LSAR_BAA_16_Apr.docx

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA)

BAA RVKD-2014-0001

Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate

ANNOUNCEMENT OVERVIEW

NAICS CODE: 541712

SIZE STANDARD: 500 Employees

FEDERAL AGENCY NAME: Air Force Research Laboratory AFRL/RDL

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT TITLE: Laser Simulation, Analysis, and Research (LSAR)

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: This is the Initial Announcement of BAA RVKD-2014-0001, BAA WITH Calls

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER: BAA RVKD-2014-0001

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER(S): Not Applicable (N/A). No assistance instrument or CFDA opportunities exist under this announcement.

BRIEF PROGRAM SUMMARY:

This is a five (5) year Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) describing the research areas of interest for the LSAR program. This BAA approach allows for proposal submittals at a specified date and time, which will be posted through the issuance of Calls at various times against this BAA. This BAA will be reviewed no less frequently than annually and updates will be published in FedBizOpps (http://www.fbo.gov). Any changes or cancellation of the BAA will be posted as amendments to this BAA. This annual review and subsequent amendment to the BAA shall meet the requirement of FAR 35.016 to publish the BAA no less frequently than annually. As technical requirements are identified, Calls may be issued in the FedBizOpps/Electronic Posting System (EPS) to request proposals for specific research efforts. These subsequent Calls will contain specific descriptions of the research effort to be addressed, anticipated period of performance, information peculiar to the specific research technical topic area, and the estimated funding profile for the Call.

PROPOSAL DUE DATE AND TIME: NO PROPOSALS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED AGAINST THIS BASELINE BAA. Proposal due dates and times will be specified in each Call announcement. Proposals received after the due date and time specified in the Call shall be governed by the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.215-1(c)(3). It should be noted that this installation observes strict security procedures to enter the facility. These security procedures are NOT considered an interruption of normal Government processes, and proposals received after the due date and time specified in the Call as a result of security delays will be considered “late”. Furthermore, note that if offerors utilize commercial carriers in the delivery of proposals, they may not honor time-of-day delivery guarantees on military installations. Early proposal submission is encouraged.

ESTIMATED PROGRAM COST: Anticipated funding for the program (not per Call, contract or award):

This funding profile is an estimate only and will not be a contractual obligation for funding. All funding is subject to change due to Government discretion and availability. All potential offerors should be aware that due to unanticipated budget fluctuations, funding in any or all areas may change with little or no notice.

GENERAL INFORMATION: This acquisition is unrestricted. This BAA is issued under the provisions of FAR 6.102(d)(2) that provides for the competitive selection of research proposals. Proposals submitted in response to this BAA that are selected for award are considered to be the results of full and open competition and in full compliance with the provisions of PL 98-369, the Competition In Contracting Act of 1984. Offerors MUST monitor FedBizOpps in the event this announcement is amended, and for the posting of Calls.

TYPE OF CONTRACTS/INSTRUMENTS: The Air Force reserves the right to award the instrument best suited to the nature of research proposed. Accordingly, the Government may award any appropriate contract type under the Federal Acquisition Regulation. It is anticipated that awards under this BAA will generally be cost reimbursable, which require successful offerors to have an accounting system considered adequate for tracking costs applicable to the contract. No opportunities for Grants, Cooperative Agreements or Assistance Instruments exist under this announcement.

ON-LINE REPRESENATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS: Potential offerors are notified that effective 01 Jan 2005 to be eligible for an award and in compliance with FAR 52.204-7 and DFARS 252.204-7007 Alternate A, they must submit annual Electronic Representations and Certifications, otherwise known as On-line Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) via the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov. Before submitting the Electronic Representations and Certifications, Contractors must be registered in the SAM Database. On-line registration instructions can be accessed from the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov. These FAR and DFAR level representations and certifications are required in addition to the representations and certifications that will be attached to each Call.

ANTICIPATED NUMBER OF AWARDS: The Air Force anticipates awarding a minimum of one contract per specific Call. However, the Air Force does reserve the right to make multiple awards or no awards pursuant to a Call.

TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT: The technical point of contact for this BAA is:

a.) Project Officer: Theodore Ortiz AFRL/RDLTD, Kirtland AFB, NM Phone: 505-846-9468 E-mail: theodore.ortiz@us.af.mil b.) Each Call will include a specific Technical Area point of contact.

CONTRACTING POINTS OF CONTACT: The contracting points of contact for this BAA are:

a) Contract Specialist (Primary POC): Dalila Burton AFRL Det 8/RVKDL, Kirtland AFB, NM Phone: 505-846-6144 Email: dalila.burton@us.af.mil

b) Contracting Officer (Alternate POC): Susan Thorpe AFRL Det 8/RVKDL, Kirtland AFB, NM Phone: 505-846-3404 Email: susan.thorpe@us.af.mil

c) Each Call will include specific contracting points of contact.

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA)

BAA RVKD-2014-0001

Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate

FULL TEXT ANNOUNCEMENT

NAICS CODE: 541712

SIZE STANDARD: 500 Employees

FEDERAL AGENCY NAME: Air Force Research Laboratory AFRL/RDL

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT TITLE: Laser Simulation, Analysis, and Research (LSAR)

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER: BAA RVKD-2014-0001

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER(S): Not Applicable (N/A). No assistance instrument or CFDA opportunities exist under this announcement.

I. REQUIREMENT DESCRIPTION

1. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Laser Division (RDL) is seeking proposals from offerors to continue the advancement of laser technologies and enhance the state-of-the-art and scientific knowledge in Directed Energy technology. With the LSAR BAA, RDL is seeking innovative, cost effective solutions for computational development and validation, to test various aspects of current and future laser weapon system components and subsystems; efforts to identify performance, reliability, maintainability, supportability and affordability goals; and efforts to enhance performance or significantly reduce cost, schedule or risk inherent in existing technologies.

“Innovative" refers to a sound engineering solution that is new and like nothing conceived or tried before. "Mission at hand" refers to the mission or objective stated in the individual contract or task orders. "Cost effectiveness" refers to the minimization of the costs associated with a solution or set of solutions used to arrive at the desired end-product and fulfill the stated mission or objective. In this scheme, an existing but unused solution can be said to be innovative based upon a cost/benefit analysis. "Existing solution" refers to a solution that is either presently known or has been known in the past. It may be a past known solution that has been proposed but not tested or utilized. "Adequate solution" refers to a sound engineering solution that satisfies, or helps to satisfy, the contract or task orders mission at hand or stated objective in the most timely and cost-effective manner possible.

2. This is a five (5) year Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) describing the research areas of interest for the LSAR program. This BAA approach allows for proposal submittals at a specified date and time which will be posted through the issuance of Calls at various times against this BAA. Periodically over the five (5) year period (calculated from the baseline BAA publication date), proposal Call announcements under the BAA may be issued in the FedBizOps/ Electronic Posting System (EPS) (http://www.fbo.gov) to request proposals for specific research efforts as technical requirements are identified. These subsequent Calls will contain specific descriptions of the research effort to be addressed, anticipated period of performance, information peculiar to the specific research technical topic area, and the estimated funding profile for the Call. Each Call will specify a proposal due date and time. Proposals received after the stated due date and time will be governed by FAR 52.215-1(c)(3). Multiple subsequent Calls are anticipated and may be announced sequentially or concurrently in the FedBizOps/EPS. The Government reserves the right to re-issue a previously announced Call area with a second, subsequent proposal period. The Government also reserves the right to issue no Calls for any given technology area.

3. Technical Topic Areas: Offerors may submit proposals in response to one or more of the Technical Areas described below.

a) Technical Area 1: Beam Control Computational Development and Validation, and Testing of Computational Physics Methods:

The objective of this Technical Area is to develop and execute models and theory related to tactical beam control applications. This Technical Area will make use of the developed tools to model beam control technologies and beam control systems for laser weapons applications. This Technical Area includes, but is not limited to, the development of techniques and tools for:

· Computational development of realistic atmospheric propagation codes, including site-specific and climatological codes, and real-time atmospheric diagnostic systems

· Performing engineering simulation and predictive system performance modeling for developmental laser weapons systems in a test and/or operational environment

· Verifying and validating performance computational development and validation capabilities using test data

· Quantifying model uncertainties

Additionally, as part of this Technical Area, participating in test planning, execution, data analysis, and reporting may be required to verify and validate models and tools developed.

b) Technical Area 2: Aero-Effects Computational Development and Validation, and Testing of Computational Physics Methods:

The objective of this Technical Area is to develop and execute models and theory related to turret aero-effects, including aero-mechanical and aero-optical effects. This Technical Area will make use of the developed tools to model turret aero-effects for airborne laser weapons applications. This Technical Area includes, but is not limited to, the development of techniques and tools for:

· Developing empirical characterization of aero-effects on an optical turret on an airborne platform.

· Identifying and characterizing risks associated with aero-effects on airborne laser weapon systems.

· Verifying and validating performance of computational development capabilities using test data

· Quantifying model uncertainties

Additionally, as part of this Technical Area, participating in test planning, execution, data analysis, and reporting may be required to verify and validate models and tools developed.

c) Technical Area 3: Advanced Laser Modeling and Simulation:

The objective of this Technical Area is to develop and execute models and theory related to laser systems: including but not limited to gas, solid state, fiber, and semiconductor lasers; beam control technologies and atmospheric propagation; power and thermal management; and platform dynamics. This Technical Area supports research and development in RDL and will make use of the developed tools to model laser systems and subsystems for military applications. Once code development is complete, verification and validation using test data, laboratory results and standard Verifying and Validating (V&V) techniques will be performed to ensure new models are accurate. This Technical Area includes, but is not limited to:

· Developing physics based models of current and future laser systems, subsystems, and components, e.g., laser devices; beam control, beam combination and propagation; power and thermal management; and platform dynamics

· Determine interface control requirements for linking multiple models in an end-to-end physics simulation of a laser system

· Identifying and characterizing potential issues associated with modeling current and future laser systems and subsystems

· Verifying and Validating models

· Development of computational grids for multidimensional simulations

· Creating visualizations of modeling results

· Knowledge of Linux operating systems used for modeling

· Quantifying model uncertainties

· Software configuration management

d) Technical Area 4: Laser Power and Thermal System Concept Development:

The objective of this Technical Area is to advance the state of the art in power and thermal management subsystems for deployable, high energy laser systems. This Technical Area will develop, design and use computational development and validation, and test innovative power and thermal management concepts and hardware. Additionally, as part of this Technical Area, participating in test planning, execution, data analysis, and reporting may be required to validate simulations (including hardware simulations) and tools developed.

e) Technical Area 5: Aircraft Environmental Emulation and Propagation:

The objective of this Technical Area is to advance the state of the art in laser system integration technologies. This Technical Area will develop, design, upgrade and use computational development and validation and hardware emulation, and characterize issues associated with the integration of subsystems into airborne laser weapon system concepts. The subsystems to be evaluated include, but are not limited to:

· Laser source

· Beam control system

· Laser beam director

· Power generation and management

· Thermal management

· Laser weapon controller

· Platform interface

Additionally, as part of this Technical Area, participating in test planning, execution, data analysis, hardware design, component modification, component development, and reporting to validate simulations (including hardware simulations) using test/experimental data and tools developed.

f) Technical Area 6: High Power Fiber Development and Beam Combination:

The objective of this Technical Area is to focus on developing and delivering novel solutions for the next-generation airborne laser weapon. This Technical Area will develop technology to meet packaging, volume, weight, and operational requirements for small high speed aircraft. These efforts include, but are not limited to:

· Developing new optical designs that eliminate the aerodynamic burden of a conventional turret as well as maintaining an aircraft’s low-observable nature.

· Developing new designs that include approaches to combining multiple laser beams to produce a more electrically efficient weapon and allow a convenient approach to scaling the projected laser power.

· Developing efficiency gains by replacing energy-hungry conventional turrets with low-energy electronic beam steering.

· Developing power scaling fiber laser arrays to allow for smaller, lightweight lasers that are ideal for tactical high power military applications.

· Computational development and validation on component technologies to broaden the research base.

· Conducting research, experimental demonstrations, and simulations of these systems to guide RDL’s experimental efforts and improve understanding of the physics involved.

· Research how high power fiber lasers can be distributed through a network array of discrete telescopes to produce an ultra-compact laser system.

As part of this Technical Area, participating in test planning, execution, data analysis, and reporting may be required to validate models, hardware, and methods developed. This Technical Area includes, but is not limited to the following scientific areas:

· Developing power scaling technology to include advances in the power output of a single laser source, approaches to combining a number of laser sources, and other novel ideas that contribute to a solution to effectively scale the laser system power to tactical effects levels. Use computational development and test data to validate high power fiber laser hardware to verify laboratory characterization of high power limiting fibers and key component parameters leading to monolithic subassemblies and systems at relevant power levels is needed for input to system level models and engineering improvements. Solutions should consider the integration and operational challenges of the overall laser system architecture

· Using computational development and validation techniques with experimental research on fiber laser/optical amplifier power scaling technologies including single lasers and combination of multiple lasers. Fiber laser power scaling activities support architectures to validate long range tactical strike and precision engagement mission Concept of Operation CONOPS. Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) may be periodically updated to reflect technology maturation.

· Developing laser generation, beam director, and platform components and assemblies that are compatible with Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) and environmental effects associated with small high speed aircraft.

· Developing beam control solutions to meet aim point selection and maintenance requirements. This effort delivers techniques to coherently combine the transmitted beams at the target. Both sensing and control are required where high resolution imaging and phase sensing approaches become key technologies.

· Developing laboratory and appropriate field validation experiments and demonstration. Research novel beam combining techniques: theoretical treatment, computational development of fiber laser power combining performance parameters need to be traceable to current Commercial off the Shelf (COTS), developmental fibers and associated components with emphasis on monolithic militarily ruggedized systems.

g) Technical Area 7: Tracking, Pointing, and Test:

The objective of this Technical Area is to develop theoretical techniques and computational tools for use by airborne laser weapon systems in the acquisition and tracking of uncooperative targets, located in the air or on the surface, along with the stable pointing of the laser at the aim point on the target for the duration of the engagement. This Technical Area includes, but is not limited to:

· Developing computational tools and sensing techniques (hardware and software) to automatically recognize and locate targets.

· Developing, constructing, calibrating, and validating radiometric models of targets and background.

· Developing synthetic scenes of targets and background that inter-actively include signals from thermal emission, laser ablation effects, and reflection from all sources of illumination.

· Developing computational tools and sensing techniques (hardware and software) to track targets to micro-radian accuracy.

· Developing computational tools and sensing techniques (hardware and software) to maintain the pointing of a laser on a target that is changing pose.

· Developing and integrating the acquisition, tracking, and pointing software and hardware components.

· For scaled testing of Acquisition, Tracking and Pointing (ATP) systems, constructing a laboratory test environment that replicates the signal received by the imaging system, to include the aero-optic and atmospheric imaging disturbances, and other realistic noises.

· Assembling and integrating the software and hardware for full-scale testing of ATP systems in a field environment: ground-based and flight. The ground-based test will include an injection of a replica of aero-optic disturbances. Both types of testing will include a sensing of atmospheric disturbance.

· Developing computational development and validation techniques for scaled and full-scale testing of ATP systems.

h) Technical Area 8: Mid-Infrared (Mid-IR) Semiconductor Laser Devices:

The objective of this Technical Area is to concentrate on the design, synthesis, test, and packaging of compact mid-infrared semiconductor lasers that are capable of high brightness and wavelength agility to satisfy AF and DoD needs. Optically Pumped Semiconductor Laser (OPSL) technology will be pursued to generate higher brightness in the mid-IR as well as the Long Wave Infra-Red( LWIR). OPSLs will also be used to generate high peak power in the mid-IR. In parallel, Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCL) will be developed in-house and lateral beam quality enhancement schemes will be applied to extract high brightness from broad-area devices. This Technical Area includes, but is not limited to:

· Developing computational development and validation capabilities

· Developing, computational development and validation, experimentation, and testing of high brightness semiconductor laser hardware and semiconductor devices

· Researching epitaxial growth of semiconductor laser hetero-structures for mid-IR emission

· Developing novel beam combining techniques

· Conducting minimal maintenance on clean room components and molecular beam epitaxy equipment

· Developing photolithographic processing techniques for semiconductor laser devices

· Developing techniques for housing of semiconductor lasers for high thermal load operation

· Developing techniques for housing of system level semiconductor devices

i) Technical Area 9: Gas Laser System Development:

The objective of this Technical Area is to advance the state of the art technology in laser sources to be used for gas laser systems. This Technical Area will identify possible new laser candidates and will develop technologies required to improve performance of lasers currently under development. The components to be developed and evaluated include, but are not limited to:

· Laser resonators

· Gain media excitation or gain generation sources

· Supersonic mixing nozzles

· Chemically resistant optical windows

· Optical components with high optical damage thresholds

· Thermal management

· Pressure recovery

Additionally, as part of this Technical Area, participating in test planning, execution, data analysis, and reporting may be required.

j) Technical Area 10: Broadband Laser Applications:

The objective of this Technical Area is to develop and design multiple wavelength fiber lasers. Development and designs should be compact and allow for integration into existing Government optical systems for field testing.

In particular, the Government is interested in counter sensor capabilities. Developed lasers should be able to deny, degrade or destroy sensors in the visible and/or infrared bands. Systems could be wavelength agile and operate in multiple bands or cover broad spectrums simultaneously. Output powers should be in the 10s of Watts up to kW ranges.

k) Technical Area 11: Laser System Integration and Testing:

The objective of this Technical Area encompasses end-to-end development and testing of a high power laser system utilizing, where feasible, Government owned assets. There are three primary subareas of importance to address.

a. Beam Control Development and Laser Integration. Efforts to develop and integrate multiple beam combining transmission capabilities using high power near-IR lasers on existing Government platform. It is anticipated that the laser source(s) will be Government furnished asset(s) resulting from separate research or acquisition efforts. However, any required beam control systems to integrate these laser sources into Government provided telescope platforms and control their output will have to be designed, fabricated, integrated and tested. The Contractor will need to develop test requirements, develop error budgets, develop performance allocations, assess risk, and maintain interface and configuration control. Beam control development may include the modification or upgrade of current Government optical systems. Extensive characterization of beam control system effectiveness and beam quality characterization will be an integral part of these efforts prior to field testing.

b. Acquisition, Tracking and Pointing. Efforts to improve and/or develop advancements in acquisition, tracking and pointing (ATP) utilizing a variety of Government optical systems are sought. Existing government optical systems may require significant effort to bring them up to baseline functionality. This may include completion of various hardware integration tasks such as the mounting of a sidecar acquisition telescopes, base-mounted Inertial Measurement Units (IMU), integration of an inertial stabilization systems, optical path characterization, control system optimization, and general software debugging and adaptation.

c. Field Testing. The resulting Laser System(s) will require extensive field testing. The successful offeror will be responsible for the development of test plans and procedures that must be coordinated through AFRL safety office prior to commencement of test operations. Testing may include site preparation, the development of far-field diagnostics and target boards to assess system performance. To account for potential degradation due to transport, environmental changes, etc., this task includes any required periodic or preventive maintenance to the systems to maintain baseline performance. Field demonstrations of newly developed systems/configurations will be accomplished after baseline performance is established. Minimal maintenance of critical assets and field operations facilities may be needed throughout the duration of the contract to ensure availability of these assets/facilities when required.

There are mandatory milestones associated with these research activities. Milestones will include submittal of an initial Program Plan, technical interchange meetings, test readiness reviews, quarterly status reports and contract Final Report.

l) Technical Area 12: Laser Interaction Testing:

Laser interaction testing addresses the need for well-controlled experimental procedures to quantify the effects of high power continuous-wave (up to MW Class) and high energy pulsed (kJ) lasers interacting with individual materials, multi-material subsystems, and/or fully functional targets. Key areas include:

· Pre-Experimental Analysis

· Microstructural analysis for material identification

· Material Characterization Testing, for example;

a. Specific heat

b. Thermal expansion

c. Optical characteristics – scattering and absorption

· Failure Modes Analysis Review

· Experimental Planning

· Unique Target Fabrication

· Experimental Environment

· Experiment Execution

· Post-Experiment Data Reduction

· Post-Experiment Failure Analysis

· Counter-measure Studies

· Counter-Countermeasures Studies

· Special Diagnostics

· Contingency Planning and Range Safety

In addition, this Technical Area seeks novel methods in the following Special Topic Areas:

1. Non-contact high heating rate (several 100̊/sec) material properties measurements. For example:

a. Optical (absorptance, reflectance and transmission)

b. Specific heat

c. Thermal conductivity

d. Thermal diffusivity

2. Experimental laser/material interaction imagery:

a. To record interaction through flames and smoke

b. Surface response to laser interaction at high rates

c. Plume attenuation and species quantification

3. Data collection under high heating rate environments:

a. Target thermal and structural response under rapidly changing thermal environments

4. Laser diagnostics:

a. Beam quality and imagery

b. Irradiance

c. Power

5. Imaging system test-beds:

a. Design and fabrication

b. Operation

m) Technical Area 13: Target Vulnerability Assessments and Data Analysis:

The objectives for the Target Assessments area are to conduct assessments that combine target vulnerability data from testing, target optical signature measurements, target exploitation intelligence, system-level fault tree and failure mode analysis, shotline dependency, and computational predictive results into a comprehensive probabilistic vulnerability assessment. Key areas include:

· Intelligence Coordination for Target and Threat Characterization

· Develop and Demonstrate State-of-the-Art Engagement and Engineering Models for Predicting Laser Effects

· Model Verification, Validation, and Accreditation

· Experimental Coordination and Data Analysis

· Target Vulnerability Assessment

· Software, Database, and Hardware Maintenance

In addition, this Technical Area seeks novel methods in the following Special Topic Areas:

1. Fast running engagement/engineering models

a. Laser effects calculations

b. Parallel algorithm implementations

c. Ray tracing algorithms

d. Engineering level dynamic engagement strategies

2. Statistical methods for threat assessments.

n) Technical Area 14: Laser Target Interaction Modeling and Simulation (M&S):

The objectives for the Laser Target Interaction Modeling and Simulation area are to conduct research leading to the development of advanced computational methods for predicting the physical phenomenology resulting from high energy laser interactions. The tools are concurrently applied to predict ongoing experiments resulting in data leading to the continued development of credible, verified and validated methods and innovative physics algorithms. Prediction of the laser interaction must take into account a spatially and temporally resolved beam irradiance profile, absorption into the target, localized thermo-structural response, coupled physical phenomena, and resulting damage modes. Quantification of uncertainty is essential to appropriate application of results. The Laser Interaction M&S Area must work closely with the Laser Interaction Testing Area at all phases of testing to ensure proper code input is obtained and that test design reflects the needs of the modeling Technical Area. Key areas include:

· Develop and Demonstrate State-of-the-Art Physics-based Models for Predicting Laser Effects

· Model Verification, Validation, and Accreditation

· Experimental Coordination and Data Analysis

· Develop Simplified Physics-Based Solvers for Engineering Models

· Parametric Analysis, Optimization, and Uncertainty Quantification

· Software, Database, and Hardware Maintenance

In addition, this Technical Area seeks novel methods in the following Special Topic Areas:

1. Coupled multi-physics simulations:

a. Coupled Aero/Thermal/Chemical/Mechanical simulations

b. Aero-assisted laser melt removal

c. Laser/Kinetic weapon synergies

d. Laser induced initiation/ignition of flammable/energetic materials

2. Laser-induced material ablation

*Additional Information (if applicable will be included per Call): Some of the above Technical Areas also include systems engineering efforts related to the Technical Areas listed above. These efforts are an inherent and incidental to the research being conducted. These efforts include, but are not limited to:

· Technical planning /Test Planning

· Requirements management

· Configuration management /System Engineering

· Technical assessment

· Decision analysis

· Risk management

· Interface management

· Technical data management

II. AWARD INFORMATION

1. Anticipated Funding: Anticipated funding for the program (not per Call, contract or award): FY14: $40M; FY15: $30M; FY16: $50M; FY17: $40M; FY18: $40M. This funding profile is an estimate only and will not be a contractual obligation for funding. All funding is subject to change due to Government discretion and availability. All potential offerors should be aware that due to unanticipated budget fluctuations, funding in any or all areas may change with little or no notice.

