FA240124S0001 STEC.pdf

Broad Agency Announcement Systems, Technologies, and Emerging Capabilities Space Development Agency

FA240124S0001

January 16, 2024

Table of Contents

I. OVERVIEW INFORMATION

II. FULL TEXT OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT

A. Funding Opportunity Description B. Overview C. SDA Focus Areas

1. Efficient Beyond Line-of-Sight Data Transport and Warfighter Communications

2. Advanced/Alternate Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT)

3. Advanced Target Custody, Warning, Tracking and Defeat

4. Global Battle Management

III. Award Information A. General Award Information

IV. Eligibility Information A. Eligible Applicants

1. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs), and Government Entities

2. Non-U.S. Organizations and/or Individuals

3. Classified Proposals

B. Organizational Conflicts of Interest C. Cost Sharing/Matching

V. Application and Submission Information A. Application Assistance B. Content and Form of Submission

1. Executive Summary (ES) Format

2. Proposal Abstract (PA) Format

Full Proposal (FP) Format A. Volume 1, Technical and Management Proposal

1. Official transmittal letter {1}

2. Table of Contents {no page limit}

B. Volume II, Cost Proposal

1. Cover sheet to include:

2. Supporting Cost and Pricing Data:

3. Additional Proposal Information

C. Submission Instructions

1. Unclassified Submission Instructions

2. Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret Information

3. Confidential and Secret

4. Top Secret Information

5. Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI)

6. Special Access Program (SAP) Information

7. Submission Instructions for both Classified and Unclassified Submissions

D. Funding Restrictions

E. Other Submission Requirements VI. Application Review Information

A. Evaluation Criteria

1. Overall Operational and Technical Merit

2. Potential Contribution and Relevance to the SDA Mission

3. Cost Realism

4. Realism of Proposed Schedule

5. Proposer’s Capabilities and/or Related Experience

B. Review of Submissions

1. Review Process

2. Handling of Source Selection Information

3. Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information (FAPIIS)

VII. Award Administration Information A. Selection Notices and Notifications

1. Executive Summaries

2. Proposal Abstracts

3. Full Proposals

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

1. Meeting and Travel Requirements

2. FAR and DFARS Clauses

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

4. Representations and Certifications

C. Reporting D. Electronic Systems

1. Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF) VIII. Agency Contacts IX. Other Information

I. OVERVIEW INFORMATION

• Federal Agency Name – Space Development Agency

• Funding Opportunity Title – Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Systems, Technologies, and Emerging Capabilities (STEC)

• Announcement Type – Initial Announcement

• Funding Opportunity Number – FA240124S0001 Dates:

o Posting Date: 16 January 2024 o Proposal Due Date and Time: 15 January 2025, 4:00 PM Eastern

• Concise description of the funding opportunity – The Space Development Agency (SDA) is soliciting executive summaries, invited proposal abstracts and proposals for novel architecture concepts, systems, technologies, and capabilities that enable leap-ahead improvements for future PWSA tranches, capability layers, or, enable new capability layers to address other emerging or evolving warfighter needs.

• Anticipated individual awards – Multiple awards are anticipated.

• Types of instruments that may be awarded – Procurement (FAR-based) contract or other transaction agreement (OTA).

• Agency contact: Technical and administrative point of contact for this effort can be reached via: ussf.pentagon.sda.mbx.FA240124S0001@mail.mil

• Space Development Agency ATTN: FA240124S0001, 1670 Air Force Pentagon Washington, DC 20330 mailto:ussf.pentagon.sda.mbx.FA240124S0001@mail.mil

II. FULL TEXT OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT

A. Funding Opportunity Description

This publication constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) as contemplated in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.102(d)(2) and 35.016. Any resultant award negotiations will follow all pertinent law and regulation, and any negotiations and/or awards for procurement contracts will use procedures under FAR 15.4, Contract Pricing, as specified in the BAA. The following information is for those wishing to respond to the BAA.

B. Overview The National Defense Strategy (NDS) acknowledges that space is vital to the U.S. way of life, our national security, and modern warfare. In an era of renewed great power competition, maintaining our advantage in space is critical to winning any such long-term strategic competitions. Potential adversaries seek to undermine this goal by employing strategies that exploit real or perceived vulnerabilities in our current and planned National Security Space systems. In addition, potential adversaries are developing and demonstrating multi-domain threats to national security much faster than we can deploy responsive space-based capabilities. Established as a separate Defense Agency pursuant to Title 10, U.S.C. sections 112, 191, and 192, on 12 March 2019 in response to these challenges, SDA transferred to the United States Space Force (USSF) as a Direct Reporting Unit (DRU) on 1 October 2022 to ensure the PWSA was fully integrated into the complete National Security Space enterprise to the benefit of the joint warfighter.

