Eglin BAA (FA2487-23-S-B009) (V2).pdf

Solicitation

FA2487-23-S-B009

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE (AFB) AIR FORCE TEST CENTER (AFTC)

Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

Solicitation Number FA2487-23-S-B009

Submittal Instructions

Date: 25 Apr 2023

SECTION A: Introduction Eglin AFB is conducting a Broad Agency Announcement as authorized by Department of Defense

Regulations Part 35.016. Under a BAA, the Air Force may competitively award proposals received in response to a general solicitation to acquire innovative non-commercial items, technologies, and services, based on a review of proposals by scientific, technological, or other subject-matter expert peers within the

Air Force. Under this BAA, all items, technologies, and services shall be treated as non-commercial items, and only a single contract award will be made.

The Air Force intends to obtain “innovative” solutions or potential new capabilities that fulfill requirements, close capability gaps, or provide potential technology advancements. Solutions may include existing technologies or procedures that are not currently in use by units at various locations that would enhance or streamline their mission capabilities. Based on available funding, this BAA is targeting solutions priced up to specific amounts listed by topic in the proposal instructions. The Government will not evaluate proposed solutions priced greater than the amounts per topic. Under a BAA, all proposals are very strongly expected to have a total price of $625,000 with the single highest rated proposal being selected for award based on the evaluation criteria below. However, offerors are free propose a lower total price if they so choose.

“Innovative” is defined as any technology, process or method that is new as of the date of submission of a proposal. It also includes any new application of an existing technology, process, or method.

Eglin AFB will utilize an open one-step BAA evaluation process. Under the one-step evaluation process, offerors whose proposed solutions meet the need of the government will be immediately notified if they were selected for an award. For further details, review Section C of this document for Procedures and

Criteria for Selecting Proposals. In order to execute payment, the Government intends to pay each contract after all requirements are satisfied via a monthly Cost Voucher. This will require you to have to register in Wide Area Work Flow after award.

SECTION B: Instructions for Preparation and Submission of Proposals The following section outlines the proposal requirements. It also includes timelines for submission.

The single contract award from this solicitation will be Cost-Plus-Fixed Fee. All supplies or services procured via this BAA are treated as non-commercial. The Air Force must determine the price fair and reasonable prior to award. Eglin AFB is conducting this BAA as a Full and Open Competition. This topic is not under a Total Small Business Set-Aside. The Air Force intends to evaluate the Small

Business status of each offeror based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) of

541715 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except

Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)) for Topic EAFB-001. The Air Force intends to award a single

FAR Part 15 and 35 contract as a result of this BAA.

Proposal Contents (Note: The Government reserves the right to not consider a proposal for award if it omits any of the required information below.)

Proposal Volume/Section Requirements/Limitations

COVER LETTER

Must Include:

i. Area of Interest for which proposal is submitted. Example: FA2487-23-S-

B009 - EAFB 001 – TITLE: Course of

Action Study for GWEF Advanced

Munitions Expansion (GAME)

ii. Proposed Team Member Names

iii. Proposal “Validity” Date

iv. Authorized Offeror Representative or

Point of contact(s)

v. An overview of the company, as it relates to the Area of Interest under which the proposed solution is submitted

vi. CAGE Code, UEI Number

vii. SAM Screen shot from SAM.gov

viii. Completed Section K

● Maximum of 4 pages. Page limitation does not include screenshot or Section K

● Offerors shall include a screenshot from

SAM.gov as validation of your correct CAGE code, UEI number and current business address along with the verification that you are registered to compete for ALL Contracts.

● Offerors shall include a completed copy of

Section K (see Attachment 2).

VOLUME I – TECHNICAL

See additional requirements below.

● White paper/Statement of Work shall not exceed

100 pages including specification sheets (if included), but excluding the cover page, table of contents, list(s) of tables and drawings, glossaries with acronyms and blank pages (see Attachment

3).

● Non-Proprietary Work Plan: Provide a complete, non-proprietary work plan, free of proprietary markings. Failure to provide this document will necessitate a request for revision and may delay contract award (Section 5 of Attachment 3).

