Code New or Modernize Data Layer Capabilities

2.3.5 Identify, Design, Develop, and Code, or Modernize Additional

Figure 1 Notional View of N-Tier Approach

2.4 Automated Testing and Quality Assurance

2.5 Cybersecurity and Information Assurance

2.6 Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)

2.7 Application Deployment, Monitoring, and Maintenance

2.8 Technical Documentation and Data Management

2.9 Continuous lifecycle management of legacy applications such as MAFPS, GDSS, CAMPS, and MEIS, adapting to the evolving needs of government. This includes development and configuration to support modern ization activities and newly developed applications.

3. APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

This SOO is informed by and shall be executed in accordance with the principles and policies within the following:

• DoD Memo: Directing Modern Software Acquisition to Maximize Lethality

• DoDD 5000.01: The Defense Acquisition System

• DoDI 5000.02: Operation of the Adaptive Acquisition Framework

• DoDI 5000.87: Operation of the Software Acquisition Pathway

• DoDI 5000.90: Cybersecurity for Acquisition

• DAFI 63-101/20-101: Integrated Life Cycle Management

4. GOVERNMENT OBJECTIVES

The government has identified the following high-level objectives. The contractor shall propose a comprehensive solution in a Statement of Work (SOW) that describes their approach to achieving these outcomes.

Objective # Title Description

4.1

Implement a

Continuous, User-

Focused Capability

Delivery Model

The core objective is to move away from traditional, lengthy development cycles and establish a process that delivers value to warfighters iteratively and frequently.

The system must be designed and built around the operational user's mission needs.

4.2

Deliver and Sustain

Secure and Resilient

C2 Applications

The objective is to ensure that all software developed and deployed is not only functional but also inherently secure and resilient. The system must achieve and maintain a security posture that enables a Continuous Authority to

Operate (cATO).

4.3

Provide Transparent and Data-Driven

Program Execution

The objective is to maintain full transparency and insight into the development process, risks, and performance. The contractor's execution should be data-driven, leveraging metrics to foster continuous improvement and accountability.

4.4

Build New or

Modernize Software

Capabilities

The objective is to deliver new software capabilities as directed by the government within scope of Mobility Air

Force application capability areas.

4.5

Sustain and

Modernize Legacy

Applications

The objective is to provide continuous lifecycle management for legacy applications, including MAFPS, GDSS, CAMPS, and MEIS. This includes adapting these systems to the evolving needs of the end user or as directed by the government, while planning for their eventual modernization or integration.

5. PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES & MEASURES OF SUCCESS

To meet the objectives in Section 4.0, the contractor's proposed solution will be measured against its ability to produce the following outcomes. This is not an exhaustive list, and offerors are encouraged to propose additional metrics.

Associated

Objective Performance Outcome Example Metrics / Thresholds of Success

5.1

Warfighter needs are rapidly and iteratively translated into deployed capabilities.

• Delivery of a Minimum Viable Capability

Release (MVCR) within the first 6 months of newly defined user needs.

• Deployment of new code to the production environment at a frequency of at least once per fiscal quarter.

• Cycle time from user story acceptance to production deployment is reduced over the period of performance.

• Deployment of updates to existing capability and code as frequent as needed by the

Warfighter.

5.2

A formal, collaborative partnership with the user community is established and maintained.

• A formal "User Agreement" is established and reviewed semi-annually.

• Demonstrable user feedback is incorporated into each development sprint, visible in the product backlog.

5.3

A robust DevSecOps posture is achieved, integrating security into all phases of development.

• The CI/CD pipeline includes fully automated security gates for static/dynamic analysis

(SAST/DAST), container scans, and dependency checking.

• Critical and high-severity findings from security scans are remediated within a government-approved timeline.

5.4

The C2 applications achieve and maintain a Continuous

Authority to Operate (cATO).

• All software and infrastructure configurations are managed via Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in a government-owned repository.

• Real-time security and performance monitoring dashboards are implemented and available to government personnel.

5.5

The government has continuous visibility into team performance and product health.

• Government personnel have real-time access to agile management tools (e.g., Jira, Azure

DevOps) showing backlogs, velocity charts, and release plans.

• Automated reports detailing key performance indicators (KPIs) like deployment frequency, lead time for changes, and mean time to recovery (MTTR) are generated.

6. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED EQUIPMENT/INFORMATION (GFE/GFI)

The Government will provide the contractor with access to the following:

• Accredited Software Factory and associated tooling.

• Platform as a Service (PaaS) environment.

• Required government-specific software and development tools.

• Access to end-users and subject matter experts.