SDA is responsible for defining and monitoring the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) future threat-driven space architecture and accelerating the development and fielding of new military space capabilities necessary to ensure U.S. technological and military advantage in space for national defense. To achieve this mission, SDA is responsible for unifying and integrating next-generation space capabilities to deliver the PWSA, a resilient military sensing and data transport capability via a proliferated space architecture in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). SDA will not necessarily develop and field all PWSA capabilities but rather orchestrate those efforts across DoD and fill in gaps in capabilities while providing the integrated architecture.

The PWSA is comprised of the following layers, addressing the critical priorities for space identified within the DoD Space Vision:

• Transport - providing assured, resilient, low-latency military data and communications connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms;

• Battle Management - providing architecture tasking, mission command and control, and data dissemination to support time-sensitive kill chain closure at campaign scales;

• Tracking - providing global indications, warning, tracking, and targeting of advanced missile threats, including hypersonic missile systems;

• Custody - providing 24x7x365, all-weather custody of time-sensitive, left-of-launch surface mobile and/or maritime targets (e.g., to support beyond line-of-sight targeting for advanced missiles or other time sensitive/time critical targets);

• Navigation - establishing a Global Positioning System (GPS)-independent navigation capability, including a LEO-based positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) service provided to GPS-denied environments;

• Support - enabling ground and launch segments to support a responsive space architecture.

SDA’s mission begins and ends with the warfighter. SDA recognizes that “good enough” capabilities in the hands of warfighter sooner may be better than delivering the perfect solution too late. SDA began delivering capabilities to our joint warfighting forces in two-year tranches, beginning in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. While SDA is issuing separate solicitations for the capability layers outlined above, seeking systems and technologies that can be developed and fielded on PWSA tranche timelines to address timely warfighter needs, SDA also recognizes the need to establish an “intellectual pipeline” to access ideas from across the community to inform the future capabilities of the architecture. While this is SDA’s intent, our ability and appetite for technology development are limited and our focus is and will remain at the architecture level to better serve the warfighter and ensure mission accomplishment.

Through this BAA, SDA specifically seeks emerging PWSA concepts, systems, technologies, and capabilities that:

• Enable capability or technology improvements for future tranches of currently planned proliferated architecture capability layers

• Enable new capability layers and mission areas to address other emerging or evolving warfighters needs

SDA is soliciting Executive Summaries, invited White Papers or proposal Abstracts, and invited Proposals in the focus areas described below. Although not required, SDA strongly encourages submitting an Executive Summary first to ensure interest and potential funding availability.

Submission instructions can be found in Section V. Evaluation criteria for this solicitation can be found in Section VI.A. SDA anticipates making multiple awards from this solicitation, leading to detailed technical studies, architecture or system-level technical designs, and/or proofs-of-concept or risk reduction demonstrations.

C. SDA Focus Areas SDA is seeking architecture studies, concepts of operations (CONOPS), modeling and simulation, system designs, key technologies, and/or risk reduction prototypes that are responsive to the following capability vectors.

1. Efficient Beyond Line-of-Sight Data Transport and Warfighter Communications This thrust is primarily aligned with the PWSA Transport Layer. This focus area features capabilities enabling global access to low-latency communications and space data transport for Joint warfighters and warfighting systems, including but not limited to:

Optical communication terminals (OCTs): low size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C), free-space optical terminals capable of operating at low, medium and geostationary relevant ranges that are compatible with the SDA OCT Open Standard; SDA is interested in space-to-space (S2S), space-to-air (S2A), space-to-ground (S2G) and space-to-maritime (S2M) applications, connectivity and terminal design, development, testing and interoperability. SDA is particularly interested in emerging capabilities which would improve modem performance, increase data rate, reduce OCT acquisition time through automation, and reduce complexity and manufacturing requirements; Solutions to enable network interoperability between the PWSA and DoD, commercial, national or Allied data transport constellations. Enabling technologies of interest include: Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC), low

SWaP terrestrial OCT user terminals that connect with the PWSA, transportable optical ground stations, simple and low cost techniques to mitigate atmospheric effects on an optical link.

• Space to ground connectivity: advanced concepts to enable the space-based capabilities of the other PWSA layers to transmit, receive, process, exploit and/or disseminate data; optical and RF solutions, separate or combined, as well as concepts of employment including remote operations, location, and number of terminals

• Multi-beam / multi-user tactical data link connectivity: low SWaP-C antenna technologies enabling tactical data link connectivity with multiple user terminals and including but not limited to active electronically scanned arrays (AESA)

• Flexible software-defined radios (SDR): low SWaP-C, broad coverage SDRs with such capabilities as support for trusted on-orbit reconfiguration and multiple tactical data links within a single hardware and software architecture

• Tactical Satellite Communications (TACSATCOM): implementations of direct, low-latency connectivity to advanced tactical platforms prior to, and during, operational employment

• Novel communication modalities: concepts and implementations involving novel communications phenomenologies or novel applications of mature communications techniques applicable and valuable in Joint All-Domain Operations

