20230809-ABMS_CDN_Commercial_RFI Final.pdf

Advanced Battle Management System Commercial Content Delivery Network RFI 09 August 2023

Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) Commercial Content Delivery Network

Request for Information (RFI)

Department of the Air Force PEO for Command, Control, Communications, and Battle Management (DAF PEO C3BM)

RFI exploring Content Delivery Network concepts to support Advanced Battle

Management System (ABMS) Acquisition Efforts

Component: Department of the Air Force Controlled By: DAF PEO C3BM CUI Category: CTI, FEDCON Limited Dissemination: N/A Point of Contact: Nicomedez Correa

A. PURPOSE

The Department of the Air Force PEO for Command, Control, Communications, and Battle Management (C3BM) is exploring Content Delivery Network (CDN) concepts to support an Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) / DAF BATTLE NETWORK efforts. DAF PEO C3BM seeks commercial industry feedback on:

1. The objectives of the ABMS CDN as described in this RFI;

2. Available commercial-off-the-shelf options to provide the content delivery network capability defined within the objectives; and,

3. Licensing and costs associated with procurement of the commercial-off-the-shelf CDN capability and available contract vehicles.

The CDN solution will provide a data abstraction layer that will position data objects hosted in ABMS Commercial CONUS cloud environments and ABMS Fixed Sites, at multiple security levels, closer to the deployed and mobile nodes in theater. The CDN solution will be cloud agnostic to provide a consistent caching layer into which any Cloud Service Provider edge node can interface.

This CDN Commercial RFI is one of two RFIs intended to request information from industry on the development of a CDN solution. Interested parties that receive both RFIs should respond to only one RFI, based on which RFI applies to them.

Responses to this Request for Information (RFI) will be used as market research as well as to create acquisition strategy documentation for the future procurement of the Content Delivery solution. Interested parties are welcome to submit responses as outlined in the White Paper Template.

IMPORTANT: Your submissions MUST be strictly UNCLASSIFIED. You are responsible for ensuring your submission content complies with the aforementioned level/standard.

B. BACKGROUND

ABMS Acquisition Efforts are not envisioned as a traditional program of record with a single prime contractor that develops company-specific solutions, but rather an open architecture family of systems that enables capabilities via multiple integrated capabilities and leverages both commercial and defense technology and partnerships.

ABMS Acquisition Efforts require continuous incremental progress to build an enduring digital infrastructure (DI) that ultimately enables the joint warfighter to better sense, make sense, and act by connecting the right sensor and the right data, with the right decision maker in order to achieve the desired effect.

The ABMS DI will be the foundation of ABMS and the DAF BATTLE NETWORK that provides a global, resilient, distributed infrastructure for providing the warfighter the BMC2 data they require to optimize operational decision making. The ABMS CDN will be one product within the ABMS DI that interfaces with other ABMS DI products.

C. ABMS CDN Objectives

1. The ABMS CDN will cache/forward buffer the following data types:

a. Static Data (.jpeg, .png, map tiles, other objects) leveraged by BMC2 applications

b. Firmware and Software updates pulled from origin points

c. Mission Data (XML, JSON, etc) to maintain synchronicity across edge nodes

d. Full Motion Video

2. The ABMS CDN will enable the deprecation of stale data across edge devices.

3. The ABMS CDN will enable application aware rate limiting.

4. The ABMS CDN will include video buffering capability to support video live streaming.

5. The ABMS CDN will be accredited for use at the UNCLASS (CUI), SECRET, TS/SCI, and

TS/SAR security enclaves.