● Any data rights restrictions shall be included as part of the assertions in Attachment 2 and Section 6 in Attachment 3.

VOLUME II – PRICE

Must Include:

i. Proposed cost/price(s)

ii. Delivery or Period of Performance

iii. Data Rights Assertions

iv. Account System Status

● No page Limit.

● Pricing shall be proposed as 1 discrete total prices under Cost-Plus-Fixed Fee Contract Line

Item Number (CLIN) 0001. CLIN 0001’s total price shall be proposed for the Course of Action

Study for GWEF GAME Study with an amount not to exceed $625,000.

● A breakdown of direct, indirect rates, and other direct costs for execution of the effort as described in Attachment 5.

● Final delivery/installation date for CLIN 0001 shall be proposed by the offeror as Months After

Receipt of Order (MARO) under the terms of Free on Board (FOB) Destination. CLIN 0001’s final delivery date shall be NLT 6 MARO.

● Accounting System Status

● Pricing shall remain valid for a minimum of 90 days after receipt of the proposal.

** NOTE: Submitted documents shall not contain classified data or sensitive information and proprietary information shall be clearly marked **

To limit confusion, all proposal volumes must include the title of the area of interest on which the offeror is proposing a solution, and use the following naming convention:

• Proposal-FA248723SB009-CoverLetter-<Company Name>.docx

• Proposal-FA248723SB009-White Paper/Statement of Work-<Company Name>.docx

&.xlsx

• Proposal-FA248723SB009-Price-<Company Name>.docx

Technical Volume

The technical volume shall be comprised of a statement of work that outlines the work plan. The plan should include the location and mechanics of accomplishing the planned approach. The methods to achieve each objective or task should be discussed in detail. The technical volume for each topic shall adhere to the format outlined in Attachment 3.

SAM Registration

It is critical offerors are registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), https://www.sam.gov/, you will not be eligible for an award if not registered in SAM at the time your proposal is submitted.

Additionally, verify that you are registered to receive contracts (not just grants) and that your address matches your proposal and SAM.

• When registering in SAM.gov, be sure to select ‘YES’ to the question ‘Do you wish to bid on contracts?’ in order to be able to compete for BAA. If you are only registered to compete for grants, you will be ineligible for award.

• The Air Force is working to move fast, please double check your CAGE codes and Unique Entity ID numbers to be sure they line up, if they are not correct at the time of submission, you will be ineligible for award.

https://www.sam.gov/

Eglin AFB has partnered with the Florida Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) headquartered at the University of West Florida to provide Florida based small businesses with free technical assistance, training, proposal reviews, and counseling. To complete the online request for consulting, please visit the website at www.fptac.org/erfc. (If your business is not headquartered in

Florida, please contact your local PTAC for technical assistance via this link: https://www.dla.mil/SmallBusiness/PTAP/PTAC/).

Ask Me Anything (AMA)

Due to the large amount of expected interest in this BAA, and in order to maintain a written record of questions, the Air Force will be accepting individual questions through e-mail. The questions and answers will be published via sam.gov to ALL offerors, except in rare cases when the issue needs to be addressed immediately.

All e-mails for questions, solicitation clarifications, or possible amendments must be emailed to:

craig.oneill@us.af.mil. To avoid any confusion, the subject line of the email shall include the following

(depending on the section of the solicitation or Area of Interest you have question(s) on):

● AMA - Area of Interest

● AMA - Solicitation Section (A, B, C, D & E)

Questions in response to this solicitation shall be submitted via e-mail to craig.oneill@us.af.mil NLT 21

April 2023 at 11:00 am Central Time. Questions and answers will be made available NLT 27 Apr

2023 at 11:00 am Central Time. Questions and answers in response to the draft and final solicitation are available in Attachment 6.

Proposal Submission

In order for your proposal to be evaluated for a possible contract award, it must be submitted via email to craig.oneill@us.af.mil NLT 11:00 AM Central Time on 3 May 2023. A hardcopy will not be accepted.

