DARPA-PS-26-126_RAAPTR_Attachment_D_Proposal_Instructions_and_Volume_I_Template_Amend01.docx

Attachment D: DARPA-PS-26-126 Volume I: Technical and Management Proposal Template Competition Sensitive Information – Distribution with Agreements Officer’s authorization only

DARPA-PS-26-126: RAAPTR

Proposal Instructions and Volume I Template Instructions Use of this template is mandatory for all proposal submissions to this PS. Proposers must include Attachments C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and the Execution Plan Oral Proposal presentation to constitute a full proposal submission. Proposals not meeting the format prescribed herein may not be reviewed.

Attachments E, F, G, H, and I should be kept entirely unclassified. Attachments C, D, and the Execution Plan Oral Proposal presentation may contain classified information. If Attachment D and/or the Oral Proposal presentation are to contain classified information, the main body of the content should be at most CUI, and classified information should be included in an addendum – see the solicitation for addendum submission instructions. The addendum counts towards page/slide length limits where applicable. If Attachment C is to contain classified information, follow the instructions in the solicitation for submission.

This document must include all components described herein and must be submitted in PDF or Microsoft Word formats.

All submissions must be written in English, and all pages shall be formatted for printing on 8-1/2 by 11-inch paper with 1-inch margins and font size no smaller than 12 points. Font sizes of 8 or 10 points may be used for figures, tables, and charts.

Proposers are encouraged to submit concise but descriptive proposals. Specific examples of problems, approaches, or goals are preferred to qualitative generalities. The Government will not consider pages/slides in excess of the page count limitations, as described herein. Proposals with fewer than the maximum number of pages will not be penalized. Additional information not explicitly called for in the Technical and Management Volume must not be submitted with the proposal but may be included as links in the bibliography. Such materials will be considered for the reviewers’ convenience only and not evaluated as part of the proposal.

Proposals must be submitted per the instructions outlined herein and received by DARPA no later than the due date and time listed in the Overview Information section. Proposals received after this time and date may not be reviewed. Please visit Proposer Instructions and General Terms and Conditions and Attachment L for instructions on how to submit your proposal through the Broad Agency Announcement Tool (BAAT).

Execution Plan Oral Presentations The PI must present in person at DARPA, and the presentation may include up to four (4) total in-person participants. Classified meeting space will be made available based on the classification of the submission. If requested by the proposer, for proposals entirely at the CUI level or below DARPA will organize a hybrid meeting with remote participants joining via Microsoft Teams. Presentations including both classified and unclassified portions should include all classified content at the beginning of the presentation. If requested by the proposer, DARPA will initiate a Microsoft Teams meeting after the classified section concludes to include remote personnel for the unclassified remainder of the presentation. The presentations will be scheduled during the dates listed in the Overview Information section of the PS. DARPA will notify proposers of their scheduled time via email. Slides cannot be modified between proposal due date and oral presentation. All slides submitted with the proposal package through BAAT must be unclassified. If classified slides are intended for inclusion in the presentation, contact RAAPTR@darpa.mil for submission options. Any classified slides submitted count towards the total slide limit (see below).

· The Government will not review or evaluate any information that is contained within the notes section of the PDF or PowerPoint slides. All pertinent information must be included in the main body of the presentation slides, and the content presented orally will be the basis for evaluation.

· The Government intends to record the oral presentation for internal documentation purposes. The recordings will not be provided to proposers.

· The oral presentation shall not exceed 30 slides and and must be submitted in PDF or Microsoft PowerPoint format. Proposers will be allotted 30 minutes for presentations.

· A presentation template is not provided but must include the content outlined below. All claims must be justified using quantitative analysis and supporting evidence derived from modeling, simulation, and/or prior experimental work.

