Call for CC DROIDS--27 July 2023.pdf

Broad Agency Announcement (BAA):

FA2391-23-S-2403

Pioneering Aerospace Capabilities, Engineering, and Research (PACER)

CALL Name:

Collaborative Center for the Design and Research Of InterDisciplinary Systems

(CC DROIDS)

27 July 2023

OVERVIEW INFORMATION

This is a 1-Step Call under the PACER BAA FA2391-23-S-2403. Offerors should monitor sam.gov and grants.gov for any additional notices to this Call that may permit extensions to the proposal submission date or otherwise modify this announcement.

Moratorium on White Papers: Beginning from the date of publication of this Call and continuing until six months after the due date for proposals, no white papers submitted covering the topic specified in this Call, “Collaborative Center for the Design and Research Of InterDisciplinary Systems (CC DROIDS),” will be reviewed.

NAICS Code: The NAICS Code for this acquisition is 541715 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (Except Biotechnology) with Aircraft, Aircraft Engine, and Engine Parts exception), and the small business size standard is 1,500 employees.

Federal Agency Name: Air Force Research Laboratory, Aerospace Systems Directorate, AFRL/RQ

PROPOSAL DUE DATE AND TIME: 11 Sep 2023, 2:00 P.M. local time, Wright- Patterson AFB, OH.

Submission: Proposals must be submitted electronically to the Primary Grants Point of Contact (POC): Chris DeLaet, Grants Specialist, AFRL/RQKPC, Christopher.DeLaet.3@us.af.mil. The Secondary Grants POC is Susan Lee, Grants Officer, AFRL/RQKPC, Susan.Lee.1@us.af.mil.

Type of Contract/Instrument: The United States Air Force (USAF) 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 FAR or Other Transaction (OT) for Prototype, Grant, Cooperative Agreement, or OT for Research. The USAF may also consider award of an appropriate technology transfer mechanism if applicable. It is anticipated that the award under this Call will be a Cooperative Agreement.

Estimated Program Cost: The estimated program cost is $4,800,000 (including Government funding and any Recipient Cost Share).

mailto:Christopher.DeLaet.3@us.af.mil mailto:Susan.Lee.1@us.af.mil

Anticipated Number of Awards: The USAF anticipates ONE award for this announcement.

However, the USAF reserves the right to award zero, one, or more awards for all, some or none of the solicited efforts based on the offeror’s ability to perform desired work and funding fluctuations.

Brief Program Summary: This effort provides the USAF with the means to discover, develop and demonstrate MDAO methods and technologies to enable next-generation aerospace vehicles and provide the USAF decision makers risk-quantified effectiveness assessments of concepts and technologies. Research and development may require the use of technology demonstration vehicles, ground test facilities, flight test facilities, computations, and/or laboratory experiments to develop, analyze, and assess air vehicles technologies.

Communication Between Prospective Offerors and Government Representatives: All communication prior to the proposal deadline shall be directed to the Grants POCs listed below.

Grants POCs:

Chris DeLaet Grants Specialist

AFRL/RQKPC

2130 8th Street, Bldg 45 Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433 E-mail address: Christopher.DeLaet.3@us.af.mil

Susan Lee Grants Officer

AFRL/RQKPC

2130 8th Street, Bldg 45 Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433 E-mail address: Susan.Lee.1@us.af.mil

FULL TEXT ANNOUNCEMENT

I. Program Description: Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL/RQV, is soliciting Technical/Management and Cost/Business Proposals on the following research effort:

Collaborative Center for the Design and Research Of InterDisciplinary Systems (CC

DROIDS)

a. Statement of Objectives (SOO): See Attachment 1 for the Statement of Objectives

(SOO). This effort falls within the SOO on the PACER BAA (FA2391-23-S-2403), Technical Objective Area Topic 17--Multidisciplinary Design, Analysis and Optimization (MDAO).

b. Within Scope Modifications: Potential offerors are advised that due to the inherent uncertainty of research and development efforts, awards resulting from this mailto:Christopher.DeLaet.3@us.af.mil mailto:Susan.Lee.1@us.af.mil announcement may be modified during performance to make within scope changes, to include but not limited to, modifications which increase overall contract ceiling amount.

c. Deliverable Items: See Attachment 3, Articles, paragraph 7.

1) Interim Performance Reports

2) Financial Reports (Reimbursement)

3) Publishing Project Results

4) Final Performance Report

5) Reporting of Subawards and Executive Compensation

6) Disclosure of Information

7) Reporting of Matters Related to Recipient Integrity and Performance

8) Software

c. Schedule:

1) The Cooperative Agreement Period of Performance (PoP) will be 72 total months, with 69 months for the Technical Period and 3 months for delivery of the Final Report.

d. Applicable Articles: See Attachment 3

e. Other Requirements:

1) Program Security Classification: None/Unclassified

2) OPSEC: Operations Security (OPSEC) requirements, per the PACER BAA, FA2391-23-S-2403, I. (Page 9), will be incorporated into the Statements of Work

(SOW).

3) Export Control: N/A

4) Export-Controlled Items: N/A

f. Other Information:

1) Government Furnished Property (GFP): N/A

2) Base Support/Network Access: N/A

3) Government Furnished Information (GFI) and/or Software: N/A

4) Data Rights Desired: Unlimited, Restricted, GPR

(a) The Air Force Research Laboratory is engaged in the discovery, development, and integration of warfighting technologies for our air, space, and cyberspace forces. As such, rights in technical data and NCS developed or delivered under this agreement are of significant concern to the government. The Government will therefore carefully consider any restrictions on the use of technical data, NCS, and NCS documentation which could result in transition difficulty or less-than full and open competition for subsequent development of this technology.

