JADC2_CSO_Call_003_SPOC 11 Mar 2024.pdf

Joint All-Domain Command & Control (JADC2) Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) Call 003

Federal Agency: Air Force Program Office: AFLCMC/HNA, Aerial Networks Division Call Title: Software Programmable Open Mission Systems Compliant (SPOC)

Multi-Function Processor (MFP) NAICS: 54171 – Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering and

Life Sciences Call Type: Two-Step, Closed Call Call Number: FA8612-21-S-C001, Call 003 Call Release Date: Monday, 11 March 2024 at 4:00 PM EST Proposals Due: Tuesday, 09 April 2024 at 4:00 PM EDT

1.0 Introduction

The Aerial Networks Division (AFLCMC/HNA), on behalf of the Department of the Air Force (DAF) Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Command, Control, Communications, and Battle Management (C3BM) and PEO Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, and Networks (C3I&N) seeks to develop a cross-cutting portfolio of complimentary & linked projects and programs to support JADC2 and the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS). The Department of the Air Force (DAF) intends to facilitate the rapid exploration and maturation of innovative technologies. The DAF will support future operations by providing the critical surveillance, tactical edge communications, processing, networking, and battle management command and control capabilities to the joint warfighting force.

This announcement is for a Category/Area of Interest (AoI) under the ABMS JADC2 Commercial Solutions Opening. Interested parties are highly encouraged to visit the Government Point of Entry (www.beta.sam.gov) to review the JADC2 CSO special posting in its entirety to obtain more information on the process for submission and evaluation of the CSO solution White Papers and proposals.

This Call seeks to solicit innovative solutions that meet the objectives detailed in Section

2.0. The term innovative is defined as any technology, process, or method, including research and development that is new as of the date of proposal submission, or any new application of an existing technology, process, or method as of the proposal date.

AFLCMC/HNA is not obligated to extend a request for proposal or make an award as a result of this Call; all awards are subject to the availability of funds and successful negotiations. This Call is not an authorization to begin performance, and in no way obligates the Government for any costs incurred by the Offeror associated with developing a White Paper. Prior to commencement of any activities associated with performance under this Call, the Government will issue a written directive or contractual document signed by the Contracting Officer with appropriate consideration established. AFLCMC/HNA reserves the right to modify the requirements of this Call. The authority to issue this Two-http://www.beta/

Step, Closed Call is derived from AFLCMC/the JADC2 Commercial Solutions Opening, FA8612-21-S-C001, dated 28 June 2021. The CSO authority is Class Deviation DFARS 212.70.

2.0 Category/Area of Interest (AoI): Connectivity / SPOC

As defined in the JADC2 CSO, the Connectivity category is described as:

“Development and fielding of networks to enable the timely processing and dissemination of data from any sensor to users at the tactical edge and/or strategic levels. Assets in any domain may be platforms-of-opportunity to serve as communications nodes enabled by omnidirectional and directional line-of-sight (LOS), and beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) capabilities. Attributes of interest include: increased data rates, resiliency, reduced latency, improved anti-jam, Low Probability of Intercept/Low Probability of Detection (LPI/LPD) characteristics, scalability of nodes/connections, improved integration of dissimilar users, etc.”

Various Multi-Function Processor (MFP) products are available for procurement, but there is a growing need to evaluate the ability to procure these products at scale as well as supporting rapid reconfiguration, both to support evolving DAF operational requirements as well as sustainability and technology refresh or insertion. AFLCMC/HNA, on behalf of DAF PEO C3BM and PEO C3I&N, is seeking to evaluate available vendor MFP products and design concepts for aerial communications and networking systems to identify the ability of current industry offerings or mature emerging solutions to meet these objectives.

This Call is intended to solicit innovative technologies, design and manufacturing methodologies that expand DAF capabilities as it relates to Connectivity / Software Programmable Open Mission System Compliant (SPOC) MFP products.

Objectives:

DAF PEO C3BM is pursuing the development of a Battle Management Network. Future battle management constructs require protected, resilient long-range communications among a heterogeneous mix of platforms, such as, sensors, Command and Control (C2), and weapons, without an expectation of reliable, high-rate connectivity to fixed terrestrial infrastructure. The DAF Aerial Network (AN) must provide scalable solutions that meet these capability needs, as well as address evolving threats, backward compatibility, and rapid technology evolution. Recent maturation of open architecture standards and technological advancements provide the DAF an opportunity to accomplish this vision.

The DAF will evaluate industry capabilities and offerings that address the following topics:

• Proposed solution alignment with current open architectures such as Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) or similar standard.

• Support for rapid chassis reconfiguration, upgrades, and technology refresh or insertion (example: chassis modularity or other relevant approaches).

• Scalability and manufacturability for bulk quantity procurements.

• Open architecture aligned security solutions, including cryptographic, Multi-Level Security (MLS) products, and approach for standards-aligned MLS implementations (such as MLS chassis management).

• Application of Domain Specific Architectures (DSA) technology to MFP processing cards.

The proposed solutions shall:

• Be capable of meeting military standards for airworthiness.

• Be of standard VPX form factors such as 3U or 6U.

• Provide open and well-documented external interfaces.

While this Call is interested in MFP products in general, chassis products are of particular interest given the MFP chassis is coupled both to integration of MFP products & cards and platform integration constraints. As a result, chassis solutions are a key contributor to flexibility and scalability of MFP systems.

Approach:

This call will be executed in a two-step process.

In step one, interested vendors will submit White Papers that provide details on how their MFP solutions can meet AFLCMC/HNA objectives above, and a rough-order-of-magnitude (ROM) on the associated costs (equipment, licensing, development, etc.) necessary to accomplish the stated objectives. Interested vendors are encouraged to submit White Papers for solutions that meet all or some of the objectives stated above.

