DARPA-BAA-14-52.pdf

DARPA-BAA-14-52 MDP 1

Broad Agency Announcement

Materials Development for Platforms (MDP)

Defense Sciences Office

DARPA-BAA-14-52

August 7, 2014

DARPA-BAA-14-52 MDP 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I: OVERVIEW INFORMATION

PART II: FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

B. PROGRAM INTEGRATION AND INTERACTION BETWEEN TECHNICAL AREAS

C. MDP TECHNICAL AREAS

1. MDP TA1: Engineering, Design, Analysis and Iterative Material/Structure Characterization

2. MDP TA2: Materials and Processing Science, Integrated Computational Material Engineering (ICME), and Manufacturing

3. MDP TA3: Informatics, Analytics, Data Fusion, and Data Mining

4. MDP TA4: Metrology for Screening Hypersonic Materials

D. OPERATIONAL BASELINE

1. MDP Representative Hypersonic Boost-Glide Flight Conditions

2. Hot-Structure Aeroshell Sub-element Design Configuration Constraints

3. Hot-Structure Aeroshell Performance Parameters

E. INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION (IV&V)

F. SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS

G. MEETING AND TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. AWARDS

B. FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

B. PROCUREMENT INTEGRITY, STANDARDS OF CONDUCT, ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS, AND

ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

C. COST SHARING/MATCHING

D. OTHER ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

E. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE

1. Requesting the BAA Addendum

F. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

1. Security and Proprietary Issues

2. Abstract Information

3. Full Proposal Information

4. Submission Dates and Times

5. Funding Restrictions

6. Other Submission Requirements

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. EVALUATION CRITERIA

B. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. SELECTION NOTICES

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B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

1. Intellectual Property

2. Human Subjects Research

3. Animal Use

4. Export Control

5. Electronic and Information Technology

6. Employment Eligibility Verification

7. System for Award Management (SAM) and Universal Identifier Requirements

8. Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards

9. Updates of Information Regarding Responsibility Matters

10. Representations by Corporations Regarding an Unpaid Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under any Federal Law – Fiscal Year 2014 Appropriations (Deviation 2014-O0004)

11. Representation by Corporations Regarding an Unpaid Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under any Federal Law—Fiscal Year 2014 Appropriations (Deviation 2014-O0009)

12. Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Notices and Certification

13. Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) on Non-DoD Information Systems

14. Safeguarding of Unclassified Controlled Technical Information

C. REPORTING

1. Technical and Financial Reports

2. Representations and Certifications

3. Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF)

4. i-Edison

VII. AGENCY CONTACTS

VIII. OTHER INFORMATION

A. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS)

B. COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS/TEAMING

C. SAMPLE ASSOCIATE CONTRACTOR AGREEMENT CLAUSE

APPENDIX A: SAMPLE CONTRACT COST ELEMENT SUMMARY SHEET

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PART I: OVERVIEW INFORMATION

• Federal Agency Name – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Defense Sciences Office (DSO)

• Funding Opportunity Title – Materials Development for Platforms (MDP)

• Announcement Type – Initial Announcement

• Funding Opportunity Number – DARPA-BAA-14-52

• Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number – Not applicable

• Dates o Posting Date – August 7, 2014 o Abstract Due Date – August 19, 2014, 4:00 p.m. (ET) o Teaming Profile Due Date – August 15, 2014, 4:00 p.m. (ET) o Full Proposal Due Date – October 2, 2014, 4:00 p.m. (ET) o Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) Deadline – September 26, 2014, 4:00 p.m. (ET)

Concise description of the funding opportunity – The Materials Development for Platforms (MDP) program aims to develop a methodology and toolset to compress the applied material development sequence from 10+ years to roughly 2.5 years. Applied material development will be conducted by: (a) establishing a cross-disciplinary construct that incorporates materials science, Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME), engineering, design, analysis, and manufacturing; and (b) establishing and implementing a new materials development methodology that is guided by “design intent” and incorporates manufacturing technology. The materials development efforts in MDP will be applied to a hypersonic boost-glide hot structure aeroshell use case. Rapid assessment, optimization, and maturation of material systems and designs that meet platform design intent and manufacturability requirements will be conducted. Fabricated sub-elements will be tested in Government-established testbed(s), and the MDP materials development methodology will be assessed. The MDP program will be arranged into the following four separate Technical Areas (TAs):

o TA1: Engineering, Design, Analysis, and Iterative Material/Structure

Characterization o TA2: Materials and Processing Science, Manufacturing, and Materials Modeling o TA3: Informatics, Analytics, Data Fusion, and Data Mining o TA4: Metrology for Screening Hypersonic Materials

The motivation for the separate TAs is to develop and demonstrate the capability to have different designers, materials scientists and engineers, and manufacturing engineers from different organizations work collectively to meet the MDP objectives.

