16th AF CSO Call - 0001_Topic (007) MRT-C.pdf

16th AIR FORCE

COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS OPENING (CSO) CALL - 0001

FA7037-23-S-C001-0001

TOPIC 007 - AIR FORCE INFORMATION NETWORK (AFIN)

“MISSION RELEVANT TERRAIN-CYBER AUTOMATION”

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2. PURPOSE

3. CSO APPROACH AND OVERVIEW

4. GENERAL INFORMATION

5. SUBMISSION INFORMATION

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1 The Sixteenth Air Force (16AF) provides the U.S Air Force the ability to optimize and synchronize the readiness, generation, employment and presentation of cyberspace;

electromagnetic spectrum; information; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance;

weather; and other related capabilities to generate information warfare outcomes for combatant commanders and air components.

1.2 The 16AF/A35 Cybersecurity & Defense (CS&D) Branch seeks innovative and novel automation solutions for the identification and prioritization of Mission Relevant

Terrain-Cyber (MRT-C) for USAF Task Critical Assets (TCAs) and its integration into the Mission Assurance Decision Support System (MADSS) database on the Secret

Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet). The solutions should utilize existing automation tools accredited for USAF systems to the maximum extent possible.

Additionally, the solutions should conform to existing Mission Analysis and MRT-C guidance provided by Joint Force Headquarters-DODIN (JFHQ-DODIN).

2. PURPOSE

2.1 This Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) Call, in accordance with Federal

Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.102(b)(c)(d) and Class Deviation 2022-O0007–

Defense Commercial Solutions Opening, is a competitive solicitation of proposals focused on technologies to meet the 16AF/A35 CS&D’s mission. The 16AF/A35

CS&D seeks the best approaches to meet the technology objectives within the capability areas listed below. Detailed topics associated with each capability area appear in Attachment 6.

2.2 "Innovative" means any technology, process, or method, including research and development that is new as of the date of submission of a proposal, or any new application as of the date of submission.

2. CSO CALL APPROACH AND OVERVIEW

3.1 This CSO Call seeks the best commercial approaches to meet various technology objectives of 16AF/A35 CS&D. All items, technologies, and services acquired using a CSO Call will be treated as commercial items. The Government encourages proposals that span a wide spectrum of possible technical and business solutions in response to the specific technology topics stated in Attachment 6. The Government reserves the right to award funding to any combination of proposals which offer the best overall value to the Government, and to oversee any and all processes and approaches once initiated. Awards of efforts as a result of this announcement will be in the form of contracts or other transactions (OT) as codified in 10 U.S.C. §2371b

(section 2371b).

3.2 Funding for participation in this program is highly competitive and the price of proposed technologies should be considered. Awards resulting from this CSO Call will be made based on the evaluation results of a two-stepped proposal process described in Section 5. The Government reserves the right to fund all, some, one, or none of the proposals submitted; may elect to fund only part of a submitted proposal;

and may incrementally fund any or all awards under this CSO Call. All awards are subject to the availability of funds.

3.3 All coordination and communication between Offerors and the Government will be conducted using the Beta Sam.Gov website and the points of contact associated with this CSO Call, as specified in Section 4.

3.4 Note: Do not include Proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in responses. The government intends to use contractor support personnel to intake and process whitepapers and proposals.

Whitepaper responses are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S. Government to form a binding contract or agreement. This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation, or ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach.

The Government will in no way be bound to this information if any formal solicitation is issued. This request for whitepapers is issued solely for information and planning purposes and to identify interested sources. Further, unsolicited proposals will not be accepted. Funding is not available at this time. Release of this request for whitepapers should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought.

Response to this CSO Call is voluntary and no reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this and any follow-on information requests. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

4. GENERAL INFORMATION

4.1 POINT OF CONTACTS. Questions regarding the administrative content of this

CSO Call must be addressed to the Contracting Office below. Questions regarding the technical content of this CSO Call must be addressed to the Technical Point of

Contact (POC) below.

Contracting Office POCs:

Ms. Carissa Heuertz, email: 16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil

Ms. Lisa Anderson, email: 16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil

Technical POC:

Lt Col Michael Wells, email: 16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil mailto:16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil mailto:16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil mailto:16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil

4.2 CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. Offerors are encouraged to submit unclassified white papers to simplify and expedite reviews and response by the Government. If an Offeror deems that a white paper contains classified information refer to paragraph 5.2.1.3 for submission instructions. Classified submissions must be handled, labeled, and stored in accordance with the National Industrial Security

Program (NISP) Operating Manual.

Offerors must possess all required personnel security clearances, facility clearances, and other infrastructure requirements necessary to perform any proposed classified work in accordance with the Contract Security Classification Specification (DD

Form 254) without reliance on Government resources.

5. SUBMISSION INFORMATION

5.1 SUBMISSION OVERVIEW. Step I submissions shall include both the Quad Charts and White Papers prepared in accordance with the formats at Attachments 1 and 2 respectively. Step I submissions can be submitted at any time during the open Call timeframe listed. This Call will be open to the receipt of Step I submissions for the period of 1 August 2023 – 31 January 2024. Offerors are encouraged to monitor

Sam.gov for any specific amendments to the CSO for Call timeframes for specific

Topic Areas and any updated information.

16th AF will invite select Offerors to submit Step II, full proposals based on favorable evaluation results of Step I submissions. Step II submissions will be requested ONLY by the Contracting Officer and will contain separate submission instructions and timelines within the Request for Proposal (RFP) letter.

5.2 TWO-STEP SUBMISSION PROCESS. This CSO Call will be conducted in two steps as follows:

5.2.1 STEP I. Interested offerors must submit Quad Charts and White Papers in accordance with instructions provided in this CSO Call. Step I submissions will be evaluated against criteria as described in Attachment 7 of this CSO Call. Due to the requirements and financial scope of this CSO Call, offerors must ensure that submissions are succinct yet descriptive. Proposals will not be evaluated beyond page length limitations. Proposals that lack technical depth and rigor or are not within the 16AF/A35 CS&D mission will be evaluated as such.

5.2.1.1 All Quad Charts should include the information indicated on the sample template in Attachment 1.

5.2.1.2 The White Paper narrative expands on the Quad Chart presentation.

Instructions for format and content are located in Attachment 2. Each offeror shall include in the white paper a preliminary Technology Readiness Level (TRL) assessment of the proposed technology that conforms to the technology objectives and an expected TRL at the conclusion of the effort. The offeror shall perform a

TRL assessment according to the Department of Defense Technology Readiness

Assessment Guidance. The offeror must address the overall proposed TRL for the system, application, or process – not just individual components.

5.2.1.3 White paper and quad chart submissions shall be sent to

16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil for review. The Subject Line shall indicate the Call Number and Topic Area the Submission is in response to. If there is a need for a classified white paper/quad chart submission, send an email to

16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil to receive instructions for classified submissions.

5.2.2 Notification of Selection. All offerors providing Step I submissions will be contacted by the Government, either with an email informing them that the effort proposed is not of interest to the Government at this time or with a request for further information or a formal price and technical proposal by a specific date.

5.2.3 STEP II. Step II proposals will only be accepted from Offerors who upon review of Step I submissions, are invited by the Contracting Officer to submit a full proposal. In order to be considered for award under Step II, offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov, be considered responsible within the meaning of FAR Part 9.1, Responsible

Prospective Contractors, have a satisfactory performance record, and otherwise be eligible for award based on federal law and regulation.

5.2.3.1 Proposal Submission. Upon notification for a proposal by the

Contracting Officer, offerors have 30 calendar days to prepare and submit a proposal in accordance with the format and instructions at Attachments 3-5. Each proposal shall include a Statement of Work (SOW) and detailed pricing. All pages shall be numbered.

5.2.3.2 Proposal Review, Evaluation and Selection Process. Each proposal will be evaluated by the Government and the proposal must stand on its own technical merit. Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria and process specified in Attachment 7. Pursuant to FAR 35.016(e), the primary basis for selecting proposals for acceptance shall be technical, importance to agency programs, and fund availability.

5.3 Rights in Technical Data, Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation.

Offerors shall mark each page of its white paper that contains proprietary information.