No proposal will be accepted after 11:00 AM Central Time 3 May 2023 as the authority to enter into a contract under the BAA solicitation expires at this time. Offerors may submit proposal amendments any time prior to the proposal evaluation deadline. Evaluation shall be within 45 days of the submission.

However, the Government will ONLY review the final amended proposal that is submitted.

To avoid any ‘lost in transit’ situation, offerors shall contact the Contracting Office to confirm receipt of an email or proposal electronic delivery immediately after submission. Please ensure that your e-mail address listed in your proposal is current and accurate. Eglin AFB is not responsible for ensuring notifications are received by firms changing mailing address/e-mail address/company points of contact after proposal submission without proper notification to Eglin AFB. Changes of this nature shall be annotated in the sam.gov submittal or amendments.

The contracting officer, Craig O’Neill, will be available 2 hours prior to the proposal submission deadline in order to ensure all proposals are received. If your company does not receive a receipt notification via e-mail from the contracting officer then please e-mail the contracting officer without the proposal attached and request a DoD Safe drop-off from the contracting officer. If your company has an employee with a DoD Common Access Card (CAC) then they can alternatively submit it via DoD Safe at https://safe.apps.mil/ without a drop-off request from the contracting officer.

**Notes: Offerors are responsible for ensuring that ALL Amendments to this solicitation are reviewed carefully prior to submitting a proposal.

https://safe.apps.mil/

SECTION C: Procedures and Criteria for Selecting Proposals Eglin AFB will utilize a one-step evaluation process

ONE-STEP BAA Evaluation Process – Direct Award

Evaluation of offerors’ proposed solutions/packages: Sufficient funds are available for this acquisition up to the maximum dollar value as specified per topic above so the funding availability evaluation criteria will not be included in this particular BAA solicitation. The Air Force will conduct its evaluation based on two factors: technical and importance to agency programs in descending order of importance with a score assigned utilize the adjectival system below. The technical factor and associated components being more important than the importance to agency programs factor.

• Criterions A & B. The technical factor will assess the two components of innovativeness and feasibility:

o The innovativeness component will assess the innovativeness of the proposed technical approach. Specific objectives, approaches, and plans for developing and verifying the innovation must demonstrate a clear understanding of the problem and the current state of the art. The degree of understanding and significance of the risks involved in the proposed innovation must be presented.

o The feasibility component will assess the proposed solution’s feasibility including as to whether the solution solves the unit’s challenges, achieves a workable result, demonstrates realism, and meets the required schedule.

• Criterion C. The importance to agency programs factor will assess the solution’s potential to enhance the mission effectiveness of the unit including meeting the needs of

Air Force and mission requirements and demonstrating clear understanding of the Unit’s challenges in the area of interest/topic.

Technical score utilizing subfactors establishes the rank order for all offerors. Technical Subfactors are assigned weighted score for each subfactor. Contract is awarded to the offeror with the highest aggregate score. Offerors are eligible for award as long as the cost/price is deemed fair and reasonable after the selection notification is sent to the successful offeror.

Adjectival Scoring System:

Adjectival Ratings Definitions:

Evaluation Definitions:

a. Strength - An aspect of a proposal that benefits the Government in terms of the quality of the

Proposer’s performance, cost effectiveness, or reduced risk and is expected to contribute to successful contract performance.

b. Weakness - A flaw in the proposal that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance. A

"significant weakness" in the proposal is a flaw that appreciably increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance.

c. Deficiency - A material failure of a proposal to meet a Government requirement or a combination of significant weaknesses in a proposal that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance to an unacceptable level.

Evaluation Criteria Scoring – Scores up to those indicated are permissible

Proposal Ranking X of X

Phase I Criteria*

Outstanding

Good

Acceptable

Marginal

Unacceptable

Criterion A

Criterion B

Criterion C

*Adjectival

Scoring System

**Values must be entered below discretely. For example, if a rating of good is assigned then only a value of 45 can be entered, not 44 or

46.

Adjectival

Rating

Description

Outstanding Proposal indicates an exceptional approach and understanding of the requirements and contains multiple strengths. Has no weaknesses.

