DARPA-BAA-12-41 ViSAR Q A.pdf

DARPA-BAA-12-41 ViSAR

Questions and Answers

May 22, 2012

Q1: What is the envisioned total program cost for BAA1, BAA2 and/or total over the year’s through FY2016?

A1: The total funds available for funding proposals for BAA1 and BAA2 will be determined based on the quality of the proposals received.

Q2: TA4 Advanced Algorithm awards will be significantly smaller than other tech areas. This might imply that Abstract/Proposal requirements can be minimized?

A2: Abstracts should be provided in a length suitable to describe the technical approach and scope. It is not necessary to use all of the allowed abstract length.

Q3: The BAA states that notice “acceptance” of an Abstract will be provided 30 days after Abstract submission. This would allow only 8 days to prepare and submit a proposal by the due date, unless an organization chooses to invest in a proposal “at risk.” Is it possible to get earlier feedback on the Abstracts? Or alternately, can DARPA extend the proposal due date so that we have 30 days to write the proposal after getting abstract feedback?

A3: The dates for proposal submission have been updated.

Q4: In the last paragraph of the description of TA3 in the BAA document (page 8), there is the statement:

"...those granted a contract of this technical area will not be considered for competition of the system development and demonstration."

If we are proposing to TA3, with no intention of competing for the system development and demonstration, does this clause flow down to a potential subcontractors? That is, if we wish to utilize another company's expertise in say atmospheric modeling at these frequencies, and have them on our team as a subcontractor, would they then be ineligible to compete for the system development and demonstration?

A4: Yes, if a Performer is awarded a subcontract on TA3, that would prevent that organization from being considered for the system development BAA award later this fall.

I would rather have the answer be: “ It is the Government’s intent to use the synthetic scene simulation for demonstration purposes, thus all team members be separated from the system developer teams.

Q5: Is Grants.gov an option for submitting the abstract or proposal on this BAA?

A5: Submissions are not being accepted through grants.gov seeing as grants are not a viable option for awards under this program.

Q6: For the abstract, under paragraph 4.1.1.1 Cover Sheet item 10 states to include the funds requested for each phase proposal and the total funding. The note after item 11, states that you may want to eliminate funding information. Is funding information required for the Abstract submission?

A6: Funding information is not required but may help to describe the scale of the intended effort.

Q7: What feedback should be expected from the abstracts?

A7: Feedback will either recommend a proposal submission, recommend submission with emphasis on specific technical issues, recommend proposal not be submitted unless specific technical issues are addressed, or recommend no submission.

Q8: If you have approaches to address all TA's, can we propose just one proposal for all TAs or standalone proposals?

A8: Each proposal should be restricted to an individual Technical Area. Organizations may submit proposals against multiple Technical Areas.

Q9: Are specs available on TA2 with respect to gain?

A9: The saturated gain is defined in the FOUO addendum.

Q10: What is the expected funding per TA and the expected unit costs?

A10: The funding per TA will be based on available funding and the quality of the proposals accepted for award.

Q11: Will there be a database available (low frame rates)? Is data collection from sensors expected?

A11: No databases have been identified to be provided by the government to support proposals against this BAA.

Q12: Any interest in low cost proposal providing sensor data (database)?

A12: Not as a response to this BAA

Q13: There was talk about helicopters; could you address other platforms under this BAA?

A13: The current program is not addressing helicopters.

Q14: Can you please give clarification on the exciter/receiver - up/down converter?

A14: The noise figure (NF) as defined for the receiver is the Single Sideband (SSB) noise figure since we are developing an active system. The spur free dynamic range of the receiver operating over the defined instantaneous bandwidth must be better than 40dB.