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• Anticipated individual awards –DARPA anticipates one performer in TA1, and one to two performers in TA2, TA3, and TA4.

• Types of instruments that may be awarded – DARPA anticipates only awarding procurement contracts under this BAA.

• Technical Area Collaboration – Throughout development of MDP methodologies and materials systems, it will be necessary for all performers to participate in establishing design intent, establishing material system maturation paths, coordination of milestones, and development of material systems and designs. To facilitate open sharing of data generated under and relevant to the program, as well as collaboration among the Technical Areas, all proposers must be prepared to enter into Associate Contractor Agreements (ACAs) with other MDP performers. An ACA is an agreement between performers that specifies requirements for the performers to share information, data, technical knowledge, expertise, and/or resources. See Section I.B for more information.

• Teaming Information – Teaming is encouraged. See Section VIII.B for information on facilitating the formation of teams with the necessary expertise.

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – DARPA will post Frequently Asked Questions

(FAQ) to http://www.darpa.mil/Opportunities/Solicitations/DSO_Solicitations.aspx, on an ongoing basis until the BAA expiration date as stated herein.

• Agency contacts o Technical POC: Mick Maher, Program Manager, DARPA/DSO o Solicitation Email: MDP@darpa.mil o Solicitation Mailing Address:

DARPA/DSO

ATTN: DARPA-BAA-14-52

675 North Randolph Street Arlington, VA 22203-2114 o DSO Solicitation Website:

http://www.darpa.mil/Opportunities/Solicitations/DSO_Solicitations.aspx mailto:MDP@darpa.mil

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PART II: FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) often selects its research efforts through the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) process. This BAA is being issued, and any resultant selection will be made, using procedures under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

35.016. Any negotiations and/or awards will use procedures under FAR 15.4, Contract Pricing, as specified in the BAA. Proposals received as a result of this BAA shall be evaluated in accordance with evaluation criteria specified herein through a scientific review process.

DARPA BAAs are posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website, https://www.fbo.gov/. The following information is for those wishing to respond to the BAA.

DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals of interest to defense and national security.

Specifically excluded is research that results primarily in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of the art.

A. Introduction and Overview

The Materials Development for Platforms (MDP) program aims to develop a methodology and toolset to transform the applied material development sequence, to compress the cycle length from 10+ years to roughly 2.5 years. Here, applied material development is defined as maturation of a new material from proof of concept (i.e., from where feasibility has been demonstrated) to prototype demonstration in a relevant environment (i.e., to a maturity level where the material technology can be inserted into a new platform program of record). The foundational MDP assertion is the applied material development sequence takes 10+ years, and that this duration prevents platform programs from using new materials. Further, compression of the sequence does not occur because current materials development efforts are poorly informed of applications and platform needs, and this poor tie results in material exploration guided by scientific curiosity instead of a strong technology pull towards a well-defined application. The penalty for this extended material development sequence is that platform programs are extremely reluctant to adopt new material technologies, and platform designers most often default to mature materials with decades of heritage. This limits the trade space and capability of advanced defense systems, as exemplified by the current limitations in hypersonic platforms. For hypersonic platforms, heritage materials are asked to perform at their extreme thermal-chemical-mechanical limits, and the use of heritage materials severely limits the design space for hypersonic platforms.

MDP aims to compress the applied material development sequence by:

a) Establishing a cross-disciplinary construct that incorporates the fundamental materials science and engineering discipline, and the platform development disciplines of engineering, design, analysis, and manufacturing. In addition, MDP requires Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) to be incorporated into the material development process, with focus placed on true ICME principles (i.e., using modeling https://www.fbo.gov/

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and simulation as a tool to guide material development, rather than efforts solely to improve the fidelity and accuracy of models and simulations).

b) Establishing and implementing a new materials development methodology that is guided by “design intent” rather than design requirements. In addition, the new methodology needs to incorporate manufacturing technology capabilities and constraints as part of the development cycle. It is anticipated that the methodology developed in MDP will conduct rapid assessment, optimization, and maturation of material systems and designs to meet platform design intent and manufacturability requirements.

The materials development efforts in MDP will be applied to hypersonic boost-glide platforms, where maturation of new materials is a particularly significant need. More specifically, the program will develop new material systems for hypersonic boost-glide hot structure aeroshell.