Good Proposal indicates a thorough approach and understanding of the requirements and contains at least one strength. Has no weaknesses.

Acceptable Proposal meets requirements and indicates an adequate approach and understanding of the requirements. Has no strengths.

Marginal Proposal has not demonstrated an adequate approach and understanding of the requirements. Contains one or more weaknesses in combination with or without any strengths.

Unacceptable Proposal does not meet requirements of the solicitation, and thus, contains one or more deficiencies. Proposal is unawardable.

Price Reasonableness Determination: Price shall be considered to the extent appropriate, but at a minimum, the contracting officer will use market research and cost analysis as the primary methods to determine that the price is fair and reasonable. The Government may elect to use external market research in the evaluation of the proposal. The Air Force must determine the price fair and reasonable prior to award using the procedures at DFARS subpart 15.404-1. In some circumstances, the contracting officer may request information from the offeror regarding recent purchase prices paid by the Government and/or commercial customers for the same or similar commercial items. It is required that a rigorous proposal with all direct, indirect and other direct costs be included in the cost volume (see Attachment 5). The price reasonableness determination will be sent out after issuance of the selection notification.

At the conclusion of proposal evaluation and based on the results of the evaluations, the Air Force may select an offeror for direct award. An award notification will be sent out, which shall include a request for further details or documents prior to award (i.e. warranty information, delivery details…etc.).

Foreign Participation

Foreign participation shall not be permitted, which includes foreign companies operating U.S.

subsidiaries for all topics.

Security Clearance

SECRET security clearances to provide access to Government facilities will be required at award. Topic

EAFB-001 contains a DD254, Department of Defense Contract Security Classification Specification as

Attachment 4 outlining the security requirements. The DD254 contains multiple attachments embedded within the DD254 form itself. Integration will potentially require collaboration with existing GWEF contractors to ascertain the GWEF’s existing capabilities. Any collaborations, requiring access to proprietary information, shall be governed by an Associated Contractor Agreement to be executed after contract award.

Site Visits/Product Demonstration

Site visits will not be conducted at any point during the acquisition process.

Note: During any step of the BAA, the Air Force may send questions or comments for the offerors to address via e-mail.

Important Pertinent Clauses

DFARS 252.204-7009, Limitations on the Use or Disclosure of Third-Party Contractor Reported

Cyber Incident Information

DFARS 252.204-7012, Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident

Reporting

DFARS 252.225-7001, Buy American and Balance of Payments Program

DFARS 252.239-7000, Protection Against Compromising Emanations

DFARS 252.239-7016, Telecommunications Security Equipment, Devices, Techniques, and

Services

AFFARS 5352.209-9000, Organizational Conflict of Interest Alternate III

SECTION D: Areas of Interest See attached Areas of Interest/Topics for this BAA.

• Attachment 1 – EAFB-001 – Statement of Objectives (SOO) for Course of Action Study for

GWEF Advanced Munitions Expansion (GAME) (V2)

Note: The Area of Interest/Topic listed above is subject to change at any time during this procurement process. This area of Interest/Topic may be added/revised on a weekly basis. An amendment will be issued when such a change occurs. Offerors are encouraged to review all the Amendments to this solicitation prior to submitting a proposal.

Offerors shall e-mail a copy of their DD2345 to the Contracting Officer if interested in obtaining copies of Attachments 1, 4 and 6. The form, instructions, and FAQs may be found at the United States/Canada

Joint Certification Program website, https://www.dla.mil/HQ/LogisticsOperations/Services/JCP/.

Approval of the DD Form 2345 will be verified if your proposal is chosen for award.

SECTION E: Attachments See attachments below for this BAA.

• Attachment 2 – Section K (V2)

• Attachment 3 – White Paper/Statement of Work Guide (V1)

• Attachment 4 – DD254 (V1)

• Attachment 5 – Preparation of Cost Volume (V1)

• Attachment 6 – Q&A for Draft Solicitation of Game Study (V2)

• Exhibit A - Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL)