20240423_BAA_Call_005.pdf

The Department of the Air Force Command Control Communication for Battle Management (C3BM) releases the

Broad Agency Announcement Call 005 for

Operationally Focused ABMS (Advanced Battle Management System) Capabilities

Announcement Number: BAA-C3BM-2024-005

Issue Date: 23 April 2024

SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION

The intent of this Call is to solicit ideas, technologies and solutions to support Operationally Focused ABMS (Advanced Battle Management System). The Department of the Air Force Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management (DAF C3BM) invites innovative technical approach proposals addressing solutions for modern networking capabilities, communications capabilities, artificial intelligence, data sensing and analysis from a number of sources, intelligent information processing to support operational decisions, as well as any capability to support resilient and efficient force employment. In a conflict with a well-resourced adversary, U.S. forces could be faced with numerous surface and air moving targets.

Blue forces must be capable of engaging those threats simultaneously, in high numbers, and in a time-compressed situation. Traditional airborne moving target intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance sensors will be threatened which will dictate ability to prosecute targets by new, non-traditional means and prioritizing those that would deny access to areas of interest. These systems need to be continually developed and improved and, moreover, integrated into the command-and-control structure. Additionally, in providing access to denied areas, controlling the air domain is an absolute imperative to be successful in future operations. Tactical air force platforms (i.e, F-35s, F-15EXs, NGAD) are expensive and are produced in limited numbers. The operational requirement to add attritable, less expensive, uncrewed autonomous aircraft to the mix continues to grow with each enemy threat advancement. These assets must be controlled seamlessly with real-time connectivity between those platforms, the sensors that support them, and the suite of weapons the platforms can carry.

Proposals should address problems associated with innovative capabilities to sense and disrupt enemy C5ISR and integrate into the C2 ecosystem. Priorities lie with getting the right information to the right platform/decision maker in the most efficient manner thereby reducing kill chain and Observe, Orient, Decide and Act (OODA) timelines and cycles. This BAA will focus on existing and emerging technologies and platforms across the Defense Department, the Intelligence Community, and the commercial world, to perform an integrated analysis of the capability of various options to contribute to the fight and prioritize investments over time.

This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Call is issued under the provisions of paragraph 6.102(d)(2) of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Contracts awarded based on responses to this BAA are considered to be the result of full and open competition and in full compliance with the provisions of Public law 98-369, “The Competition in Contracting Act of 1984.”

FAR-based contracts and non-FAR-based agreements may be awarded under this BAA Call.

This is Call 005 and utilizes the Two-Step process (concept paper followed by proposal).

Concept papers should be submitted as specified in “Section 3, Part A” of this BAA. The Government will evaluate concept papers against the criteria stated in this announcement. Those offerors whose concept papers are of interest may be invited to submit a formal proposal following the specifications provided in “Section 3, Part B” of this BAA. Offerors whose concept papers are determined to not be of interest are not precluded from submitting subsequent concept papers addressing other ideas, technologies and/or solutions for consideration following the specifications in “Section 3, Part A” if they so desire. All offerors submitting concept papers will be contacted by the Government either notifying them that the effort proposed is not of interest to the Government, or with a request for a formal cost and technical proposal by a specified date. An invitation to submit a complete technical proposal, which includes a statement of work and a cost proposal, does not assure that the submitting contractor will be awarded a subsequent contract.

Non-Government advisors will be used in the evaluation of proposals and have signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with the Government. Additional NDAs will not be required;

instead, a response to this BAA will be considered an implicit acknowledgement and acceptance of the fact that non-Government advisors will be assisting the Government in this process. The Government understands that information provided in response to this BAA is presented in confidence and may contain trade secret, commercial or financial information, and it agrees to protect such information from unauthorized disclosure to the maximum extent permitted or required by-

a. 18 USC 1905 (Trade Secrets Act);

b. 18 USC 1831 et seq. (Economic Espionage Act);

c. 5 USC 552(b)(4) (Freedom of Information Act);

d. Executive Order 12600 (Pre-disclosure Notification Procedures for Confidential Commercial

Information); and

e. Any other statute, regulation, or requirement applicable to Government employees.

Proposals should be submitted electronically, via the appropriate communication channels (Email, SIPR), to the contracting officers.

Primary: Alternate:

Mr. Nicomedez “Nic” Correa IV Mr. Wesley Livesay nicomedez.correa.1@us.af.mil wesley.livesay@us.af.mil

Proposals shall reference the above BAA number in the subject/title of the response.

Submissions shall be either PDF files or Microsoft Word Documents. A contract that is initially awarded from the competitive selection of a proposal resulting from a BAA may contain a contract line item or contract option for the provision of advanced component development, prototype, or initial production of technology developed under the contract IAW with DFARS 234.005-1.

Please contact the Contracting Officer for submission of any potentially sensitive or classified material.

SECTION 2 - AREAS OF INTEREST

To effectively engage peer and near-peer adversaries, the U.S. Air Force needs to develop, acquire and operate systems as a unified force across all domains (air, land, sea, space, cyber, and electromagnetic spectrum (EMS)). The objective is to adopt the best practices of open architectures to enable rapid proliferation of new and existing software and hardware as well as developing enabling technologies that support maintaining the technological advantage. To manage the broad scope of Operationally Focused ABMS, technical categories have been defined to organize concepts, technologies, etc. based upon their roles within the Operationally Focused ABMS construct. This organization is not intended encourage a solution that spans all categories or to limit solutions to one category. Proposals are desired with small feature sets focused in one area but may span multiple categories when reasonable.

Proposals utilizing technology with a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 3 or higher are desired; justify TRL using DoD Technology Readiness Assessment (TRA) Guidance, April 2011. Proposed efforts are desired to be fully modeled in the environment prior to demonstration and test data collected will be fed back into the system for model improvement. When applicable, prototyping and fielding on a condensed timeline is desired.

We are looking for solutions in the following categories (NOTE: These categories are not intended to be comprehensive, but rather a context. Categories may be created or removed as time progresses):

• Sensor Development and Integration The development, maturation, integration, demonstration, and proliferation of sensor hardware and software. Against the modern, advanced threat, sensors must be able to detect at significant ranges and discriminate as to type to effectively perform a countermeasure. Sensors must be able to process and communicate results in short timelines. A key interest is the compatibility and interoperability capabilities using open interfaces (such as UCI (Universal Command and Control Interface)) to enable improved control of systems and the processing of their data. Design, development, demonstration and integration of networked weapons engaged across complex (e.g. wide area mesh) environments capable of supporting C2 deconfliction and synchronization of multi-domain assets.

• Cyber Electro Magnetic Activities (CEMA) Capability Development Development of cyber and electromagnetic capabilities conducted to deny, degrade, disrupt, or destroy enemy C5ISR capabilities to allow air and surface operations in and around denied or heavily defended areas. These activities should be viable in their delivery mechanism(s) and be able to integrate into an existing C2 architecture as part of the advanced battle management construct. Delivery mechanisms should be able to be integrated on or with existing platforms to the maximum extent possible.

SECTION 3 – GUIDELINES FOR PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF

PROPOSALS

This is a two-step closed BAA (concept paper followed by the potential for an invitation to submit a proposal). The purpose of the concept paper is to preclude effort on the part of the offeror whose proposed work is not of interest to the Government. Accordingly, offerors are encouraged to submit concept papers following the guidelines detailed below (Section 3 Part A).

Offerors are encouraged to submit proposals following the guidelines detailed below (Section 3 Part B) after they have submitted a concept paper and have been notified of the Government’s interest in receiving a full proposal. Offerors whose concept papers were not deemed to be of interest are not precluded from submitting other concept papers. An invitation to submit a complete proposal, which includes a statement of work and a cost proposal, does not assure that the submitting organization will be awarded a subsequent contract.

Guidelines for All Submissions (Concept Papers and Proposals)

1) The cost of preparing responses to this BAA is not considered an allowable direct charge to any contract.

2) Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or proposals are not desired.

3) Proposals should be created using 8.5 x 11-inch portrait format pages with single spaced

Times New Roman 12-point font with 1” margins. Landscape is acceptable for charts and graphs only. All text, including text in tables and charts, must adhere to all font size and line spacing requirements listed herein. Font and line spacing requirements do not have to be followed for illustrations, flowcharts, drawings, and diagrams. These exceptions shall not be used to circumvent formatting requirements and page count limitations by including lengthy narratives in such items.

4) Use of a diagram(s) or figure(s) to depict the essence of the proposed solution is strongly encouraged.

5) Multiple concept papers addressing different categories may be submitted by the same organization.

6) On the title page of the submission, identify if you or a proposed sub-contractor are a small business such as 8(a), small, disadvantaged business, woman-owned business, HUBZone small business, Veteran-owned business, service-disabled veteran owned business, historically black college or university and minority institution.

7) The technical and cost information will be evaluated at the same time during the evaluation process. No further evaluation criteria will be issued in order to award a contract under this

BAA.

8) Foreign-Owned businesses may be a submitted alone or through some form of teaming arrangement with one or more United States-owned businesses. The ability to obtain a contract based upon a submittal may depend upon whether the foreign-owned business requires access to Government information in order to perform under the contract (1) necessitates clearance of the business under a Special Security Agreement and (2) necessitates approval of a National Interest Determination (see 10 U.S.C. 4874, DoD 5220.22-M, and AFI 31-601) that release of proscribed information to the foreign-owned business shall not harm the national security interests of the United States. Failure to obtain the clearance or denial by the cognizant authority of release of the proscribed information to the foreign-owned business would preclude award of a contract.

9) Security Requirements: The submittal process under this BAA is intended to be as streamlined as possible to allow the Government to leverage the latest technology advances.

Every precaution must be taken to protect potentially sensitive or classified material. No classified technical proposals or cost volumes are expected. Offerors are encouraged to keep all elements of the proposal package unclassified. In the rare case where an offeror has a need to submit a classified appendix, such material shall not be transmitted across open-source media like public phone, fax, internet, or e-mail. If a submitter has any reason to believe their concept may reference ideas or operations that require special protection, the submitter should immediately contact the Contracting Officer for further instruction.

Submitters who are supported by an accredited security office may be bound by specific law and regulations directing the proper methods for transmission of classified responses.

10) In order to maximize cost efficiencies for ABMS, submissions shall include a “data management approach” including a description as to how the Offeror plans to satisfy the Government’s desire to obtain the necessary license rights and delivery of technical data and computer software (to include computer software documentation) to allow third party sustainment/maintenance. The Government is particularly sensitive to assertions that may be made for technical data and/or software relating to critical system modules and components;

as well as to any assertions for information associated with key components and hardware and/or software interfaces, which may affect the planned strategy.

11) Please Note: The Government will check the proposal for conformance to the stated requirements. Any pages more than the stated page limitation after the format check will not be considered for review purposes.

12) Associate Contractor Agreements: Associate Contractor Agreements (ACAs) are agreements between contractors working on Government contracts that require them to share information, data, technical knowledge, expertise, or resources. The contracting officer may require ACAs when contractors working on separate Government contracts must cooperate, share resources or otherwise jointly participate in working on contracts or projects. Prime contractor to subcontractor relationships do not constitute ACAs. For each award, the contracting officer will identify associate contractors with whom agreements are required.

13) Identify any technical data or computer software that will be delivered with less than unlimited rights.

14) In order to receive a DoD contract every contractor will be required to perform a Basic NIST SP 800-171 DoD Assessment. That process is described here https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/pdi/cyber/docs/NIST%20SP%20800- 171%20Assessment%20Methodology%20Version%201.2.1%20%206.24.2020.pdf

15) Once the Basic NIST SP 800-171 DoD Assessment is complete each contractor will need to follow the instructions here https://www.sprs.csd.disa.mil/ to enter the results into SPRS on the PIEE website.

16) Questions regarding the objectives or preparation of the proposal should be addressed to the Contracting Officer.

SECTION 3 PART A: CONCEPT PAPER PREPARATION

(STEP 1 OF THE 2-PART BAA PROCESS)

Submitter’s concept papers shall not exceed ten (10) pages.

Title Page (does not count against 10-page limit)

Company Name, CAGE Number (if applicable), Title, Offeror, Date, Offeror’s Contracting POC E-Mail Address, Phone, Fax, Organization/Office symbol, and Address. Identify the categories included in the concept paper. Identify if you or a proposed sub-contractor are a small business such as 8(a), small disadvantaged business, woman-owned business, HUBZone small business, Veteran-owned business, service disabled veteran owned business, historically black college or university and minority institution. Identification of potential sponsor(s) organizations.

ROM Cost and Schedule Page (does not count against the 10-page limit)

Provide a rough order of magnitude (ROM) of the cost of the effort proposed in the concept paper. Provide a top level schedule that shows project completion by month.

Technical Approach Section A

Technology Concept – describe the technical approach and identify the concept’s current TRL as well as a suggested path to mature the TRL. Identify proposed hardware, technical data, and computer software deliverables. Identify aspects which may be considered proprietary.

Technical Approach Section B

Operational Impact – describe how the USAF will be impacted by the deliverable(s) of your contract. If applicable, describe the impact to the joint operational community. Explain the beneficial impacts and quantify them as appropriate. Detail who the operational users of the technology are expected to be.

https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/pdi/cyber/docs/NIST%20SP%20800-171%20Assessment%20Methodology%20Version%201.2.1%20%206.24.2020.pdf https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/pdi/cyber/docs/NIST%20SP%20800-171%20Assessment%20Methodology%20Version%201.2.1%20%206.24.2020.pdf https://www.sprs.csd.disa.mil/

BASIS FOR CONCEPT PAPER EVALUATION

Concept papers will be evaluated as they are received through a peer review and scientific review process. Individual concept paper evaluations will be based on acceptability or non-acceptability without regard to other submissions received under this announcement. The Government Office intends to complete coordination and review of Concept Papers within 90 calendar days and notify the submitter of any status. Concept papers will be evaluated under the following criteria:

1) The degree to which the proposed concept is relevant to ABMS, including the degree to which it enhances and / or accelerates development.

2) Technical merit of the proposed concept with an emphasis on feasible, achievable, and innovative solutions.

3) Affordability of the ROM costs for the proposed concept.

4) Degree to which the proposed concept top-level schedule is achievable.

5) Impact of any proposed restrictions on the Government’s use, release, or disclosure of any technical data or computer software on the Government’s ability to incorporate the proposed solution into the ABMS open architecture family of systems.

SECTION 3, PART B: PROPOSAL PREPARATION (BY INVITE ONLY)

(STEP 2 OF THE 2-PART BAA PROCESS)

1) Each proposal submitted shall consist of two volumes: Volume 1 shall provide the technical proposal and Volume 2 shall address the price/cost/schedule portions of the proposal.

2) Proposals containing data that is not to be disclosed to the public for any purpose or used by the Government except for evaluation purposes shall include the following sentences in accordance with FAR 52.215-1(e)(1) and (2) on the cover page:

“This proposal includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed -- in whole or in part -- for any purpose other than to evaluate this proposal. If, however, a contract is awarded to this offeror as a result of -- or in connection with -- the submission of this data, the Government shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent provided in the resulting contract. This restriction does not limit the Government's right to use information contained in this data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in sheets [insert numbers or other identification of sheets]”

Each restricted data sheet should be marked as follows:

“Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this proposal.”

Volume 1, Technical Proposal (20 pages excluding the title page)

Title Page

Company Name, CAGE Number, Title, Offeror, Date, Offeror’s Contracting POC E-Mail Address, Phone, Fax, Organization/Office symbol, and Address. Identify the categories included in the proposal.

Propose a Technical Approach

A reasonably complete discussion stating the background and objectives of the proposed work, the approaches to be considered, and the resources to be employed. Include the nature and extent of the anticipated results. Include ancillary and operational issues such as certifications, algorithms, and any engineering/software development methodologies to be used. This proposal must include a proposed Statement of Work (SOW). Provide a detailed project schedule that outlines the various phases of work to be accomplished by month. Submit a signed Identification and Assertion of Use, Release, or Disclosure Restrictions list identifying any technical data or computer software the offeror proposes to deliver with less than unlimited rights, in accordance with DFARS 252.227-7017 (excluded from the page limit). A model contract will be provided with the Request for Proposal (or shortly thereafter). Any exceptions or recommended changes shall be included in Volume 1 (excluded from the page limit). Please include your representations and certifications if not included in the System for Award Management (excluded from the page limit).

Government Support Required

Identify the type of support, if any, the offeror requests the Government in general such as facilities, equipment, data, and information or materials.

Volume 2, Cost Proposal (No page limit)

Cover Sheet

Proposal pricing cover sheet for total proposal to include the type of contract proposed with justification (if different from what is included in the Request for Proposal). Identify if you or a proposed sub-contractor are a small business such as 8(a), small disadvantaged business, woman-owned business, HUBZone small business, Veteran-owned business, service disabled veteran owned business, historically black college or university and minority institution.

Cost Element Summary

Summary by cost element for each contract line and sub-line item and for the total proposal.

Forecast the annual dollar commitments for the proposed contract period.

Labor Summary

The Basis of Estimate (BOEs) shall provide the basis, rationale, estimating methodology, labor category breakout tables, and any historical actuals used to derive the proposed labor estimates.

Labor summary for the total proposal by categories, rates, and hours. Include an explanation of how labor rates are computed, including base rates and escalation. Show the level of effort, if applicable. For proposals from universities, the times and amounts to be charged should be identified by academic year and summer effort. Identification of indirect rates by calendar year, an explanation of how they were established, and the base to which they apply.

Bill of Materials

Provide a bill of materials detailing items by type, quantity, unit price, total amount, and source of estimate. Provide vendor quotes if applicable.

Summary of Travel

Provide a proposed summary of travel by destination, purpose, number of people and days, to include all applicable travel costs.

Subcontracts

If subcontractors will be used, provide price/cost analysis, and a justification to use the subcontractors if their participation was not competed.

Special Tooling or Test Equipment

When special tooling, and/or test equipment is proposed, attach a brief description of said items and indicate if they are solely for the performance of this particular contract or project and if they are or are not already available in the offeror's existing facilities. Indicate quantities, unit prices, whether items are to be purchased or fabricated, whether items are of a severable nature and the basis of the price. These items may be included under Direct Material in the summary format.

BASIS FOR PROPOSAL EVALUATION

Proposals will be evaluated as they are received through a peer review process as well as through a scientific review process. Individual proposal evaluations will be based on acceptability or non-acceptability without regard to other submissions received under this announcement.

Proposals will be evaluated under the following criteria listed:

1) The degree to which the proposed concept is relevant to ABMS, including the degree to which it enhances and / or accelerates development.

2) Technical merit of the proposal with an emphasis on technically mature, feasible, achievable and innovative solutions, and the degree to which a defined transition path or strategy exists.

3) Realism of the proposal performance schedule.

4) Realism and reasonableness of the costs.

5) Government funds availability.

6) Impact of any proposed restrictions on the Government’s use, release, or disclosure of any technical data or computer software on the Government’s ability to incorporate the proposed solution into the ABMS open architecture family of systems.

CONCEPT PAPER DUE DATE: 31 Mar 2025.

PROPOSAL VALIDITY: Proposals should be valid for up to 180 days.

AWARD NOTICES: Offerors will be notified whether their proposal is recommended for award or not. The notification is not to be construed to mean that any contract is assured, as availability of funds and successful negotiations are prerequisites to any award. A Contracting Officer is the only authorized person with the authority to enter into, administer, modify, or terminate a Government contract in accordance with FAR 1.602-1.

SECTION 4: OTHER INFORMATION

If a debriefing is requested in accordance with the time guidelines set out in FAR 15.505 and 15.506, a debriefing will be provided, but the debriefing content may vary to be consistent with the procedures that govern BAAs (FAR 35.016).