• Advanced tactical data links and/or waveforms: concepts and implementations enabling new and emerging tactical data link message translation and rebroadcast via alternate communication networks and/or advanced waveforms enabling resilient tactical communications on the modern battlefield

• Advanced modems and networking: low SWaP-C modem, router, and switch designs and implementations capable of high-throughput (>50 Gbps) modulation/demodulation and packet forwarding across a proliferated LEO communications architecture

• Optimized control of modulation techniques: dynamic, adaptive optimization of communications modulation technique selection and employment

2. Advanced/Alternate Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) This focus area is primarily aligned with the PWSA Navigation Layer, a capability enabled by the optically interconnected Transport layer. This thrust features capabilities enabling global operations in GPS-denied or degraded environments, including but not limited to:

• Ranging and precise time transfer via optical inter-satellite links: systems and algorithms enabling highly precise and accurate range measurements with free-space optical communications incorporating precise nanosecond time transfer as an integral component of proposed systems

• GPS independent PNT: capabilities required to enhance Speed, Time, And Ranging (STAR) and Constellation, Speed, Time, and Ranging (COSTAR) navigation and timing performance in GPS-denied environments, including communication systems, mass-producible low SWaP-C atomic clocks, inertial navigation systems, star trackers, and other space navigation sensors

• GPS Situational Awareness (SA): space-based Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) SA systems that act as monitors for GNSS signal-in-space integrity, and can measure potential terrestrial interference

3. Advanced Target Custody, Warning, Tracking and Defeat Aligned primarily with the PWSA Tracking and Custody Layers, this focus area seeks novel solutions to enable operationally relevant detection, tracking, targeting, and kill/battle damage assessment of adversary systems spanning multiple domains, with an emphasis on advanced missile threats and time-critical land and maritime targets. In addition, this topic spans the range of possible complementary missions with space-based sensors, including space-based environmental monitoring (SBEM), space domain awareness (SpDA for the purpose of this BAA), and battle damage assessment (BDA). While SpDA, SBEM and BDA are not primary PWSA missions at this time, novel solutions that offer enhanced warfighting capability and contribute to any of these mission areas would be considered. In addition, exceptionally low SWaP-C solutions that enable these missions and are of minimal competition for PWSA space vehicle resources might be considered favorably as add-on capabilities, including but not limited to:

• Infrared (IR) missile warning and tracking: IR sensor technologies, including optics, focal plane arrays, resiliency technologies, and mission data processing techniques designed for LEO operation

• Multi-INT fusion: algorithms, concepts, and systems that fuse multi-modal sensor data from systems spanning multiple domains to develop and maintain targeting solutions against time-sensitive targets; space-based fusion implementations are of particular interest to include specific sources of real (not simulated) training/demonstration data enabling computations to be performed at the tactical edge

• Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO): all spectrum EMSO suitable for proliferation in LEO to include but not be limited to electronic support, electronic attack and electronic protection of value to the tactical battlefield and capable of being deployed by one

(1) or more proliferated architecture layers without adversely affecting the primary mission of those layers

• Automatic target recognition (ATR): automated processes that classify objects of interest in sensor data feeds using trusted artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) implementations; as with multi-INT fusion above, include/identify specific sources of real (not simulated) training/demonstration data (either government or commercial) for these processes to fully exploit the best possible ATR capabilities at the tactical edge that can immediately be put to use to address current military gaps

• Novel remote sensing phenomenologies: innovative distributed sensing concepts, novel sensing modalities, and/or applications related to advanced threat detection, custody, tracking and/or surveillance of time critical/time sensitive targets

• Space-based sensors in complementary missions: disruptive sensor system designs or even dual-use applications of existing sensor payloads that open valuable support missions, including the body of SBEM missions (space weather, theater weather imagery (TWI), cloud characterization (CC), ocean surface vector winds (OSVW), etc.), SpDA, and BDA

4. Global Battle Management This focus area is aligned primarily with the PWSA Battle Management and Support Layers and includes algorithms, frameworks, and hardware supporting advanced processing, command and control, user interface/interaction/experience, and seamless interoperability of architecture elements, including but not limited to:

• Cyber defense of space data networks: architectures, protocols, and tools for layered cyber defense of the ground and space segment, with emphasis on adaptable, lightweight systems for malware and network intrusion detection, authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA); and security incident and event management

• Open interfaces and standards: development, validation and deployment of open system interfaces and standards supporting integration of PWSA components developed by multiple vendors, and interoperability with external systems and users

• Software frameworks enabling on-orbit or over-the-network reprogramming: flexible software frameworks that enable updates and reconfigurations to be published to space vehicles on orbit without interfering in tactical operations, including mechanisms for publishing and applying updates via existing communication links

• Automated dynamic networking and routing techniques: intelligent network management tools and routing policies that adapt to the current network topology and environmental conditions to maximize performance

• Radiation-hardened and radiation-tolerant advanced processing: high- performance, low SWaP-C on-orbit processing capabilities such as rad-hard or rad-tolerant GPUs, CPUs, FPGAs or other components, hardware/software/firmware architectures, storage, and algorithms, including implementations supporting distributed processing

• Radiation-hardened and radiation-tolerant advanced cryptographic devices: very high-speed High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptors (HAIPE), supporting ground- and space-based mesh communications in a mass-producible, low SWaP-C implementation, following the latest guidance in quantum resilience and zero-trust properties

• Automated schedule optimization and sensor tasking: dynamic, status-aware, optionally AI-enabled algorithms and systems providing for automation of resource allocation and scheduling, including the prioritization of software processes, tasking of missile tracking and surveillance resources, and power cycling of payloads

• Architecture-wide digital engineering: rapidly developed, low cost, low maintenance calibrated digital engineering tools and approaches that involve the use of a common set of reference data across PWSA design, development and operations, without labor-intensive administration of comprehensive, high-fidelity digital twins

• Seamless multi-level security (MLS) operations: robust MLS solutions that protect PWSA operations across heterogeneous platforms, multiple warfighting domains, and at multiple levels of security

• Cooperative maneuver: coordinated autonomous control of space vehicles and/or payloads to achieve a desired mission effect

• Distributed command and control in contested environments: mission-informed distributed implementations of command and control capabilities supporting the development of operational plans and courses of action, selection of courses of action, and real-time adjustments to employment strategies

In addition to the above areas, SDA may issue targeted “calls” for proposals for specific topics related to these focus areas during the time period this BAA remains open. Any such calls will be solicited via amendments to this BAA.

III. Award Information

A. General Award Information Multiple awards are anticipated. The amount of resources made available under this BAA will depend on the quality of the proposals received, the direct correlation between anticipated results and enhanced warfighting capability, and the availability of funds.

The Government reserves the right to select for negotiation all, some, one, or none of the proposals received in response to this solicitation and to make awards without discussions with proposers. The Government also reserves the right to conduct discussions if it is determined to be in the Government’s best interest. If warranted, portions of resulting awards may be segregated into pre-priced options. Additionally, the Government reserves the right to accept proposals in their entirety or to select only portions of proposals for award. In the event that the Government desires to award only portions of a proposal, negotiations will be opened with that proposer for those specific portions selected. The Government reserves the right to fund proposals in phases with options for continued work, as applicable, based on the accomplishments of previously funded efforts.

Awards under this BAA will be made to proposers on the basis of the evaluation criteria listed below (see Section VI, “Application Review Information”), and program balance to provide overall value to the Government. The Government reserves the right to request any additional, necessary documentation once it makes the award instrument determination. Such additional information may include but is not limited to Representations and Certifications (see Section VII.A.4, “Representations and Certifications”). The Government reserves the right to remove proposals from award consideration, should the parties fail to reach agreement on award terms, conditions, and/or cost/price within a reasonable time, or the proposer fails to provide requested additional information in a timely manner. Proposals identified for negotiation may result in a procurement contract or OTA, depending upon the nature of the work proposed, the required degree of interaction between parties, and other factors. Any requests for or assumptions regarding Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) or Government Furnished Information (GFI) shall be clearly stated in the proposal or may not be provided.

For any OTA awarded in accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 4022, the Government may award a follow-on production contract or OTA under this BAA if: (1) that participant in the OTA, or a recognized successor in interest to the OTA, successfully completed the entire prototype project provided for in the OTA, as modified; and (2) the OTA provides for the award of a follow-on production contract or OTA to the participant, or a recognized successor in interest to the OTA. In all cases, the Government contracting/agreements officer shall have sole discretion to select award instrument type, regardless of instrument type proposed, and to negotiate all instrument terms and conditions with selectees.

Any award resulting from this BAA will include a requirement for SDA permission before publishing any information related to the SDA-funded effort. The following, or similar, language will be incorporated into awards:

There shall be no dissemination or publication, except within and between the contractor and any subawardees, of information developed under this contract/agreement or contained in the reports to be furnished pursuant to this contract/agreement without prior written approval of SDA. All technical reports will be given proper review by the appropriate authority to determine which Distribution Statement is to be applied prior to the initial distribution of these reports by the contractor.

When submitting material for written approval for open publication, the contractor/awardee must submit a request for public release to SDA and include the following information: (1) Document Information: document title, document author, short plain language description of technology discussed in the material (approximately 30 words), number of pages (or minutes of video) and document type (e.g., briefing, report, abstract, article or paper), event date, desired date for SDA’s approval; (2) SDA Program Manager/COR/AOR and contract/agreement number; and (3) Contractor/Awardee’s Information: POC name, email and phone. Allow four (4) weeks for processing;

due dates under four (4) weeks require written justification. Unusual electronic file formats may require additional processing time. Requests may be sent either via email to ussf.pentagon.sda.mbx.FA240124S0001@mail.mil or by mail at Space Development Agency, 1670 Air Force Pentagon, Washington, DC 20330.