Representative boost-glide flight parameters are provided in an addendum to this BAA.1 These parameters are to be used to establish design intent and to guide testing and validation. Design configuration constraints (e.g., geometry, area, thickness, and vehicle integration artifacts) and performance parameters (e.g., thermo-structural response, ablation rate, and internal temperature) are also provided. The MDP material development approach will be applied to develop hypersonic boost-glide hot structure aeroshell material systems based on examination of the flight needs. The capabilities and constraints of platform level manufacturing technologies will be addressed to enable future scale-up in size and geometric complexity. Boost-glide hot structure aeroshell sub-elements will be fabricated, incorporating relevant vehicle integration artifacts. The sub-elements and methodology will be validated, and the methodology’s value demonstrated. Independent testing in operationally relevant environments and independent assessment will be provided by DARPA.

The MDP approaches and technologies will be used to rapidly assess, optimize and mature hypersonic boost-glide hot structure aeroshell material systems, guided by design intent, and manufacturability requirements. Design intent (as opposed to design parameters) depends on system performance requirements. Developing new materials based on design intent will allow the materials developers and designers to collaborate and optimize the final solution based on the attributes of the material systems under consideration and the performance needs. For example, if a designer wants to increase the operating temperature of an existing metallic system beyond the metal melting point, then a ceramic system might be considered and will require a new design to take full advantage of the unique mechanical and thermal properties of the ceramic systems (a one-for-one substitution would be a mistake because the original design was optimized for a dramatically different class of material). Applying the MDP program philosophy, the component designer and ceramic materials engineer would work together to provide an optimal design that takes advantage of the ceramic attributes. The process would be dynamic, possibly having many iterative tests and redesigns to mature the material system and provide the designer the confidence that all of the material’s characteristics (intended and unintended) are understood.

Success at the end of the program will be an established, verified, validated, and documented methodology/framework that provides a new material development capability, with quantifiable

1 See Section IV.A.1 for instructions on requesting the addendum.

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timeline benefit for material development cycle. In addition, a suite of new yet mature materials enabling enhanced hypersonic system capability will be demonstrated and validated.

The MDP program will be arranged into the following four separate Technical Areas (TAs):

• TA1: Engineering, Design, Analysis, and Iterative Material/Structure Characterization

• TA2: Materials and Processing Science, Manufacturing, and Materials Modeling

• TA3: Informatics, Analytics, Data Fusion, and Data Mining

• TA4: Metrology for Screening Hypersonic Materials

MDP solicits proposals in these four TAs covering a 30-month period of performance. However, if appropriate for their research, TA4 proposals may address a shorter period of performance.

While proposers may submit to (and receive awards in) multiple TAs, proposals are limited to one TA (i.e., separate proposals must be submitted for each TA). The goal for the separate TAs is to develop and demonstrate the capability to have different designers, materials scientists, materials engineers, and manufacturing engineers from different organizations work collectively to meet the MDP objectives. TA1 and TA2 are considered critical to the success of MDP. TA3 and TA4 are considered secondary areas that, if successful, can be leveraged to aid TA1 and TA2. It is anticipated that the TA1 performer will be the integrator for technologies developed under the other MDP technical areas, and this performer will generate the new MDP methodology for conducting cross-disciplinary materials development with a compressed timeline. In addition, proposals to one TA should address how their effort will integrate into other TAs. Details should include what pertinent information needs to be developed and what information needs to be integrated into other TAs. Since all MDP performers will be expected to work cooperatively with one another, proposers should carefully review the expectations for all four TAs in order to fully understand the context of their TA as well as the overall program structure.

The four MDP TAs will be integrated at the onset of the program and, over the course of the program, will design, develop, fabricate and evaluate boost-glide sub-elements incorporating new MDP material systems. Final material system and design performance will be validated in operationally relevant thermo-chemical-mechanical environments in Government-established independent testbeds. The MDP methodology will be assessed, and implications to materials development and platform development will be identified.

Performers in all of the above Technical Areas will be expected to execute tasks under the general oversight of a Government Team (comprised of the DARPA Program Manager and Contracting Officers’ Representatives (CORs) who are assisted by Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETAs) contractors) and support test evaluations conducted by the Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Team described in Section I.E.

B. Program Integration and Interaction between Technical Areas

TAs 1 through 4 are aimed at compressing the applied materials development sequence through informed design intent, fundamental materials considerations, and fully-integrated manufacturing technologies. All awardees will be required to work collaboratively with awardees from the

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other three TAs to develop a fully integrated MDP hypersonic solution. For example, TA2 awardees will need to integrate with awardees from TAs 1, 3 and 4, but not other TA2 awardees (if any such multiple awards are made). All proposals must clearly describe plans for interfacing and integrating their proposed technologies/approaches with the performers in the other TAs.

To facilitate collaboration, all performer contracts will include an Associate Contractor Agreement (ACA) clause for portions of the contracts requiring joint participation between the TAs in the accomplishment of the MDP program requirements. This provision will become a material requirement for any contacts awarded as a result of this BAA. The ACA clause will include the basis for sharing information, data, technical knowledge, expertise and/or resources essential to the integration of the MDP program technical areas and components. This clause will ensure appropriate coordination and integration of work by MDP contractors, ensure complete compatibility between data, tools and services, and prevent unnecessary duplication of efforts and maximize commonality.2 Without exception, all ACAs must be in place within three months of contract award.

Throughout development of MDP methodologies and materials systems, it will be necessary for all performers to participate in establishing design intent, establishing material system maturation paths, coordination of milestones, and development of material systems and designs. This rapid path is expected to require open and frequent sharing of data generated under and relevant to the program. This data sharing includes, but is not limited to the following: raw and processed experimental data, processing methods used, algorithms used to process the data, artifact information, research reports, and software including source code and executables.

A key goal of the program is to establish a framework to develop a methodology and toolset to compress the applied material development sequence. This will facilitate rapid innovation by providing a base for future users or developers of program technologies and deliverables.

Therefore, it is desired that all technical data, hardware designs and documentation, noncommercial software (including source code), and software documentation generated by the program be provided as deliverables to the Government, with a minimum of Government Purpose Rights (GPR), as lesser rights may adversely impact the lifecycle costs of affected items, components, or processes. See Section VI.B.1 for more details on intellectual property.

C. MDP Technical Areas

1. MDP TA1: Engineering, Design, Analysis and Iterative Material/Structure Characterization

DARPA anticipates only making one TA1 award. The TA1 awardee will act as an integrator, bringing together and assembling materials, methods and tools developed in all of the MDP TAs.

TA1 proposers will need to clearly define their approach to developing design intent parameters based on the DARPA-provided representative boost-glide flight parameters (described in the BAA Addendum). TA1 proposers need to outline an approach to establish and implement a framework and techniques for informing materials and manufacturing disciplines with design intent (rather than specific design parameters). Proposers must outline an approach for forming a

2 See Section VIII.D for a sample ACA clause.

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final MDP framework that integrates tools and methodologies developed in the other three TAs.

The framework should also incorporate a methodology for coupling materials, processing, design, analysis, ICME tools, and manufacturing. In addition, proposals to TA1 should define an approach for leveraging state-of-art aero-thermal-chemical-mechanical tools and techniques to generate sub-element designs based on the MDP representative boost-glide flight parameters (described in Section I.D and the BAA Addendum) and output from TA2, TA3, and TA4. The TA1 awardee will therefore be expected to merge top-down systems engineering approaches with the bottoms-up approaches of materials development, while accounting for manufacturing technology. The approach should describe how rapid testing, characterization, assessment and optimization of varying material systems with varying designs will be conducted. In addition, TA1 proposals should substantiate how their approach will accomplish the goal of a compressed materials development timeline. Proposers to TA1 should assume a 30-month period of performance to rapidly mature, fabricate and test material systems from TA2 and to leverage outputs from TA3 and TA4.

A preliminary cost model and schedule plan that addresses manufacturing scale-up in size and geometric complexity should be included. This plan should show how the 30-month sub-element material system and design developed under the MDP effort can be extrapolated to even larger size-scales and higher geometric complexity. As part of this plan, a detailed explanation for how the larger scale MDP material system will work with designers from a program of record for integration onto a future platform should be included.

TA1 proposers must describe in some detail their prior qualifications in carrying out an integrated, multidisciplinary effort. Emphasis must be placed on substantiating that the proposed methodology will be demonstrated to the benefit of hypersonic systems. TA1 proposals must substantiate that proposed individuals provide comprehensive technical expertise and leadership among the disciplines captured in the TA. Proposals must explain how intermediate results will be generated, and how progress will be measured. Milestones and Deliverables must be proposed that at minimum outline: generation of design intent, generation of initial materials solutions, generation of sub-element data, integration of material-process-design tools, optimization of the MDP material-design-process, periodic testing and assessment of materials, leveraging potential information provided by TA3 and 4 performers, generation of sub-element designs, and support of Government testing. For cost estimation purposes, TA1 proposers should anticipate one to two awardees in each of the other three TAs.

2. MDP TA2: Materials and Processing Science, Integrated Computational Material Engineering (ICME), and Manufacturing

TA2 proposers will need to define an innovative hot structure aeroshell materials system to meet the needs of the MDP representative boost-glide flight parameters (described in Section I.D and the BAA Addendum). New material systems must be supported by foundational principles of materials and processing science at multiple size-scales. Proposers need to outline an approach to collaboratively (with other TAs) mature the proposed material system that can satisfy the design intent of the representative boost-glide flight profile. A technical discussion should be included that provides enough scientific and engineering data to justify the material selection against the design intent. Proposals need to outline how the materials developer will work with

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the designer (i.e., the TA1 integrator) to accelerate the maturation of the proposed material systems. This should include test and evaluation schedules to determine progress against intermediate material property goals. These intermediate property goals need to be defined and supported with technical details. The final material system will be fabricated into a sub-element and delivered to the Government testbed for testing in a relevant environment.

The TA2 performer(s) will develop and/or assemble a materials, processing, and design toolset for meaningful prediction of process-microstructure-property-performance relationships of their chosen material system. True ICME principles must be adopted, utilized, and incorporated into the material development process; this does not necessarily mean development of more accurate and higher fidelity models, but does require the use of models as tools to enable rapid material development. ICME efforts must consider standard Verification, Validation, and Uncertainty Quantification (VV&UQ) practices so that errors and tool maturity levels are understood.

Proposers to TA2 need to consider manufacturability when making material selection and provide details on current as well as future manufacturing capability. More specifically, the capabilities and constraints of platform-level manufacturing technologies must be addressed, to enable future scale-up in size and geometric complexity. Manufacturing scale-up of new material systems is typically complicated by poorly-understood and poorly-controlled manufacturing variability; proposers must consider comprehensive monitoring and capture of the processing and manufacturing parameters, and probabilistic computational approaches for prediction and control of scale-up variability. Proposers are encouraged to reference and leverage the philosophies developed in DARPA’s Open Manufacturing program.3

At the end of the 30-month period, a hypersonic boost-glide hot structure aeroshell sub-element that incorporates relevant vehicle integration concepts will be fabricated, delivered, and tested at a Government established independent testbed for validation. The sub-element will be designed during the program through collaborative inter-TA efforts.

Proposals must include a preliminary business plan (cost and schedule) that addresses manufacturing scale-up in size and geometric complexity. This plan should show how the 30-month sub-element material system and design developed under the MDP effort can be extrapolated to even larger size-scales and higher geometric complexity. As part of this plan, a detailed explanation for how the larger scale MDP material system will work with designers from a program of record for integration onto a future platform.

Proposers must provide Milestones and Deliverables that address, at minimum, the generation of design intent, generation of an initial materials solution, generation of sub-element data, demonstration of initial ICME toolset, optimization of material-design-process, interactive (i.e., inter-TA) generation of sub-element design, fabrication of sub-element, transfer of sub-element to Government test facility, and support of Government testing.

3 See “Open Manufacturing Strategy for Accelerating Metals Additive Manufacturing” posted under “Additional Information” at http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/DSO/Programs/Open_Manufacturing.aspx.

http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/DSO/Programs/Open_Manufacturing.aspx

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3. MDP TA3: Informatics, Analytics, Data Fusion, and Data Mining

For TA3, proposers must define a suite of material informatics and analytics tools that will be developed and/or leveraged to collaboratively extract parametric process-material-property-performance insights from new (and potentially legacy) data. These techniques must provide an alternative to first principles predictions of material behavior that is currently impractical or impossible due to the complexity of multi-scale physics and computational intensity required.

Further, these techniques will enable coupling of disparate materials data sources and modalities (e.g., microstructural images, thermodynamic databases, measured physical properties, and measured processing parameters) that are typically only linked heuristically. The proposed material informatics techniques must provide new and substantive materials insights (with emphasis on informing the materials development process), must quantitatively inform further experimental activity, and must provide a method for quantification and management of uncertainty. While it is anticipated that some of these techniques may also be proposed as components of TA2 proposals, there is an expectation that materials informatics may also be of value as discrete proposed efforts in TA3.

Proposers to TA3 must identify the following: (a) data they anticipate receiving from other TA efforts; (b) any existing material databases they intend to leverage; (c) materials informatics techniques that will be developed and/or exercised; and (d) how the techniques will be used collaboratively and iteratively to extract new material insights. In addition, TA3 proposers must be prepared to receive data from past hypersonic boost-glide missions, and to perform data mining operations towards prediction of observed outcomes and elicitation of new insights. TA3 proposals must provide Milestones and Deliverables that, at minimum, account for technology development, establishing databases, obtaining data and technical information from other TAs, generating new material insights, and informing other TAs with new material insights.