(b) 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.

(c) Technical data, NCS, and NCS documentation developed with mixed funding are expected to be delivered with at least Government Purpose Rights. Offers that propose delivery of technical data, NCS, or NCS documentation subject to Government Purpose Rights should fully explain what technical data, NCS, or NCS documentation developed with costs charged to indirect cost pools and/or costs not allocated to a government assistance will be incorporated, how the incorporation will benefit the program, and address whether those portions or processes are segregable. The Government expects that delivery of technical data, NCS, and NCS documentation subject to Government Purpose Rights will fully meet program needs.

(d) Offers that propose delivery of technical data, NCS, or NCS documentation subject to Limited Rights, Restricted Rights, or Specifically Negotiated License Rights will be considered. Proposals should fully explain what technical data, NCS, or NCS documentation developed with costs charged to indirect cost pools and/or costs not allocated to a government assistance will be incorporated and how the incorporation will benefit the program.

II. Award Information

a. Anticipated Award Date: Anticipated award date is 23 November 2023.

b. Anticipated Funding: A Cooperative Agreement is anticipated in accordance with the anticipated funding set forth below.

c. The budget for the program, subject to availability, is anticipated to be as follows:

Government Share:

FY 23 FY 24 FY 25 FY 26 FY 27 FY 28 FY 29 TOTAL

$50K $210K $662K $694K $726K $758K $500K $3.6M

Potential Recipient Cost Share:

FY 23 FY 24 FY 25 FY 26 FY 27 FY 28 FY 29 TOTAL

$XK $XK $XK $XK $XK $XK $XK $1.2M

III. Eligibility Information: PACER BAA Section III, Eligibility Information, is modified for this Call as follows:

a. Eligible Offeror: This is an unrestricted Call. Small Businesses are encouraged to propose on all or any part of this Call.

b. Cost Sharing or Matching: Cost Sharing is not required but is highly encouraged and will be considered favorably.

c. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers: The following guidance is provided for Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) contemplating submitting a proposal, as either a prime or subrecipient against this Call.

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 (in this case AFRL) 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.

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

e. Other:

1) Foreign Participation: Foreign Nationals (FNs) can be employed by a US Prime

Recipient or Sub-awardee; however, FNs will be limited to Public Domain information unless the recipient has obtained the proper License of Technical Assistance Agreement that authorizes disclosure of CMI and/CUI to foreign entities pursuant to the Department of State’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or Department of Commerce’s EAR.

2) Export Control: N/A

3) Number of Proposals: There are no limits on the number of proposals an offeror may submit.

4) Eligibility: An Offeror may be ineligible for award if all requirements of this solicitation are not met on the Technical and Cost/Business Proposals by the due date, as identified above.

IV. Proposal Submission Information. Proposals submitted shall be in accordance with the PACER BAA Proposal Instructions and this Call.

a. Cooperative Agreement Proposals

1) Technical/Management and Cost/Business Proposal: The Recipient shall submit a

Technical/Management Proposal as well as a Cost/Business Proposal for the Cooperative Agreement. The Technical/Management and Cost/Business Proposal must contain all information described in the Cost/Business Proposal Submission Section of the PACER BAA. Additionally, please see PACER BAA, FA2391-23-S- 2403, Attachment 1, for instructions on how to prepare the cover page and complete the certification for an Assistance Instrument.

2) Statement of Work: The Recipient shall also submit a Statement of Work (SOW) for the Cooperative Agreement.

3) Page Limitations:

(a) The Technical Proposal shall not exceed twenty-five pages.

(b) The SOW shall not exceed five pages.

(c) There is no page limitation for the Cost/Business Proposal.

b. Proposal Evaluation Criteria:

1) Proposals will be evaluated against the criteria listed in the PACER BAA, FA2391-

23-S-2403.

c. Review and Selection Process:

1) Per the PACER BAA, FA2391-23-S-2403, proposals will be proposals will be categorized as Selectable or Not Selectable. The selection of one or more sources for award will be based on the Peer or Scientific Review, as well as importance to agency programs and funding availability. See PACER BAA, FA2391-23-S-2403, Section V, Page 28.

2) Proposals must, at a minimum, be categorized as “Selectable” to be considered for award.

V. Award Notices: Offerors will be notified whether their proposal is recommended for award, by letter or e-mail. The notification is not to be construed to mean the award of a contract is assured, as availability of funds and successful negotiations are prerequisites to any award.

VI. Other Information

a. Proposal Reminders: You may be ineligible for award if all requirements of this solicitation are not met on the proposal due date.

1) Call Proposals are due no later than the due date and time specified in the Call.

2) Page limitations are strictly enforced.

3) Call Proposals must be submitted in the format specified.

4) Call Proposals are due to the Grants POC.

5) Offerors of proposals who have Forward Pricing Rate Agreements (FPRAs) or

Forward Pricing Rate Recommendations (FPRR) should submit them with their proposal.

6) Proposals submitted shall be in accordance with the PACER BAA, FA2391-23-S-

2403, unless deviations are authorized in this Call.

b. Disclaimer: Submission of proposal(s) is not an authorization to commence work or to incur any costs to perform the work described above. Work is not to be implemented until appropriate actions are taken to award the Cooperative Agreement. Any work performed or expense incurred prior to that time (including bid and proposal costs) will be at your own risk.

Attachments:

1. Statement of Objectives (SOO)--CC DROIDS

2. Statement of Work (SOW) Supplemental Requirements for Assistance Instruments

3. Cooperative Agreement Articles

4. SF 424--Research and Related_KeyPersonal_4_0-V4.0 (Attachment 9 from PACER BAA)

5. Security Program Questionnaire (Attachment 10 from PACER BAA)