2. Anticipated Number of Awards: The Air Force anticipates awarding a minimum of one contract per specific Call. However, the Air Force does reserve the right to make multiple awards or no awards pursuant to a Call.

III. POINTS OF CONTACT

1. Technical Points Of Contact (TPOC): The technical point of contact for the baseline BAA is:

a) Project Officer: Theodore Ortiz AFRL/RDLTD, Kirtland AFB, NM Phone: 505-846-9468 E-mail: theodore.ortiz@us.af.mil

b) Each Call will include a specific Technical Area point of contact.

2. Contracting Points Of Contact: The contracting points of contact for the baseline BAA are:

a) Contract Specialist (Primary POC): Dalila Burton

b) Contracting Officer (Alternate POC): Susan Thorpe

c) Each Call will include specific contracting points of contact.

3. Ombudsman: AFFARS CLAUSE 5352.201-9101 Ombudsman (NOV 2012) is hereby incorporated into this BAA and will be made a part of any awards based on this solicitation. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear and facilitate the resolution of concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and others for this acquisition announcement. Before consulting with an ombudsman, interested parties must first address their concerns, issues, disagreements, and/or recommendations to the Contracting Officer listed above for resolution. The ombudsman for AFRL is Ms. Barbara Gehrs, AFRL/PK, 1864 4th Street, Bldg 15, Room 225, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, 45433-7130, Phone: 937-904-4407, Fax 937-904-7024, E-mail: barbara.gehrs@us.af.mil.

IV. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

1. Eligible Offeror/Applicants: All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal. Small Businesses, Historically Black Colleges (HBCU), Minority Institutions (MI), Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), Woman-Owned Businesses, and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses are encouraged to submit proposals; however no part of this announcement will be a set-aside. Due to the nature of this requirement no foreign companies at the prime or subcontractor level shall be considered for award.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching: Cost sharing is not a requirement unless stated in the Call.

3. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers: The following guidance is provided for DoD sponsored and Non-DoD sponsored FFRDCs contemplating submitting a proposal, as either a prime or subcontractor, against this BAA. FAR 35.017-1(c)(4) prohibits a FFRDC from competing with any non-FFRDC concern in response to a Federal agency request for proposal for other than the operation of a FFRDC. There is no regulation prohibiting an FFRDC from responding to a solicitation. However, the FFRDC’s sponsoring agency must first make a determination that the effort being proposed falls within the purpose, mission, general scope of effort, or special competency of the FFRDC, and that determination must be included in the FFRDC’s proposal. In addition, the non-sponsoring agency must make a determination that the work proposed would not place the FFRDC in direct competition with domestic private industry. Only after these determinations are made would a determination be made concerning the FFRDC’s eligibility to receive an award.

4. Government Agencies: If a Government agency is interested in performing work please contact the Program Office identified in the Call. If those discussions result in a mutual interest to pursue your agency's participation, the effort will be pursued independent of this broad agency announcement.

5. Export Control: Research areas may involve technology that is subject to U.S. Export Control Laws. Therefore, only offerors who are certified by the Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS) may submit proposals. For questions, contact DLIS on-line at http://www.dlis.dla.mil/jcp or at DLIS, US/Canada Joint Certification Center, Federal Center, 74 North Washington, Battle Creek MI 49017-4312, (800) 352-3572. DFARs 252.225-7048, Export Controlled Items (JUN 2013 ) is incorporated into this solicitation and will be in ALL awards resulting from the Calls.

6. Security Requirement: The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires that a DD Form 254 be incorporated in each classified contract. The DD Form 254 provides to the Contractor (or a subcontractor) the security requirements and the classification guidance that would be necessary to perform on a classified contract. If a Contract Security Classification Specification, DD254, is required, it will be identified in the Call per FAR 52.204-2.

V. COMMUNICATIONS

1. Prospective offerors are reminded to contact the technical point of contact to verify interest in the effort to be proposed and the funding availability PRIOR to committing any resources to the preparation of any proposals in response to this announcement/Call.

2. Dialogue between prospective offerors and Government representatives is encouraged until submission of proposals. Discussions with any of the points of contact shall not constitute a commitment by the Government to subsequently fund or award any proposed effort. Offerors are advised that only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to contractually bind or otherwise commit the Government.

VI. PROPOSAL/APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION:

1. General Information:

a) NO PROPOSALS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED AGAINST THIS BASELINE BAA. Proposal due dates and times will be specified in each Call. Proposals received after the due date and time specified in the Call shall be governed by the provisions of FAR 52.215-1(c)(3).

b) DO NOT SUBMIT CLASSIFIED INFORMATION IN THE PROPOSAL

c) There will be no other announcement issued for this requirement. Offerors MUST monitor FedBizOps/EPS (http://www.fbo.gov) in the event this announcement is amended or Calls are issued. Offerors must monitor these systems to ensure they receive the maximum proposal preparation time for subsequent Calls or amendments as this is the official notification vehicle to request proposals.

d) Potential offerors are requested to advise the Contracting Officer if they intend to submit a proposal in response to a Call. Such notification is merely a courtesy and is not a commitment by the offeror to submit a proposal.

e.) This BAA and associated Calls are expressions of interest only and do not commit the Government to pay for proposal preparation cost. The cost of preparing proposals in response to Calls placed pursuant to this BAA is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or to any other contract. However, it may be an allowable indirect expense as specified in FAR 31.205-18.

f.) Technical data, Non-Commercial Software (NCS) and DoD policy, per DFARS 227.7103-1, is to acquire only the technical data and the rights in that data, necessary to satisfy Government needs. In exchange for paying for development of the data, the Government expects technical data, NCS, and NCS documentation developed entirely at Government expense to be delivered with “Unlimited Rights” or a minimum of “Government Purpose Rights” for each contract awarded in response to this announcement. Data rights offered other than “Unlimited Rights,” as defined in DFARS 227.7103-5, should be identified in DFARS clause 252.227-7017, Identification and Assertion of Use, Release, or Disclosure Restrictions, and addressed in the business section of the cost proposal.

g.) There are no limits to the number of proposals an offeror may submit for any given Call (unless otherwise specified in the Call).

h.) You may be ineligible for award if all requirements of this announcement and requirements in the Call are not met by the proposal due date and time as identified in each Call.

2. Proposal Submission

a) Offerors should apply the restrictive notice prescribed in the provision of FAR 52.215-1(e) Instructions to Offerors—Competitive Acquisition. Properly marked proprietary information will be treated in accordance with DFARS 252.227-7016, Rights in Bid or Proposal Information.

b) Technical/management and cost volumes shall be submitted in separate volumes, and shall be valid for 180 days. Proposals must reference the BAA announcement number, the Call number, and include a unique Contractor-generated proposal identification number. Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or presentations beyond that sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal are not desired.

c) Submit with a cover letter, an original, three paper copies, and one electronic copy of the technical proposal and the cost/business proposal. The original and paper copies of technical and cost/business proposals must be in separate volumes. The electronic copy must be submitted on a compact disk (CD-R) in a PC-compatible file format and must be readable by Microsoft Office. The electronic copy of the cost proposal worksheets must be in Microsoft Office Excel 2007or later version and must contain all cell formulas.

d) Proposals should be submitted to the address identified in the Call. Proposals sent to any inappropriate address are ineligible for award. Proposals sent via facsimile or electronic means will not be accepted.

e) Offerors are advised that data included in the technical and cost/business proposals submitted to the Government (in response to this BAA) may be released to non-Government advisors for review and analysis. Any non-Government advisor will strictly serve in an advisory capacity only to the Government evaluators. Non-Government advisors will have appropriate Organizational Conflict of Interest clauses in their contracts with AFRL and will initiate any required Non-Disclosure Agreements. The use and identification of non-Government advisors will be identified in the Call. All offerors must clearly indicate in their proposals if they have any objections or concerns regarding the use of non-Government advisors.

3. Specific Proposal Preparation Instructions

a) Cover letter - A cover letter shall accompany each proposal. The cover letter will identify the BAA number, Call number, and Technical Area under which the proposal is submitted, a statement that the proposal is valid for 180 days (from the due date specified in the Call), provide technical and contracting points of contact, CAGE code, and include a statement indicating if the firm is a small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a), or woman-owned small business concern. The proposal must be signed and dated by an authorized official of the organization.

b) Technical Proposal:

1) Page Limitation: The Technical Proposal page limitation will be specified in each Call. The proposal will be prepared and submitted in Word format. Font shall be an easy to read font no smaller than 12 pitch or proportional font size 10 or larger. Character spacing must be “normal,” not condensed in any manner. Pages shall be double-spaced, single-sided, 8.5 by 11 inches, with at least one-inch margins on all sides. Smaller type may be used in figures and tables as long as it is clearly legible. Pages shall be numbered starting with the cover page as Page 1. The page limitation covers all information including indices, photographs, foldouts (counted as one page for each 8.5 by 11 portion) tables, charts, appendices, attachments, etc. Blank pages, title pages, tables of content, lists, tabs or cover sheets are not included in the page count. The proposal page limit does not include the offeror’s proposed Contractor Statement of Work (CSOW); however, the same formatting rules apply to the CSOW. A CD-R with the MS Word version of your Technical/Management Proposal and the CSOW must be submitted with the hard copies of the proposal, and must match the hard copy. Please note: The Government will check the proposal and CSOW for conformance to the stated requirements. Any pages in excess of the stated page limitation (after the format check) will not be considered.