· Immediately following the oral presentation, there will be a 45-minute interactive Q&A session to address questions from a Government evaluation panel. The Government panel may ask questions on any aspect of the proposal during the Q&A session. Answers to questions from the panel cannot be deferred to later time, and proposers cannot modify their proposals in response to the Q&A session. For entirely unclassified proposals and presentations, if requested by the proposer, DARPA will conduct the entirety of these Q&A sessions as hybrid meetings. For proposals and presentations including both classified and unclassified content, if requested by the proposer, DARPA will conduct the first portion of this Q&A in a hybrid manner within the same Microsoft Teams meeting as the unclassified portion of the oral presentation. The second portion of the Q&A will be conducted as a classified, in-person only segment.

· Oral Presentations must include the following sections:

· Proposer Introduction: Briefly describe the relevant qualifications, capabilities, and organization resources of the proposing team

· Technical Management Plan: Describe the hardware development progression to achieve RAAPTR milestones and deliverables. Refer to elements of the oscillator development approach and analog-RF subsystem development approach in this section. Describe the laboratory infrastructure and test conditions planned for Phase 1 milestones, and considerations for Phase 2 testing.

· Program Management Plan: Describe the roles of individual team members and identify key internal hand-offs of materials or information during development.

· Backup (excluded from slide limit): Include reproduced content from the narrative proposal to guide Q&A on the proposed use case, architecture approach, and photonics approach.

Written Proposal Technical and Management Volumes shall not exceed a maximum of 20 pages.

Management Plan

Personnel, Qualifications, and Commitments

Organizational Conflict of Interest Affirmations and Disclosure

Capabilities

Task Description Document (TDD)

Schedule and Milestones

Novelty of Proposed Work

References/Bibliography (Optional)

Other Transaction Certifications

Intellectual Property (IP)

Resumes (Optional)

Technical Papers (Optional, 3 maximum)

COVER SHEET

[PRIME ORGANIZATION LOGO]

Proposal Title

Proposer Organization

Proposer Reference Number, if any

Address:

Telephone:

Email:

Address:

Telephone:

Email:

Place(s) of Performance

Period(s) of Performance

Months

Organization:

Organization Type:

Phase 2: $ Total: $

SAM.gov Unique Entity ID (UEI)[endnoteRef:2] [2: The SAM-generated UEI becomes the official identifier for doing business with the U.S. Government. This replaces DUNS.]

Taxpayer identification number (TIN)[endnoteRef:3] [3: See https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/taxpayer-identification-numbers-tin for information on requesting a TIN. Note, requests may take from 1 business day to 1 month depending on the method (online, fax, mail).]

Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code[endnoteRef:4] [4: A CAGE Code identifies companies doing or wishing to do business with the Federal Government. ]

Administration Office POC at Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA)[endnoteRef:5] or Office of Naval Research (ONR)[endnoteRef:6], if known [5: https://pubapp.dcma.mil/CASD/CasdSearch.do.] [6: http://www.onr.navy.mil/Contracts-Grants/Regional-Contacts.aspx.]

Name:

Address:

Telephone:

Audit Office POC at Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA)[endnoteRef:7], if known [7: http://www.dcaa.mil/Home/Locator?title=Locator]

Name:

Address:

Telephone:

Date Proposal was Prepared

Proposal Validity Period (minimum 120 days)

Table of Contents

Official Transmittal Letter Attach the official transmittal letter from the prime proposer organization.

Proposal Summary Provide a top-level synopsis of the proposed project, including a clear statement on what the proposed project is attempting to do, a brief summary of the current state of the art of relevant technology and its limitations, description of the key technical challenges facing the proposed project, a concise review of the concepts proposed to overcome these challenges and achieve the project’s goal, and a clear statement of the novelty and uniqueness of the proposed work.

Goals and Impact Describe what you are trying to achieve and the difference it will make (qualitatively and quantitatively) if successful. Describe the innovative aspects of the project in the context of existing capabilities and approaches, clearly delineating the uniqueness and benefits of this project in the context of the state of the art, alternative approaches, and other projects from the past and present. Describe how the proposed project is revolutionary and how it significantly rises above the current state of the art. Describe the deliverables associated with the proposed project and any plans to commercialize the technology, transition it to a customer, or further the work.

