Cyber Quest 2022 BAAv5 30 April 2021.docx

Cyber Quest 2022: Broad Agency Announcement Cyber Battle Laboratory, Army Futures Command

Defeating capable enemies in the future requires Army maneuver forces to expand the concept of combined arms to include employing capabilities in all five domains - land, air, cyberspace, space, and maritime. Army Futures Command seeks government, industry, and academia partners interested in demonstrating solutions which address experiment objectives to inform capability development requirements for Multi-Domain Operations, Organizational and Operational Concepts, and Cross Functional Team priorities. Cross-domain maneuver is the employment of mutually supporting lethal and nonlethal capabilities in multiple domains to create a synergistic effect that increases relative combat power and provides Army maneuver forces with the overmatch necessary to destroy or defeat enemy forces. Join our team on Cyber Quest 2022, with opportunities to showcase your innovative technology which will be used by Soldiers. We are looking for the following technologies: software/hardware, sensors, radios, automation, robotics, optics, or drones. Learn, identify, and improve your technology concepts through partnership with various Army agencies and personnel.

US Government is not obligated by this BAA. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the preparation of information provided in the white papers. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any legal purpose deemed necessary. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. The information provided will be used to assess the respondent's ability to address the objectives called for in this BAA. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. This is not an announcement of an acquisition solicitation.

Contents

Cyber Quest 2022: Broad Agency Announcement

List of Abbreviations

Executive Summary Army Futures Command and the Cyber Center of Excellence invite government, industry, and academia partners to showcase their emerging cyber, electronic warfare, intelligence, and networking technologies at Cyber Quest 2022. Entering its seventh year, Cyber Quest is an annual event, providing a unique, realistic, operationally-based environment in order to inform technical solutions and materiel changes for critical capability gaps facing Cyber, Electronic Warfare, and Signal operational forces. The experiment will drive requirements definition, inform rapid acquisition initiatives and support acquisition risk reduction activities. Cyber Quest 2022 is conducted in partnership with the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE) 2022, at Fort Benning, GA. This allows technologies and concepts to be assessed from the disadvantaged tactical user at the small unit, to echelons above brigade.

Introduction Background The character of warfare is changing. Future conflicts will not solely be fought in the physical domain. The virtual domains of cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) are increasingly becoming decisive battlegrounds for current battles. The Army is addressing the demands of this increasingly complex battlespace by developing capabilities to compete and win in Multi-Domain Operations (MDO).

To accelerate its modernization, the Army has instituted four annual Army Live Prototyping Assessments (ALPA): AEWE, Cyber Quest, Maneuver Fires Integration Experiment (MFIX), and Maneuver Support Sustainment Protection Integration Experiment (MSSPIX). These events provide the platform for government, industry, and academia partners to demonstrate technologies which address MDO aligned capability gaps. Army Futures Command’s (AFC) Cyber Battle Laboratory (CBL) has been tasked to identify those partners interested in demonstrating solutions capable of addressing the Army’s MDO Cyber, Signal, Electronic warfare (EW) and Intelligence capability gaps at Cyber Quest (CQ) 2022.

Army Live Prototyping Assessment: Cyber Quest Focused at the brigade and above level, CQ is the ALPA event challenged with assessing innovative Cyber, Electronic Warfare (EW), Intelligence and Networking solutions/technologies. Conducted at Fort Gordon, GA, CQ provides the environment required to demonstrate technologies which can potentially make the Army MDO capable by 2028. The outcome will inform the capability development requirements for MDO, Organizational and Operational (O&O) Concepts, and Cross Functional Team (CFT) priorities.

Commencing its seventh year, CQ22 will partner with it sister ALPA event, AEWE 2022. AEWE focuses on examining new concepts and prototype technologies which enhance soldier and small unit (company and below) capabilities. Therefore the partnership between the AEWE and CQ enables MDO concepts to be experimented from the disadvantaged tactical user to echelons above brigade.

Cyber Quest 2022 Intent The CBL will host CQ22 in March 2022. It will provide the premier experimentation platform for the Army’s capability development community to examine technologies and concepts designed to address solutions for MDO cross-domain maneuver at the brigade and above level. It will partner with AEWE 2022 and exploit, where possible, opportunities to experiment with capabilities at the small tactical unit level (battalion and below).

Focus Areas CQ22 seeks to address the problem statements contained in Enclosure 1. Partners with solution(s) capable of addressing, in whole or in part, these problems are encouraged to respond.

Outcomes The successful outcome is the identification of requirements leading to the utilization of those technologies or concepts in an MDO capable Army.

Cyber Quest 2022 Conduct CQ22 offers a unique opportunity for both the Army and its partners to learn which concepts and technologies enable a winning, MDO capable force. CQ consists of the following phases.

Phase 1: Technology Selection Initiated by this BAA, partners’ technologies will be selected for assessment. Section 4 provides submission instructions and an overview of the technology selection process.

Phase 2: Assessment Development The CBL provides a realistic representation of a deployed network engaged in a MDO battle. Selected partners will work with our technical experts to design and develop the integration activities necessary to use their technology within this environment. Concurrently, the assessment criteria will be created to allow a framework for experimentation to be conducted.

Phase 3: Integration and Risk Reduction To ensure successful utilization of selected technologies, the CBL and participating partners will undertake a period of integrating assessment technologies onto the CBL’s network. Following successful integration, technologies will undergo a risk reduction exercise to evaluate their functionality in a MDO battlespace. This serves as a period of initial experimentation.

Phase 4: Live Experimentation Once integration is complete, live experimentation will be conducted using operational forces provided by Forces Command (FORSCOM) in order to create an operationally realistic environment. This provides a unique opportunity for partners to gain direct soldier feedback and determine the value of a technology for its intended users.

Phase 5: Exploitation Data gained from this experimentation will be included in a CQ22 technology assessment report that will inform industry partners and the Army’s capability development community.

Participation and White Paper Submission Vendor and Academic Community The following organizations may submit White Papers: colleges and universities, non-profit research institutions, commercial firms, small business, small disadvantaged business concerns, historically black colleges and universities, and minority business enterprises and institutions. Collaboration among vendors and academia is highly encouraged.

Vendors are not required to provide a turnkey solution for all areas of interest. Niche systems that provide a critical capability in the key areas of interest will be considered. Vendors will be required to sign a Vendor Demonstration Agreement (VDA) and support CQ22 planning and execution events at their own cost.

To participate in CQ22, vendors are invited to examine Enclosure 1: Experiment Focus Areas. Should you possess a capability which addresses – in whole or in part – the need outlined within Enclosure 1, please follow the guidance in Enclosure 2: Submitter’s Guide to submit a white paper for review.

DOD Participation The Cyber Battle Lab, Intelligence Battle Lab, Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER), Cyber Protection Brigade (CPB), Army Capabilities Manager (ACM) Cyber, ACM EW, ACM TR, ACM N&S, Requirements and Integration Division (RID), Capabilities and Analysis Division (CAD), the Army acquisition community (Cross Functional Teams), and other appropriate organizations will be participating in this effort. Other federal and non-federal organizations may be invited to observe CQ22.

Contractor Support.

The Government may use contracted personnel to provide administrative assistance to federal employees regarding all aspects of any actions ensuing from this announcement, including the evaluation of white papers and subsequent proposals. However, federal employees will be responsible for actual reviews and evaluations. Government support contractors will be bound by appropriate non-disclosure agreements (NDA) to protect proprietary and source-selection information. They are not permitted to release any source-selection information to third parties, including others in their organization. By submission of a whitepaper, offerors are hereby granting support contractors access to financial, confidential, proprietary, and/or trade secret markings.

Administration Key Events Key planning dates are listed below.

Cyber Quest Virtual Industry Day –20 May 21[footnoteRef:1]. [1: Any parties interested in attending the Virtual Industry Day should inform Mr. Horace Carney or Major Pye NLT 17 May 21 to receive an invitation. Contact details are at section 4-6.]

Deadline for White Paper submissions – 15 June 21.

Technology selection and vendor notifications – 21– 30 June 21.

Initial Planning Meeting – 13 -16 Jul 21 Technology Integration Phase – Aug - Oct 21 Mid-Planning Meeting/Coordinated Working Group #1 – tentative: 26-30 October 21.

Final-Planning Meeting/Coordinated Working Group #2 – tentative: 4-8 January 22.

Cyber Quest Experimentation and Execution – 22 Feb – 8 March 22 Cyber Quest DV Day – tentative: 11 March 22.

Points of contact Any questions on the submission process should be directed to LTC William Heitzman, (william.l.heitzman.mil@mail.mil) or Mr. Horace Carney (horace.r.carney.civ@mail.mil) or MAJ Benjamin Pye, AUS Exchange Officer, (benjamin.j.pye.fm@mail.mil). Questions pertaining to the BAA electronic posting should be directed to Ms. Tara McAdoo (tara.l.mcadoo.civ@mail.mil), Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Gordon GA, (706) 791-1812. All submission forms should be sent to Ms. Tamiko Brown (tamiko.l.brown2.civ@mail.mil).

List of Enclosures Enclosure 1: CQ22 Experiment Focus Areas Enclosure 2: CQ22 Submitters Guide Enclosure 3: CQ22 White Paper Template (Required for submission) Enclosure 4: CQ22 Quad Chard Template (Required for submission) image1.png