4. MDP TA4: Metrology for Screening Hypersonic Materials

Proposers to TA4 will develop new measurement techniques to extract behavior of materials under relevant hypersonic boost-glide operational conditions. New techniques should overcome the following critical weaknesses of existing hypersonic material test methods:

a) The more cost- and time-efficient characterization techniques provide a poor representation of the hypersonic environment and/or are unable to accurately measure in-situ conditions. For example, heating to operational temperatures in an oven with an air environment neglects operational heat fluxes, pressure and mass flow rates. Laser heat sources may provide adequate heat flux levels, but pressure and mass flow rates are not recreated. Further, surface temperature and heat flux measurement techniques are limited by calibration challenges and poor accuracy.

b) Operationally relevant characterization techniques are cost and time prohibitive. For example, high enthalpy arc-jet facilities are expensive and difficult to schedule. While they are a viable solution for validating platform designs in preparation for flight, they are too expensive for widespread materials screening and for studying fundamental material-environment interactions.

TA4 seeks testing technologies that provide representative hypersonic boost-glide (and cruise)

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conditions4 and extract relevant material behavior. Considerations of heat flux, surface temperature, gas composition, pressure, mass flow rates, and testing duration must be addressed, and these considerations are likely to be influenced by work conducted in TA1. Emphasis must be placed on characterization of material systems (i.e., materials screening) at subscale levels, and will also focus on affordability and rapidity. Providing an enhanced ability to build fundamental understanding of material-environment interactions is also encouraged.

Proposals must show how new metrology will enable efficient material screening to support the rapid turnaround of new material systems explored under the MDP program. Accordingly, plans for obtaining and characterizing materials produced in TA2 during the MDP program must be outlined and substantiated. Furthermore, TA4 proposers should describe how the capabilities of their characterizations can be integrated with the computational tools in TA2 and TA3. Plans for experiments and validation efforts must be provided in TA4 proposals, and should include sourcing of materials to be characterized. In addition to TA4-sourced materials, TA4 proposers should be prepared to receive existing non-MDP hypersonic materials from DARPA and other Government agencies for characterization. Milestones and Deliverables must be proposed that, at minimum, account for technology development, testing, characterization, and evaluation (and potentially material-environment science).

D. Operational Baseline

1. MDP Representative Hypersonic Boost-Glide Flight Conditions

As stated above, the MDP BAA Addendum contains flight conditions for a representative boost-glide vehicle. MDP efforts will need to reference these flight conditions as a baseline for generating design intent. Final MDP materials and designs will be subjected to ground tests that simulate the conditions of the representative flight conditions. See Section IV.A.1 for instructions on requesting the addendum.

2. Hot-Structure Aeroshell Sub-element Design Configuration Constraints

The vehicle class is notionally 5-15ft in length. Hot structure materials and designs must be developed and fabricated for windward outer mold line. The fabricated sub-element must have traceability to realistic environment and/or design. Hot structure aeroshell thickness must be minimized and be below current combined thermal protection system/substructure solutions.

Baseline sub-element curvatures and geometries must have traceability to realistic environment and/or design. Surface roughness levels must satisfy aero requirements for mission profile.

Generalized vehicle integration artifacts such as joints/seals, bulkheads, attachments to airframe/substructure must be developed and represented in sub-element designs. Single-use concepts are the baseline, but re-useable concepts are considered favorably.

3. Hot-Structure Aeroshell Performance Parameters

Testing of flight configured hardware in combined environments will be conducted near the end of the 30-month period by a Government-established independent test support team at

4 See Section I.D, “Operational Baseline” and the BAA Addendum for particular flight conditions of interest.

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Government ground test facilities. Performance parameters to be evaluated include material properties at operational temperature, thermo-structural response at operational loadings and operational configuration, ablation/shape change, roughness / boundary layer transition effects, material flight instrumentation (temp and pressure), B Prime (temp and pressure), and low cost manufacture. In addition, the performance of computational tools in TA1, TA2, and TA3 and the accuracy of metrology tools in TA4 will be assessed against final measured data in the Government testbed at the conclusion of the program.

E. Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V)

An Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) testbed and support team will be established and coordinated by DARPA. The IV&V team will provide guidance to awardees to enable effective ground testing of flight configured boost-glide hot-structure aeroshell sub-elements. Testing of flight configured hardware in combined environments will be conducted near the end of the 30-month period by the IV&V team. In addition, the IV&V team will assess the performance of computational tools in TA1, TA2, and TA3 and the accuracy of metrology tools in TA4 against final measured data. DARPA is not accepting proposals for IV&V under this BAA.

F. Security Considerations

The MDP Representative Boost Glide Flight Conditions (described in Section I.D and the BAA Addendum) are considered to be information governed by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). To enable design intent to be translated from the ITAR flight conditions, each prime proposer must identify at least one individual (preferably the Principal Investigator) able to handle ITAR and classified information up to Secret. Further, each proposal must substantiate an approach that prevents the restricted nature of the flight conditions from becoming a barrier to executing the MDP approach. See Section III.D for further information.

G. Meeting and Travel Requirements

All proposals must include estimated costs for the following anticipated meetings and travel over the course of the 30-month period of performance.