IV. Eligibility Information

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

1. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs), and Government Entities

(1) FFRDCs and UARCs FFRDCs and UARCs are subject to applicable direct competition limitations and cannot propose to this BAA in any capacity unless they meet the following conditions: (1) FFRDCs/UARCs must clearly demonstrate that the proposed work is not otherwise available from the private sector, and (2) FFRDCs/UARCs must provide a letter on official letterhead from their sponsoring organization that (a) cites the specific authority establishing their eligibility to propose to Government solicitations and compete with industry, and (b) certifies the FFRDCs/UARCs compliance with the associated FFRDC/UARC sponsor agreement’s terms and conditions. These conditions are a requirement for FFRDCs/UARCs proposing to be awardees or subawardees.

All proposers are expected to address transition; transition is part of the evaluation criteria in Section VI.A. However, given their special status, FFRDCs/UARCs should describe how and when a proposed technology/system will transition and identify to which Non-FFRDC organization(s).

(2) Government Entities Government Entities (e.g., Government/National laboratories, military educational institutions, etc.) are subject to applicable direct competition limitations. 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 and compete with industry. This information is required for Government Entities proposing to be awardees or subawardees.

(3) Authority and Eligibility At the present time, SDA does not consider 15 U.S.C. § 3710a to be sufficient legal authority to show eligibility. While 10 U.S.C.§ 4892 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. SDA will consider FFRDC/UARC and Government Entity eligibility submissions on a case-by-case basis; however, the burden to prove eligibility for all team members rests solely with the proposer.

2. Non-U.S. Organizations and/or Individuals 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.

3. Classified Proposals If a submission contains Classified National Security Information or the suspicion of such, as defined by Executive Order 13526, applicants will ensure all industrial, personnel, and information systems processing security requirements are in place and at the appropriate level (e.g., Facility Clearance Level (FCL), Automated Information System (AIS), Certification and Accreditation (C&A), and any Foreign Ownership Control and Influence (FOCI) issues are mitigated prior to submission.

Additional information on these subjects can be found at http://www.dcsa.mil.

B. Organizational Conflicts of Interest

FAR 9.5 Requirements In accordance with FAR 9.5, proposers are required to identify and disclose all facts relevant to potential OCIs involving the proposer’s organization and any proposed team member (subawardee, consultant). Under this Section, the proposer is responsible for providing this disclosure with each proposal submitted to the BAA. The disclosure must include the proposer’s and, as applicable, proposed team member’s OCI mitigation plan. The OCI mitigation plan must include a description of the actions the proposer has taken, or intends to take, to prevent the existence of conflicting roles that might bias the proposer’s judgment and to prevent the proposer from having unfair competitive advantage. The OCI mitigation plan will specifically discuss the disclosed OCI in the context of each of the OCI limitations outlined in FAR 9.505-1 through FAR 9.505-4.

Agency Supplemental OCI Policy In addition, SDA has a supplemental OCI policy that prohibits contractors/performers from concurrently providing Scientific Engineering Technical Assistance (SETA), Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS), Mission System Engineering and Integration (MSE&I) Services, Operations and Integration Services, or similar support services and being a technical performer.

Therefore, as part of the FAR 9.5 disclosure requirement above, a proposer must affirm whether http://www.dcsa.mil/ the proposer or any proposed team member (subawardee, consultant) is providing SETA, A&AS, or similar support to SDA under: (a) a current award or subaward; or (b) a past award or subaward that ended within one calendar year prior to the proposal’s submission date.

If SETA, A&AS, or similar support is being or was provided to SDA, the proposal must include:

• The prime contract number;

• Identification of proposed team member (subawardee, consultant) providing the support; and

• An OCI mitigation plan in accordance with FAR 9.5.

Government Procedures In accordance with FAR 9.503, 9.504 and 9.506, the Government will evaluate OCI mitigation plans to avoid, neutralize or mitigate potential OCI issues before award and to determine whether it is in the Government’s interest to grant a waiver. The Government will only evaluate OCI mitigation plans for proposals that are determined selectable under the BAA evaluation criteria and for which funds are available.

The Government may require proposers to provide additional information to assist the Government in evaluating the proposer’s OCI mitigation plan. Proposers shall clearly delineate their approach to ensure physical, organizational and financial separation of the proposing entity and the potentially conflicted entity.

If the Government determines that a proposer failed to fully disclose an OCI; or failed to provide the affirmation of SDA support as described above; or failed to reasonably provide additional information requested by the Government to assist in evaluating the proposer’s OCI mitigation plan, the Government may reject the proposal and withdraw it from consideration for award.

C. Cost Sharing/Matching Cost sharing is not required; however, it will be carefully considered where there is an applicable statutory condition relating to the selected funding instrument. Cost sharing is encouraged where there is a reasonable probability of a potential commercial application related to the proposed research and development effort.

For more information on potential cost sharing requirements for Other Transactions for Prototype, see: https://aaf.dau.edu/aaf/contracting-cone/ot/.

V. Application and Submission Information

A. Application Assistance All administrative correspondence and questions on this solicitation, including requests for information on how to submit an Executive Summary, invited Proposal Abstract, or invited full Proposal to this BAA, should be directed to ussf.pentagon.sda.mbx.FA240124S0001@mail.mil.

B. Content and Form of Submission Proposers are strongly encouraged to submit an Executive Summary and, if encouraged, a

Proposal Abstract in advance of a full Proposal. This procedure is intended to minimize unnecessary effort and cost in proposal preparation and review. Proposers are reminded that SDA’s ability and appetite for technology development are limited and our focus is and will remain at the PWSA level to better serve the warfighter and ensure mission accomplishment. SDA highly values industry partnership and seeks to ensure your resources are applied efficiently and effectively wherever https://aaf.dau.edu/aaf/contracting-cone/ot/ possible.

All submissions must be written in English with type not smaller than 12-point font. A page is defined as being no larger than an electronically formatted page of 8.5” by 11.0” with type not smaller than 12 point and margins no smaller than one (1) inch on all sides. Smaller font (no less than 10 point) may be used for figures, tables, and charts. Copies of all documents submitted must be clearly labeled with the SDA BAA number, proposer organization, SDA focus area(s) as described in §II.C, and proposal title/proposal short title.

For a proposal that includes both classified and unclassified information, the proposal may be separated into an unclassified portion and a classified portion. The proposal should use the unclassified portion to the maximum extent reasonable. Submissions should be made according to the instructions outlined in Section V.C.

NOTE: Non-conforming submissions that do not follow the instructions herein may be rejected without further review.

1. Executive Summary (ES) Format Executive Summaries are strongly encouraged in advance of submitting invited proposal abstracts and invited full proposals to provide potential proposers with a rapid response to minimize unnecessary effort. Proposers should specifically and clearly address the innovation of their proposed system or subsystem component development, the scientific or technical basis for innovative claims, and the architectural impact of the proposed development on warfighter mission capabilities, efficiency, or effectiveness. SDA policy is to treat all submissions as source selection information (see FAR 2.101 and 3.104), and to disclose their contents only for the purpose of evaluation. The executive summary should be clearly marked “EXECUTIVE SUMMARY,” and the total length shall not exceed two [2] pages. All executive summary submissions must be written in narrative form. No formal transmittal letter is required, but submissions must include the organization name, submission title, SDA focus area(s) as described in §II.C, and technical POC information (e-mail and mailing address).

2. Proposal Abstract (PA) Format Proposers are strongly encouraged to submit a proposal abstract, or white paper, in advance of a proposal. Abstracts should follow the same general format as described for proposals (see V.B.3) but include ONLY sections I and II of Volume I, Technical and Management Proposal. The abstract must include a statement of the anticipated Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost and the anticipated duration of the proposed effort. It is recommended that proposers provide sufficient information to assess the technical performance claims – SDA policy is to treat all submissions as source selection information (see FAR 2.101 and 3.104), and to disclose their contents only for the purpose of evaluation. The cover sheet should be clearly marked “ABSTRACT,” and the total length should not exceed five [5] pages. The maximum page count excludes the cover page in Volume I, Technical and Management Proposal, section I, and official transmittal letter, but does include any figures, tables, or other graphics. An official transmittal letter is not required.

Full Proposal (FP) Format

All proposals must be in the format given below. Non-conforming proposals may be rejected without review. The typical proposal should express a consolidated effort in support of one (1) or more related technical concepts or ideas. Disjointed efforts should not be included into a single proposal.

Proposals shall consist of two (2) volumes: 1) Volume I, Technical and Management Proposal (composed of three (3) parts), and 2) Volume II, Cost Proposal. The maximum page limit for Volume I is 15 pages (25 pages if the proposal total value exceeds $1 million). Bracketed numbers by each section denote page limits. The page limitation for full proposals includes all figures, tables, and charts.

Ensure that each section provides the detailed discussion of the proposed work necessary to enable an in-depth review of the specific technical and managerial issues. Specific attention must be given to addressing cost, schedule, technical and programmatic risks, and architectural payoff of the proposed work that make it of specific mission value to SDA.

Volume I, Technical and Management Proposal, described below, may include an attached bibliography of relevant technical papers or research notes (published and unpublished), which document the technical ideas and approach upon which the proposal is based. Copies of not more than three (3) relevant papers may be included with the submission. The bibliography and attached papers are not included in the page limits. The submission of other supporting materials along with the proposals is strongly discouraged and will not be considered for review.

A. Volume 1, Technical and Management Proposal Section I: Administrative

(a) Cover Sheet to include {no page limit}:

(1) BAA number (FA240124S0001)

(2) SDA focus area(s);

(3) Lead organization submitting proposal;

(4) Type of organization, selected among the following categories: “LARGE BUSINESS,”

“SMALL DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS,” “OTHER SMALL BUSINESS,”

“HBCU,” “MI,” “OTHER EDUCATIONAL,” OR “OTHER NONPROFIT”;

(5) Proposer’s reference number (if any);

(6) Other team members (if applicable) and type of organization for each;

(7) Proposal title;

(8) Technical point of contact to include: salutation, last name, first name, street address, city, state, zip code, telephone, electronic mail;

(9) Administrative point of contact to include: salutation, last name, first name, street address, city, state, zip code, telephone, electronic mail;

(10) Total funds requested from SDA, including total base cost, estimates of base cost in each year of the effort, estimates of itemized options in each year of the effort, and the amount of cost share (if any);

(11) Award instrument requested: cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF), cost-contract – no fee, cost sharing contract – no fee, or other type of procurement contract (specify), or other transaction;

(12) Place(s) and period(s) of performance;

(13) Summary of the costs of the proposed research, including total base cost, estimates of base cost in each year of the effort, estimates of itemized options in each year of the effort, and cost sharing if relevant;

(14) Name, address, and telephone number of the proposer’s cognizant Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) administration office (if known);

(15) Name, address, and telephone number of the proposer’s cognizant Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) audit office (if known);

(16) Unique Entity ID (UEI);

(17) Cage code (lead organization);

(18) Proposal validity period (minimum 180 days);

(19) Affirmation of existing SETA or A&AS support contracts (see Section IV, Section B).

If none, state “none”;

(20) Statement of Unique Capability Provided by Government or Government- Funded

Team Member {no page limit};

(21) Per Section IV, Section A – Eligible Applicants, proposals that include Government or

Government-funded entities (i.e., FFRDCs, UARCs, National laboratories, etc.) as prime, subcontractor or team member, shall provide a statement that clearly demonstrates the work being provided by the Government or Government- funded entity team member is not otherwise available from the private sector. If none of the team members belongs to a Government or Government-funded entity, then the proposer should state “Not Applicable.”

(22) Date proposal was submitted.

1. Official transmittal letter {1}

2. Table of Contents {no page limit} Section II: Summary of Proposal {NTE 4 pages}

Note: The Summary of Proposal should not have any unique information not contained in the Detailed Proposal Information.

(a) Innovation: Succinctly describe the uniqueness and benefits of the proposed research relative to the existing body of research and industry work. Provide a basic description of the scientific or technical basis for the innovative claims.

(b) Results: Provide a short description of the deliverables associated with the proposed research – discuss the results, products, transferable technology, and transition path.

(1) Include in this section all proprietary claims to the results, prototypes, intellectual property, or systems supporting and/or necessary for the use of the research, results, and/or prototype. If there are no proprietary claims, this should be stated. For forms to be completed regarding intellectual property, see Section V.B – Additional Proposal Information of this BAA. There will be no page limit for the listed forms.

(2) Proposers responding to this BAA must submit a separate list of all technical data or computer software that will be furnished to the Government with other than unlimited rights. The Government will assume unlimited rights if proposers fail to identify any intellectual property restrictions in their proposals.

(c) Technical Rationale: Provide a short description of the impact of the proposed development on military mission capabilities, efficiency, or effectiveness.

(1) Should include general discussion of other research in this area.

(2) The purpose of this section is to explain why the specific technical approach you chose is superior to other technical approaches. This section is not intended to expand on the military utility of your concept.

(d) Technical Approach: Provide a short description of the technical approach and constructive plan for accomplishment of technical goals in support of innovative claims and deliverable production.

(e) Experience: Describe the unique capabilities of project and corporate team members.

Describe the proposer’s previous accomplishments and work in closely related research areas.

(f) Cost: Cost, schedule and measurable milestones for the proposed research, including estimates of cost for each task in each year of the effort delineated by the prime and major subcontractors, total cost and company cost share, if applicable. (Note: Measurable milestones should capture key development points in tasks and should be clearly articulated and defined in time relative to start of effort.)

Section III: Detailed Proposal Information {NTE 11, or NTE 21 if proposal total value exceeds $1 million}

(a) Statement of Work (SOW) In plain English, clearly define the technical tasks/subtasks to be performed, their durations, and dependencies among them. The page length for the SOW will be dependent on the amount of the effort. For each task/subtask, provide:

(1) A general description of the technical objective (for each defined task/activity);

(2) A detailed description of the approach to be taken to accomplish each defined task/activity in support of the innovative claims and deliverable production;

(3) Identification of the primary organization responsible for task execution (prime, sub, team member, by name, etc.);

(4) A top-level schedule for all major tasks and the completion criteria for each task/activity (a product, event or milestone that defines its completion). Please include where the effort could be partitioned into initial and future phases – future phases should be identified as options.