It is the Government’s intention to acquire only that necessary to satisfy agency needs and this will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. An offeror may provide with its white paper assertions to restrict, use, release or disclosure of data and/or computer software and computer software documentation that will be provided in the course of contract performance. Rules governing these assertions are prescribed in DFARS clauses 252.227-7013, 7014, and 7017 and may be accessed at acquisition.gov mailto:16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil http://www.sam.gov/ http://farsite.hill.af.mil/

ATTACHMENT 1: QUAD CHART FORMAT

The following information must be included in the Step I Quad Chart. Quad Charts shall not exceed 1-page in landscape view. Quad Charts must follow the formatting guidelines on the slide template below.

ATTACHMENT 2: STEP I WHITE PAPER FORMAT

The White Paper narrative expands on the Quad Chart presentation, and must be 8.5 x 11 inches with one-inch margins, no longer than two pages, single-spaced, with text in Times New Roman, no smaller than 12 point font. All white papers must specify a project title, the Offeror’s organization, and the specific topic number associated with the proposal (see Attachment 6).

Pages in excess of the page limitation will not be read or evaluated. White Papers must not exceed a file size of 10 MB.

The White Paper must be limited only to further explanation of the information conveyed in the

Quad Chart, as deemed necessary by the Offeror. The information should provide sufficient information on the research being proposed (e.g. the hypothesis, theories, concept, approaches, data measurements, and analysis, etc.) to allow for an assessment by a technical expert. Expand as deemed necessary on the following sections of the Quad Chart: Objective; Description of the

Effort; Benefits of the Proposed Technology; Technical Challenges; Technology Readiness

Level (TRL) of the technology at project start and planned TRL at project completion; Major

Goals/Milestones by Government fiscal year. Do not include corporate or personnel qualification, past experience or any supplemental information not requested in the Quad Chart.

White paper and quad charts shall be sent to 16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil for review. If there is a need for a classified white paper/quad chart submission, send an email to

16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil to receive instructions for classified submissions.

ATTACHMENT 3: STEP II TECHNICAL PROPOSAL FORMAT

The Technical Proposal portion of the Step II submission shall not exceed 10 pages, excluding cover page and table of contents. Any pages submitted in excess of the 10-page limit will not be considered or evaluated.

Suggested page limitations for individual sections are listed below; however, these are guidelines not strict limits.

I. ABSTRACT. [1 page suggested.]

II. SCOPE. This proposal is submitted in response to the 16AF/A35 CS&D

Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) Call on….. [Cite the Project Title. 8 pages suggested.]

a. Objective. [A clear and concise description of the objective of the proposed project.]

b. Background. [Provide the necessary technical and scientific background to support the scientific and technical merits of the proposed project.]

c. Programmatics. This effort will support the 16th AF initiative 007 aimed at developing cyberspace technologies or methodologies. [Describe the

Offeror’s management plan for the proposed project; list supporting and collaborating organizations and subcontractors; clearly identify roles and responsibilities of each organization and subcontractor supporting the project].

d. Relevance. [Describe the relevance of the proposed project in terms of 16th

AF mission, end-user needs and the technology maturity of the proposed project.]

III. CREDENTIALS. [Describe the Offeror’s qualifications to perform the proposed work. Summarize the relevant credentials of the primary performing center, and supporting academic and industrial partners. Describe specific examples of similar work performed, and equipment and/or facilities available to perform the proposed work. List summary qualifications of the Key Personnel. Focus on information directly relevant to the proposed work. 4 pages suggested.]

a. Summary of Credentials.

b. Summary of Qualifications for Key Personnel.

c. Summary of Facilities to Perform the Proposed Work.

IV. WORK TO BE PERFORMED. [Provide details of the work to be performed by task and subtask. 9 pages suggested.]

a. General. [Provide an overview.]

b. Detailed Tasks. [Describe the details of all tasks needed to perform the proposed work. Clearly distinguish base period tasks and option tasks as appropriate.]

i. BASE PERIOD (YEAR 1)

1. Task 1: Task Title 1 [Describe what will be accomplished, how the task will be performed, the resources allocated to the task

(personnel, hours, materials, etc.), appropriate metrics to measure progress, and deliverables from the task. Describe applicable subtasks. Ensure task description clearly identifies why the task is necessary to accomplish project objectives. Do not include pricing details here.]

2. Task 2: Task Title 2

3. Task N: Task Title N [Define as many tasks as necessary to achieve the stated objective(s).]

ii. OPTION 1 (YEAR 2) [Define as many Option Periods as necessary to achieve the state objective(s). Proposed work shall not exceed 5 years.]

1. Task N+1: Task Title N+1

2. Task N+2: Task Title N+2

3. Task N+M: Task Title N+M

V. PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE. [Depict the tasks and sub-tasks and the duration of performance of each in a Gantt chart or other suitable chart. Briefly describe the proposed period of performance. 2 pages suggested.]

VI. REFERENCES. [List any relevant documents used to develop the technical approach. 1 page suggested]

ATTACHMENT 4: STEP II PRICE PROPOSAL FORMAT

The price proposal must include pricing information sufficiently detailed for meaningful evaluation of the proposal. Since the CSO Call is limited to commercial solutions, detailed costs will not be required. For pricing purposes, Offerors should assume a contract or agreement start date of approximately ninety (90) days after submission of the proposal.

Since all proposals must offer commercial items, technologies, or services, the requirements of the Truth in Negotiations Act (TINA) are not applicable. However, if the Contracting Officer determines necessary to support a determination of a fair and reasonable price, other than certified cost and pricing data may be requested.

The responsibility for providing adequate supporting data and attachments lies solely with the

Offeror. Further, the Offeror must also bear the burden of proof in establishing reasonableness of proposed prices; therefore, it is in the Offeror’s best interest to submit a fully supportable and well-prepared price proposal.

The Offeror shall prepare the Price Proposal (with the exception of the narrative information described below) using Microsoft Excel format, but shall merge all Price Proposal documents into one Adobe PDF file for ultimate proposal submission. Include the Topic Number and the Project Title on all pages. The Offeror shall retain the Excel version of all Price Proposal documents for subsequent submission to the Government should the Offeror’s proposal be selected for award.

a. Format. Price proposals shall be formatted as follows.

1) Paper Size – 8.5 X 11-inch paper

2) Margins 1-inch

3) Spacing – single

4) Font – Times New Roman, 12 Point

5) Electronic Software: Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe Acrobat

b. Additional Information: The following information should be contained in a cover sheet attached to the price proposal:

1) Full company name and address

2) CSO Call number submitting proposal against

3) Point of contact, name, title, and phone and fax number

4) CAGE code

5) DUNS number

6) Will you require the use of any Government property in the performance of this work? If yes, identify.

NOTE: If an Offeror takes exceptions to the requirements called out in the announcement, the exceptions should be clearly stated in the price proposal.

ATTACHMENT 5: STEP II STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) FORMAT

A SOW must be included in with the full proposal as part of the Step II submission. The

SOW does not have a page limit, but should be approximately 3–5 pages in length and must be a separate and distinct document suitable for incorporation into the procurement instrument. Do not include proprietary data or markings in the SOW. Pages should be numbered and the initial page should have a date (document date) shown under the title.

The proposed SOW must accurately describe the work to be performed. The proposed

SOW must also contain a summary description of the technical methodology as well as the task description, but not in so much detail as to make the SOW inflexible. The SOW template should include the following sections and specifically respond to the Statement of

Objectives (SOO) the Government provided with the Request for Proposal (RFP):

1. OBJECTIVE. This section is intended to give a brief overview of the project and should describe why the work is being pursued and what the Offeror intends to accomplish.

2. SCOPE. This section includes a statement of what the SOW covers. This should describe the capability area (CSO Call topic) to be investigated, goals, and milestones for the effort.

3. BACKGROUND. The Offeror must identify appropriate documents that are applicable to the effort to be performed. This section includes any information, explanations, or constraints that are necessary to understand the project tasks and requirements. This section should describe the effort’s relationship to previous and ongoing efforts.

4. TASKS AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS. This section contains the detailed description of tasks that are necessary to perform the proposed work. These tasks will represent the work to be performed in any potential contract award, and, thus, shall be considered contractually binding. This section should be developed in an orderly progression and presented in sufficient detail to establish the feasibility of accomplishing the overall program goals. This section should clearly distinguish base period tasks from option tasks. The sequence of performance must be presented by fiscal year and task order, as in Section IV of the Technical Proposal. The SOW must contain every task to be accomplished. Note that the Government reserves the right to modify and negotiate the language in the SOW prior to any potential contract award.

4.1. Task descriptions must be definite, realistic, and clearly stated. Use the phrase

“the contractor shall” whenever the work statement expresses a provision that is binding. Use “should” or “may” whenever it is necessary to express a declaration of purpose. Use “will” in cases where no Offeror requirement is involved (e.g., power will be supplied by the Government. Use active voice in describing work to be performed.

4.2. Do not use acronyms or abbreviations without first defining them. Place abbreviations and acronyms in parentheses following the first usage of the spelled-out phrase.

4.3. If presentations and meetings are identified in the Offeror’s schedule, the Offeror must include the following statement in the SOW: “Conduct presentations and meetings at times and places specified in the contract schedule.”

4.4. The desired project structure consists of base period tasks, focused on demonstrating the feasibility of the technology, and option tasks, which cover design, fabrication, testing, and evaluation of the final product. Execution of option tasks will be dependent upon and determined by the contractor’s performance during and the results produced from the base period tasks.

ATTACHMENT 6: SOLICITATION TOPIC 007 – AIR FORCE INFORMATION

NETWORK (AFIN)

The 16AF/A35 CS&D Branch is interested in innovative technologies and services related to the areas of mission or technical interest listed below. Submissions should identify novel solutions that fill capability needs related to the development of 16th AF Cyberspace

Defense innovation. These capabilities sought are near term leverage of mature technologies in novel ways for what is ideally a field demonstration in less than a year or leverage of innovative services. The level of detail provided for each topic or the order in which they appear is not intended to convey any information regarding relative priority.

There are no specific Technology Readiness Level (TRL) requirements for proposed projects.

However, proposed prototypes or solutions should be at a sufficiently mature to enable the assessment of the viability, technical feasibility, application, or military utility of the proposed solution and support a field demonstration within a year, as an ideal. For proposed projects that will require longer than a year to support a field demonstration, proposals need to provide sufficient justification such as long lead times, or other substantiation.

16th AF intends to fund successful efforts in Fiscal Year 2023 with periods of performance in the range of 1-5 years. Exceptions may be considered for individual projects based on technological maturity or operational need. The Government reserves the right to fund all, some, one or none of the proposals submitted; may elect to fund only part of a submitted proposal; and may incrementally fund any or all awards under this CSO Call. All awards are subject to the availability of funds.

TOPIC: 007 – AIR FORCE INFORMATION NETWORK (AFIN)

The 16th AF seeks innovative and novel solutions to 1) prevent, detect, and repel cyber-attacks, 2) advance capabilities to install, support and prevent intrusion of systems, 3) advance capabilities of the AF global communications network infrastructure, 4) advance capabilities of AF computer hardware and software.

Specifically, automation solutions for the identification and prioritization of Mission

Relevant Terrain-Cyber (MRT-C) for USAF Task Critical Assets (TCAs) and its integration into the Mission Assurance Decision Support System (MADSS) database on the

Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet). The solutions should utilize existing automation tools accredited for USAF systems to the maximum extent possible.

Additionally, the solutions should conform to existing Mission Analysis and MRT-C guidance provided by Joint Force Headquarters-DODIN (JFHQ-DODIN).

ATTACHMENT 7: EVALUATION CRITERIA AND SELECTION PROCESS

The Government will review each Quad Chart/White Paper (Step I) and select the offerors that have the greatest potential to meet the needs of 16AF/A35 CS&D technology requirements based on the topic areas stated in Attachment 6. Initially, a determination will be made if each offeror is technically qualified and has a comprehensive understanding to undertake the development of the technology based on the information stated in the Quad

Chart/White Paper. The offeror is advised that only Firm Fixed Price (FFP) or Fixed Price

Incentive (FPI) contracts may be awarded while executing these innovative efforts. The

Government will determine the most technically competent and capable of the qualified offerors using the criteria below.

• Criteria (Factors) for Selecting Quad Chart/White Paper for Full Proposal Submission:

o Technical merit/applicability, o Importance to 16AF/A35 CS&D mission, and o Fund availability

• Relative Importance: All Factors are of equal importance

• Method of Evaluation: Peer or scientific review