Technical Approach Describe the technical approach to achieve the metrics, goals, and milestones of RAAPTR within the program timeline. Use the following sections to outline the main goals of the proposed project, clearly describe the program outcome and capabilities that will be established by the end of the RAAPTR program, and provide supporting evidence for assertions and proposed concepts based on past theory, analysis, modeling, simulation, and/or experimental work.

A. Use Case: Provide a rationale and modeling for how RAAPTR hardware can provide new capabilities for the proposed application. Include detailed flow-down requirements from the proposed application onto the oscillator and other RAAPTR hardware. Describe the envisioned platform and mission domain, and identify potential transition partners and/or customers.

B. Architecture Approach: Describe the analog devices needed to support the proposed use cases, and include a procurement and development plan. Describe the digital algorithms development plan, if proposed. Provide an initial sub-system design and identify the connection to the proposed use case. Clearly identify the technical challenges involved in meeting program metrics, methods to overcome the challenges, and risk mitigations to the technical approach and schedule.

C. Photonics Approach: Provide detailed descriptions for: the principle of operation of the proposed photonic oscillator and its core components including optical and electronic internal devices. Describe the novel concepts and design features that enable them to advance the state of the art for relevant incumbent technologies. Identify the relevant component-level metrics and any relevant proposer-defined system-level metrics and describe how they relate to the RAAPTR program metrics. Identify the technical challenges to achieving metrics with the initial design. Include a detailed description of the current status of oscillator development that will signify the starting point for RAAPTR development, including preliminary data if available. Clearly identify the development plan to achieve RAAPTR metrics, for example, through internal device modification concepts, novel packaging designs, etc. Describe the role and development plan for additional optical devices and functions in the architecture, such as clocks, time transfer, and data movement, if proposed. Clearly identify the technical challenges involved in meeting program metrics, methods to overcome the challenges, and risk mitigations to the technical approach and schedule.

D. Program Deliverables: Describe the format, specifications, inputs and outputs, and key characteristics of the hardware prototypes, including the photonic oscillator, breadboard prototype, and brassboard prototype.

Management Plan Provide a summary of the proposed team (no more than two pages), including any subawardees/consultants and key personnel who will be executing the work (please use table below). Identify a principal investigator (PI) for the project. Provide a clear description of the team’s organization, including an organization chart that illustrates, as applicable, the relationship of team members, unique capabilities of team members, task responsibilities of team members, teaming strategy among the team members, and key personnel with the amount of effort to be expended by each person during the project. Provide a detailed plan for coordination, including explicit guidelines for interaction among collaborators/subawardees of the proposed project. Include risk management approaches. Describe any formal teaming agreements that are required to execute this project.

Prime

Subawardees/Consultants

Personnel, Qualifications, and Commitments List key personnel (no more than one page per person), showing a concise summary of their qualifications, discussion of previous accomplishments, and work in this or closely related research areas. Indicate the level of effort in terms of hours to be expended by each person during each contract year and other (current and proposed) major sources of support for them and/or commitments of their efforts. DARPA expects all key personnel associated with a proposal to make substantial time commitment to the proposed activity, and the proposal will be evaluated accordingly. It is DARPA’s intention to put key personnel conditions into the awards, so proposers should not propose personnel that are not anticipated to execute the work.

Organizational Conflict of Interest Affirmations and Disclosure In accordance with the requirements of the BAA, provide the following information.

a. Are any of the proposed individual team members or their respective organizations (whether prime or subawardee or consultant) currently providing SETA, A&AS or similar support to DARPA?

No Yes

b. Did any of the proposed individual team members or their respective organizations (whether prime or subawardee or consultant) provide SETA, A&AS or similar support to DARPA within one calendar year of this proposal submission?

No Yes If yes to 8.a OR 8.b, provide the following information for each applicable team member:

· The name of the DARPA office receiving the support

· The prime contract number

· Identification of proposed team member (subawardee, consultant) providing the support

· An OCI mitigation plan in accordance with FAR 9.5

c. Are there any other potential Organizational Conflicts of Interest involving any of the proposed individual team members or their respective organizations (whether prime or subawardee or consultant)?