6. The ABMS CDN will provide a web application firewall capability.

7. The ABMS CDN will provide API acceleration capabilities.

8. The ABMS CDN will be available as a virtual appliance.

9. The ABMS CDN will be available as a hardware appliance.

10. The ABMS CDN will push data from origin points to end user nodes.

11. The ABMS CDN will pull data from end user nodes to origin points.

12. The ABMS CDN will include geo-blocking capabilities.

13. The ABMS CDN will provide application load balancing capabilities.

14. The ABMS CDN will shield the origin point.

15. The ABMS CDN will leverage existing DNS services or provide its own DNS service.

16. The ABMS CDN will provide distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection.

17. The ABMS CDN will provide bot detection and protection.

18. The ABMS CDN will validate the provenance of data pulls/pushes from endpoints and the origin.

19. The ABMS CDN will enable and ensure data provenance when moving data between the origin and edge nodes.

20. The ABMS CDN will be hostable on compute/storage limited distributed nodes.

21. The ABMS CDN will support orchestration through a container management solution.

22. The ABMS CDN will support virtualization through hosting on a virtual machine.

23. The ABMS CDN will provide data caching optimization capabilities.

D. INDUSTRY FEEDBACK

The ABMS Program Office requests industry feedback on the objectives for the CDN product, insight into the licensing structure for these products, approximate costs per CDN license/appliance and responses to the questions below:

1. What do you believe are the largest technical challenges for deploying a global CDN capability?

2. What requirements/objectives should the Government consider when procuring a CDN solution beyond those described within the CDN Objectives section?

3. What is the licensing / purchasing construct for procuring your CDN solution?

4. What is the per license or per unit cost of procuring your CDN solution?

5. What are the baseline technical specifications required to host your CDN solution?

6. Do you offer a CDN solution as a HW appliance?

7. Do you offer a CDN solution that is a virtual appliance?

8. Do you offer a CDN solution that is compatible with container technologies such as

Docker or Kubernetes?

9. Is your CDN solution currently in use within the Department of Defense or government writ large?

10. What is the primary use case your CDN solution is trying to solve?

11. Is there an existing contract vehicle where your CDN solution can be procured?

12. What CDN capabilities do you have to anticipate the data needs of edge devices and to pre-emptively pull/push data based on learned behavior from the end user?

E. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Interested vendors should respond utilizing the attached ABMS Commercial Content Delivery Network White Paper (attachment A) submitted electronically to nicomedez.correa.1@us.af.mil and wesley.livesay@us.af.mil . White paper submissions should be no longer than 15 pages, with font-sizes no smaller than 10.

Attach the completed ABMS Commercial Content Delivery Network White Paper Template to ensure it is filled out in compliance with the stated content restrictions and utilized portable document format (PDF).

• Fill out all fields in the ABMS Content Delivery Network White Paper Template and attach it using the attachment section of the scout card submission form.

Select attachment type as “White Paper” and select it as “Required.”

Upon submission, you will receive an onscreen confirmation verifying your submission was received. Do NOT submit duplicate solutions or scout cards.

DO NOT SUBMIT CLASSIFIED INFORMATION in the response. It is incumbent on YOU the entity submitting the response to ensure any restrictions are outlined in the response.

All responses shall be provided at an unclassified level. Respondents shall indicate whether their responses contain proprietary information, and all proprietary information and figures shall be clearly and individually portion marked as proprietary. It is the respondent’s responsibility to clearly mark and define to the Government what is considered proprietary data.

ABMS CDN RFI submissions must be received no later than 31 August 2023, NLT 0900 EDT. No contracts will be awarded based solely on this announcement.

mailto:nicomedez.correa.1@us.af.mil mailto:wesley.livesay@us.af.mil

White papers must be submitted directly to the contracting team via DoD SAFE by the stated deadline. The Offeror can request a DoD SAFE drop-off email and instructions in advance of white paper submission. The link contained in the email will remain valid for fourteen (14) days after the code has been sent to the Offeror. Questions regarding DoD SAFE may be directed to the contracting team.

F. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

White Paper Classification and Proprietary Information:

All responses shall be provided at an unclassified level. Respondents shall indicate whether their responses contain proprietary information, and all proprietary information and figures shall be clearly and individually portion marked as proprietary.

It is the respondent’s responsibility to clearly mark and define to the Government what is considered proprietary data. The white papers will be reviewed by Government, Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) personnel, and Systems Engineering Test and Acquisition (SETA) government support contractors.

DISCLAIMER: This RFI (Request for Information) is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. The DAF PEO C3BM is not seeking proposals at this time and will not consider unsolicited proposals provided in response to this RFI. All responses will be in the form of information and materials.

This announcement serves as a notice and invitation to ask for industry assistance in responding to the included questionnaire. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.