• Six integrated program meetings for all key participants across all TAs:

o A program kickoff meeting in the Washington, D.C. area for all key participants followed by program status meetings with DARPA and awardees from other TAs to occur, at minimum, every six months. For budgeting purposes, assume three days apiece for all trips with three trips to the Washington, D.C. area and three trips to the Los Angeles, CA area.

• Attendance for appropriate individuals at 2 technical conferences (e.g., the Fall USACA Conference and the Spring NSMMS Conference) per year.

In addition, proposers to each TA will need to define expected travel requirements for testing and analysis to meet the MDP program goals. Performers should also anticipate periodic site visits at the Program Manager’s discretion.

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II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. Awards

Multiple awards are anticipated. The level of funding for individual awards made under this solicitation has not been predetermined and will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. Awards under this solicitation will be made to proposers whose proposals are determined to be the most advantageous and provide best value to the Government, all factors considered, including the potential contributions of the proposed work, overall funding strategy, and availability of funding. See Section V for further information.

The Government reserves the right to:

− select for negotiation all, some, one, or none of the proposals received in response to this solicitation;

− make awards without discussions with proposers;

− conduct discussions with proposers if it is later determined to be necessary;

− segregate portions of resulting awards into pre-priced options;

− accept proposals in their entirety or to select only portions of proposals for award;

− fund proposals in increments with options for continued work at the end of one or more phases;

− request additional documentation once the award instrument has been determined (e.g., representations and certifications); and − remove proposers from award consideration should the parties fail to reach agreement on award terms within a reasonable time or the proposer fails to provide requested additional information in a timely manner.

Proposals identified for negotiation are anticipated to only result in a procurement contract due to the nature of the work proposed, the required degree of interaction between parties, and other factors.

In all cases, the Government contracting officer shall have sole discretion to select award instrument type and to negotiate all instrument terms and conditions with selectees. Proposers are advised that if they propose grants or cooperative agreements, DARPA may select other award instruments, as it deems appropriate. DARPA will apply publication or other restrictions, as necessary, if it determines that the research resulting from the proposed effort will present a high likelihood of disclosing performance characteristics of military systems or manufacturing technologies that are unique and critical to defense. Any award resulting from such a determination will include a requirement for DARPA permission before publishing any information or results on the program. For more information on publication restrictions, see the section below on Fundamental Research.

B. Fundamental Research

It is DoD policy that the publication of products of fundamental research will remain unrestricted to the maximum extent possible. National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 189 established the national policy for controlling the flow of scientific, technical, and engineering information

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produced in federally funded fundamental research at colleges, universities, and laboratories. The Directive defines fundamental research as follows:

'Fundamental research' means basic and applied research in science and engineering, the results of which ordinarily are published and shared broadly within the scientific community, as distinguished from proprietary research and from industrial development, design, production, and product utilization, the results of which ordinarily are restricted for proprietary or national security reasons.

As of the date of publication of this BAA, the Government expects that program goals as described herein either cannot be met by proposers intending to perform fundamental research or the proposed research is anticipated to present a high likelihood of disclosing performance characteristics of military systems or manufacturing technologies that are unique and critical to defense. Therefore, the Government anticipates restrictions on the resultant research that will require the contractor to seek DARPA permission before publishing any information or results relative to the program.

Proposers should indicate in their proposal whether they believe the scope of the research included in their proposal is fundamental or not. While proposers should clearly explain the intended results of their research, the Government shall have sole discretion to select award instrument type and to negotiate all instrument terms and conditions with selectees. Appropriate clauses will be included in resultant awards for non-fundamental research to prescribe publication requirements and other restrictions, as appropriate.

For certain research projects, it may be possible that although the research being performed by the prime contractor is restricted research, a subawardee may be conducting contracted fundamental research. In those cases, it is the prime contractor’s responsibility to explain in its proposal why its subawardee’s effort is contracted fundamental research.

The following statement or similar provision will be incorporated into any resultant non-fundamental research procurement contract or other transaction:

“There shall be no dissemination or publication, except within and between the contractor and any subawardees, of information developed under this contract or contained in the reports to be furnished pursuant to this contract without prior written approval of DARPA’s Public Release Center (DARPA/PRC). All technical reports will be given proper review by appropriate authority to determine which Distribution Statement is to be applied prior to the initial distribution of these reports by the contractor. With regard to subawardee proposals for Contracted Fundamental Research, papers resulting from unclassified contracted fundamental research are exempt from prepublication controls and this review requirement, pursuant to DoD Instruction 5230.27 dated October 6, 1987.