No Yes If yes to 8.c, provide the following information for each applicable team member:

· Identification of applicable team member; and

· An OCI mitigation plan in accordance with FAR 9.5.] Capabilities Describe the organizational experience in the relevant subject area(s), existing intellectual property, or specialized facilities. Discuss any work in closely related research areas and previous accomplishments. Identify other Government solicitation(s) to which this concept has been proposed. If applicable, state whether funding or a positive funding decision has already been received and from which agency.

Task Description Document (TDD) Provide a detailed task breakdown by Contractor Fiscal Year, citing specific tasks and their connection to the interim milestones and metrics, as applicable. Do not include proprietary information.

For each defined task and subtask, provide:

· A general description of the objective.

· A detailed description of the approach to be taken to accomplish each defined task/subtask.

· Identification of any tasks/subtasks that will involve human subjects or animals.

· Identification of any tasks/subtasks that will be performed on campus at a university.

· Identification (by name) of the primary organization (prime contractor, sub-awardee (s), consultant(s)) responsible for task/subtask execution.

· A measurable milestone (e.g., a deliverable, demonstration, or other event/activity that marks task completion).

· A definition of all deliverables (e.g., data, reports, software) to be provided to the Government in support of the proposed tasks/subtasks.

· Identification of the proposed classification for each task/subtask.

· For all tasks and subtasks proposed to be unclassified, identify if the task/subtask is proposed as fundamental research or controlled unclassified information (CUI).

· Provide a short explanation for why each task/subtask should be categorized as fundamental research or CUI.

Schedule and Milestones Provide a detailed schedule showing tasks (task name, duration, work breakdown structure element as applicable, performing organization), milestones, and the interrelationships among tasks. The task structure must be consistent with that in the TDD. Measurable milestones must include the program-defined milestones listed in Section I of the PS, at a minimum, and should be clearly articulated and defined in time relative to the start of the project. Additional milestones may be proposed but must not impact the program-defined milestones in Section I of the PS. Milestone payments may be adjusted but must not collectively exceed the funding caps defined in the PS.

Novelty of Proposed Work Has the proposed work been submitted to any other Government solicitation?

No Yes If yes, provide the following information:

· Solicitation number ________________________

· Agency _________________________

· Proposed work has already received funding or a positive funding decision.

No Yes Decision pending Bibliography (Optional) A brief (no more than 5 pages) bibliography may be provided with links to relevant papers, references, reports, etc.

Other Transaction Certifications Please submit within this volume Attachment G: Other Transaction Certification.

Intellectual Property (IP) As noted in the PS, the Government will require Government Purpose Rights (GPR) to IP developed under this program. Please identify any IP that will be (1) utilized during program activities; and (2) delivered to the government under RAAPTR that would prohibit or limit GPR. This may include background or underlying information required to fully operate the prototype.

a. Technical Data and Computer Software Are you asserting any IP restrictions on any technical data or non-commercial computer software that will be delivered to the Government?

No Yes If yes, list all proprietary claims to results, prototypes, deliverables or systems supporting and/or necessary for the use of the proposed research, results, prototypes and/or deliverables. Provide a short summary for each item asserted with less than unlimited rights that describes the nature of the restriction and the intended use of the intellectual property in the conduct of the proposed research. Use the following format for these lists.

NONCOMMERCIAL

Are you proposing any commercial software that will be delivered to the Government? If yes, please provide licensing terms.

No Yes

COMMERCIAL

b. Patents Does the proposed effort involve using patented inventions that are owned by or assigned to the proposing organization or individual? If yes, provide documentation proving ownership or possession of appropriate licensing rights to all patented inventions to be used for the proposed project. If a patent application has been filed for an invention, but it includes proprietary information and is not publicly available, provide documentation that includes: the patent number, inventor name(s), assignee names (if any), filing date, filing date of any related provisional application, and summary of the patent title, with either: (1) a representation of invention ownership; or (2) proof of possession of appropriate licensing rights in the invention (i.e., an agreement from the owner of the patent granting license to the proposer).

No Yes