2) Content: The proposal shall include a discussion of the nature and scope of the research and the technical approach. The technical proposal must convey an understanding of the problems or limitations of the general Technical Area and the intended application(s). The technical proposal shall include the following items.

i. Executive Summary: Describe the proposed program, objectives, and approach. A description of the innovation and benefits of the proposed approach and relationship to previous efforts should be discussed. It should summarize the technical issues addressed by the offeror’s proposal without repeating the requirements. This should provide a vision of what will ultimately be achieved and what solution this effort will produce.

ii. Program Description: Describe the techniques, methods, materials, or ideas that will be addressed in this proposal, their innovativeness, and to what degree they advance the state-of-the-art.

iii. Program Plan: Describe in detail the planned approach and how the plan will be executed. This section should include all technical aspects of the approach. Provide technical detail and analysis necessary to support the technical approach proposed. Clearly identify the core of the intended approach. The “new and creative” solution to the problem(s) should be developed and analyzed in this section. Include a risk assessment of key technical, schedule or cost areas and their potential impact on the program. Identify why proposed subcontractors were selected and what tasks they are to perform.

iv. Contractor’s Statement of Work (CSOW): The CSOW, a stand-alone document, should detail the research to be accomplished under the Technical Area and should be suitable for incorporation into the awarded document. The proposed CSOW should summarize the technical methodology and the task description, but not to the extent to make the awarded instrument inflexible. Do not include any proprietary information in the CSOW. Copies of our contracts may be requested under the Freedom of Information Act. Consequently, it is imperative that no company-sensitive information be included in the CSOW. For assistance in preparing the CSOW, refer to the http://www.kirtland.af.mil/prs site under Broad Agency Announcement Reference Documents, “Guide to Preparing Contractor Statements of Work”. The CSOW should include the anticipated deliverables (hardware, software, reports, etc.).

v. Milestone Chart: A Milestone Chart should indicate when specific objectives are expected to be met in the overall program schedule and should identify the specific accomplishments necessary to proceed to the next task. Provide a schedule of when the deliverable items identified in the Call are to be delivered.

vi. Facilities and Equipment description: Describe the facilities that can be used to achieve the goals of the program, in terms of manufacturing capability, testing facilities, and/or any relevant specialized equipment.

vii. Description of Relevant Prior Work: Provide a list of related previous or current Government, commercial, or internally funded work performed during the past five years. For each such effort, provide the principal investigator, title of effort, contract number, brief summary of results, dollar value, and a technical and contracting point of contact (including phone numbers), for the funding organizations.

viii. Management Plan: Offerors should provide an approach that demonstrates the ability to effectively and efficiently manage and administer the research program to a successful conclusion.

ix. Resumes of Proposed Personnel: Include resumes for all proposed personnel, consultants or subcontractors (that might be proposed). Provide Position Descriptions for any positions not filled at the time of proposal submittal.

c) Cost/Business Proposal:

(Review the industry guide instructions to see what tailoring is needed for your announcement) Separate the proposal into a business section and cost section.

1) Business Section: The business section should contain all business aspects to the proposed contract, such as type of contractual instrument, any exceptions to terms and conditions of the announcement or the Call, any information not technically related, etc. Provide rationale for exceptions. As a goal, offerors are requested to keep the business section to 20 pages. This section should include the following items:

a. Completed Proposal Content Checklist (provided at the Call level)

b. Completed Representations and Certifications and any specific representations and certification identified in a Call.

c. Prospective offerors are to identify any foreign nationals that are anticipated to be working on the project, both at the Contractor and subcontractor level. Information required includes, but is not limited to, place of origin, current status (copy of documentation required), and provide an explanation of their anticipated level of involvement on the proposed effort.

2) Cost Section: Cost proposal instructions for FAR will be provided at the Call level. Adequate Price Competition is determined not to exist because the absence of precise Government specifications and varying technical approaches proposed for R&D efforts. The Government will require certified cost or pricing data from the offeror whose proposal exceeds the thresholds listed at FAR 15.403-4. Submit the electronic copy of the cost proposal worksheets on a compact disk (CD-R) in a PC-compatible file format in Microsoft Office Excel 2007 or later version. The file must contain all cell formulas. Cost proposals have no page limitations.

d) Proposal Content Summary: You may be ineligible for award if all requirements of this solicitation are not met on the proposal due date. Failure to provide a complete proposal may result in a determination that the proposal is non-responsive and may be eliminated from consideration for award.

e) Submission Dates, Times and Address: Will be posted in the Call. Proposals received after the due date and time specified shall be governed by the…