When submitting material for written approval for open publication, the contractor/awardee must submit a request for public release to the DARPA/PRC and include the following information: (1) Document Information: document title, document author, short plain-language description of technology discussed in the material (approx.

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30 words), number of pages (or minutes of video) and document type (e.g., briefing, report, abstract, article, or paper); (2) Event Information: event type (conference, principal investigator meeting, article or paper), event date, desired date for DARPA's approval; (3) DARPA Sponsor: DARPA Program Manager, DARPA office, and contract number; and (4) Contractor/Awardee's Information: POC name, email and phone. Allow four weeks for processing; due dates under four weeks require a justification. Unusual electronic file formats may require additional processing time. Requests may be sent either via email to prc@darpa.mil or by mail at 675 North Randolph Street, Arlington VA 22203-2114, telephone (571) 218-4235. Refer to the following for link for information about DARPA’s public release process:

http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Public_Release_Center/Public_Release_Center.aspx.”

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. Eligible Applicants

All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal that shall be considered by DARPA.

1. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers and Government Entities

Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and Government entities (e.g., Government/National laboratories, military educational institutions, etc.) are subject to applicable direct competition limitations and cannot propose to this BAA in any capacity unless they meet the following conditions: (1) FFRDCs must clearly demonstrate that the proposed work is not otherwise available from the private sector; and (2) FFRDCs must provide a letter on official letterhead from their sponsoring organization citing the specific authority establishing their eligibility to propose to Government solicitations and compete with industry, and their compliance with the associated FFRDC sponsor agreement and terms and conditions. This information is required for FFRDCs proposing to be prime contractors or subawardees.

Government entities must clearly demonstrate that the work is not otherwise available from the private sector and provide written documentation citing the specific statutory authority and contractual authority, if relevant, establishing their ability to propose to Government solicitations. At the present time, DARPA does not consider 15 U.S.C. § 3710a to be sufficient legal authority to show eligibility. While 10 U.S.C.§ 2539b may be the appropriate statutory starting point for some entities, specific supporting regulatory guidance, together with evidence of agency approval, will still be required to fully establish eligibility. DARPA will consider FFRDC eligibility submissions on a case-by-case basis; however, the burden to prove eligibility for all team members rests solely with the proposer.

2. Foreign Participation

Non-U.S. organizations and/or individuals may participate to the extent that such participants comply with any necessary nondisclosure agreements, security regulations, export control laws, and other governing statutes applicable under the circumstances. See Section III.D.

mailto:prc@darpa.mil

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B. Procurement Integrity, Standards of Conduct, Ethical Considerations, and

Organizational Conflicts of Interest

Current federal employees are prohibited from participating in particular matters involving conflicting financial, employment, and representational interests (18 U.S.C. §§ 203, 205, and 208). Once the proposals have been received, and prior to the start of proposal evaluations, the Government will assess potential conflicts of interest and will promptly notify the proposer if any appear to exist. The Government assessment does NOT affect, offset, or mitigate the proposer’s responsibility to give full notice and planned mitigation for all potential organizational conflicts, as discussed below.

Without prior approval or a waiver from the DARPA Director, in accordance with FAR 9.503, a contractor cannot simultaneously provide scientific, engineering, technical assistance (SETA) or similar support and also be a technical performer. As part of the proposal submission, all members of the proposed team (prime proposers, proposed subawardees, and consultants) must affirm whether they (their organizations and individual team members) are providing SETA or similar support to any DARPA technical office(s) through an active contract or subcontract. All affirmations must state which office(s) the proposer, subawardees, consultant, or individual supports and identify the prime contract number(s). All facts relevant to the existence or potential existence of organizational conflicts of interest (FAR 9.5) must be disclosed. The disclosure must include a description of the action the proposer has taken or proposes to take to avoid, neutralize, or mitigate such conflict. If in the sole opinion of the Government after full consideration of the circumstances, a proposal fails to fully disclose potential conflicts of interest and/or any identified conflict situation cannot be effectively mitigated, the proposal will be rejected without technical evaluation and withdrawn from further consideration for award.

If a prospective proposer believes a conflict of interest exists or may exist (whether organizational or otherwise) or has questions on what constitutes a conflict of interest, the proposer should send his/her contact information and a summary of the potential conflict via email to the BAA email address before time and effort are expended in preparing a proposal and mitigation plan.

C. Cost Sharing/Matching

Cost sharing is not required.

D. Other Eligibility Criteria

1. Security Clearance Requirements

While the program itself is unclassified, interactions with potential transition partners may require performers to have access to classified information. Therefore, at the time of proposal submission, all prime proposers must have (at a minimum) Secret facility clearance and have personnel under their Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code with a Secret clearance.

All prime proposers must provide their CAGE code and security point(s) of contact in their

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proposals.