(5) Define all deliverables (reporting, data, reports, hardware, software, technology, products, etc.) to be provided to the Government in support of the proposed tasks/activities; and

(6) Clearly identify any tasks/subtasks (to be performed by either an awardee or subawardee) that will be accomplished on-campus at a university, if applicable.

Note: It is recommended that the SOW should be developed so that each Phase of the program is separately defined. The SOW is not included as part of the Volume I page limit. Do not include any proprietary information in the SOW.

(b) Technical Rationale:

(1) Provide the technical rationale for the objective requirement, including technology advancements and value-added to DoD capabilities and SDA’s proliferated architecture.

(2) Provide technical rationale, scientific basis, and any supporting analysis for the technical approach for each major task/activity.

(3) Provide a comparison of the technical objectives and technical approach with other ongoing research and existing state-of-the-art, indicating advantages and disadvantages of the proposed effort.

(c) Risk and Risk Reduction

(1) Provide an initial list of critical cost, schedule, technical and programmatic risk areas.

(2) Describe the formal process for identifying and tracking the risk elements that translate into critical and unique technologies, processes and system attributes associated with a technology objective.

(3) For each proposed risk reduction task:

• Provide a detailed discussion of the objectives of each of the proposed risk reduction tasks as well as quantifiable success metrics.

• Describe the approach for each risk reduction task.

• Describe the value of performing the risk reduction activities during the initial phase, as opposed to deferring them until future phases.

(4) Describe the process for identifying and evaluating applicable technologies available from other Government and industry R&D programs.

(5) Address mitigation of life-cycle and sustainment risks associated with transitioning intellectual property for U.S. military applications, if applicable.

(d) Results

(1) Describe the results, products, transferable technology and expected technology transfer/transition paths.

(2) Provide a description of all proprietary claims to the results, prototypes, intellectual property, or systems. If there are no proprietary claims, this should be stated. For forms to be completed regarding intellectual property

(3) V.B.3.f – Intellectual Property. There will be no page limit for the listed forms.

(e) Organization

(1) Describe the programmatic relationship of corporate team members.

(2) Describe the responsibilities of corporate and project team members.

(3) Describe the teaming strategy among the team members.

(4) Identify the key personnel by name and include descriptions of their roles. SDA requires key personnel identified in the proposal to be assigned as proposed, and the resulting contract/agreement will indicate no substitution shall be made without prior approval of the Government.

(5) Describe the proposer’s previous accomplishments and work in closely related research areas.

(6) Submit a clearly defined organization chart for the project team which includes, as applicable:

• The programmatic relationship of team members;

• The unique capabilities of team members;

• The task of responsibilities of team members;

• The teaming strategy among the team members; and

• The key personnel along with the amount of effort to be expended by each person during each year.

(f) Facilities

(1) Provide a description of any unique facilities necessary for execution of the proposed effort that would be used for the proposed effort, e.g., the requirement for a Co-Use Agreement.

(g) Project Management:

(1) Management Plan:

• Describe program management process that will be utilized to achieve the technical objective.

• Include a description of how the team will function and share technical and financial information among the team members and with the Government.

• Provide short (not to exceed one (1) page) résumés for the key personnel in key disciplines/risk areas.

(2) Schedule: Provide a detailed integrated schedule of all initial phase activities, including risk reduction tasks. Proposals below $1 million shall provide an Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) at a minimum at WBS Level 2. Proposals that exceed $1 million (total proposed value, regardless of potential cost share) shall provide an IMS at WBS Level 3.

• Measurable critical milestones should occur no less than quarterly after the start of the effort. Additional interim non-critical management milestones are also highly encouraged at regular intervals. Milestones must not include proprietary information.

• Top-level schedules are required for optional phases and should be based on the proposer’s initial risk reduction strategy.

• Include key events and demonstrations as appropriate for the technology concept. An electronic copy of the IMS in MS Project or Project-compatible format shall be included with proposal submissions.

• All tasks in the IMS shall be linked and the ability to display the critical path shall be implemented.

B. Volume II, Cost Proposal All proposers, including FFRDCs/UARCs, must submit the following:

Section I: Administrative

1. Cover sheet to include:

(a) BAA number (FA240124S0001);

(b) SDA focus area(s);

(c) Lead Organization submitting proposal;

(d) Type of organization selected among the following categories:

(e) “LARGE BUSINESS,” “SMALL DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS,” “OTHER SMALL

BUSINESS,” “HBCU,” “MI,” “OTHER EDUCATIONAL,” OR “OTHER

NONPROFIT”;

(f) Proposer’s reference number (if any);

(g) Other team members (if applicable) and type of organization for each;

(h) Proposal title;

(i) Technical point of contact to include: salutation, last…