In step two, the government will issue an RFP to selected vendors for one or more follow on activities based on the white paper submissions. Potential RFP topics may include, but are not limited to, the following activities:

• Procurement of Commercial of the Shelf (COTS) products for evaluation and testing.

• Prototyping of modified COTS products to demonstrate desired capabilities or concepts.

• Develop concepts for updates to open standards to support desired capabilities for inclusion in future change packages.

• Develop concepts or technology demonstrations of DSA applications for aerial communications and networking systems.

3.0 Call Timeline and General Information

Milestone Date Two-Step, Closed Call Published Monday, 11 March, 2024 White Papers Due (Step-One) Tuesday, 09 April, 2024 Request for Proposal (RFP) Issued or Non-Select Letter Issued Wednesday, 08 May, 2024 Proposals Due (Step-Two) Monday, 24 June, 2024 Target Selection Date/Contract Award Friday, 02 August, 2024

*AFLCMC/HNA reserves the right to alter or change any of the due dates listed above.

Two-Step, Closed Call Published: AFLCMC/HNA publishes a Two-Step, Closed Call.

White Papers Due (Step-One): White Papers addressing the Area of Interest (AoI) defined in Section 2.0 are due no later than the AFLCMC/HNA deadline listed in the table above. Late White Paper submissions will not be considered (see FAR 52.215-1(c)(3)). All White Papers submitted must adhere to instructions listed in Section 4.0 and Section 5.0 of this Call.

Request for Proposal (RFP) Issued: Only offerors who submitted White Papers by the required due date and who have been favorably evaluated will be issued a Request for Proposal (RFP).

The RFP will detail the requirements (e.g. required content and evaluation criteria) that prospective companies should tailor their proposal towards.

Proposals Due (Step-Two): Offerors who have received an RFP from AFLCMC/HNA are required to submit their proposals by the stated due date. More details and requirements that companies shall adhere to will be contained in the RFP.

Contract Award: The Government reserves the right to award zero, one, or more Contracts for all, some, or none of the solicited effort. Details as to the negotiation and award process will be contained in the RFP.

4.0 White Paper Format Instructions

Each White Paper submitted shall be created using 8.5 x 11 inch portrait format pages with single spaced, Times New Roman 12 point font with 1” margins. White Papers shall not exceed 10 pages, not including the cover page. The cover page shall be limited to and shall include the following: Contractor Name, CAGE Code, Name of the Call and the Area of Interest, and date.

All text, including text in tables and charts, must adhere to font sizes and line spacing requirements listed herein. Pages submitted in excess of these limits will not be read or considered in the Government’s evaluation of the White Paper.

5.0 White Paper Contents

White Papers shall be valid for 180 days. All White Papers should include the following content:

• The White Paper shall address how the Offeror plans to provide an innovative approach to meet the objectives listed in Section 2.0.

• The White Paper shall include a ROM price for a proposal. Inclusion of the ROM does not imply or guarantee an RFP will be issued to the Offeror.

• The contents will be evaluated against the factors listed in Section 6.0. Offerors should strive to make clear connections between the proposed technical content and the evaluation factors.

• The White Paper shall be limited to 10 pages in technical length.

6.0 White Paper Evaluation

The White Paper shall be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation factors listed below. The Government will evaluate the Step One White Paper and rate it as “Selectable” or “Not

Selectable.” To be rated “Selectable,” the proposal must meet the following criteria:

1) Importance to Agency Programs/Commercial Innovation: The degree to which the proposed concept provides an innovative, unique and/or previously under-utilized capability for Government application.

2) Technical Feasibility: The soundness of approach for the development and/or enhancement of the proposed technology. The extent to which flexibility is provided to the Government through the provision of Government Purpose Rights at a minimum.

3) Price: Price shall be considered to the extent appropriate, but at a minimum to determine the price is fair and reasonable. For the purposes of the White Paper, the ROM shall be used to inform the availability of funds.

4) Availability of Funds: Any award shall be subject to the availability of funds.

White Papers will be evaluated on the basis of the merit of the proposed concept in addressing the Area of Interest and not against other White Papers submitted in response to the Area of Interest.

7.0 White Paper Submission Instructions

This solicitation will be conducted in two steps. The Government intends to evaluate Step One White Paper submissions, due NLT Tuesday, 09 April 2024 at 4:00pm EDT, in accordance with the Step One evaluation criteria above. Late White Paper submissions will not be considered (see FAR 52.215-1(c)(3)). The Government may then request a Step Two proposal from some subset of offerors, which will be due approximately one month later. Those offerors not requested to submit a Step Two proposal will be notified. An Offeror submitting a Step Two proposal without submitting a Step One proposal will not be eligible for award.

At each step, the Offeror’s proposal package shall include one (1) electronic copy submitted via DoDSafe. The electronic copy shall be in a format readable by Microsoft (MS) Word and/or Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, MS Excel, MS-Power Point.

In order for an Offeror to submit a White Paper via DoDSafe, they must request a DoDSafe drop off link by Tuesday, 09 April 2024, at 4:00pm EDT. Requests for the DoDSafe drop off link shall be made to Capt Alexandra Hutchinson at alexandra.hutchinson.1@us.af.mil and Mr.

Chhunheng Phay at chhunheng.phay@us.af.mil. Proposals may be submitted through the drop off until the proposal due date and time. Late proposals will not be accepted.

Only one (1) White Paper shall be submitted, per company, in response to this requirement.

White Papers received after the date/time specified will not be evaluated. Proposals shall be addressed to the Contracting Officer, Capt Alexandra Hutchinson.

LATE WHITE PAPER SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. AFLCMC/HNA will not be responsible for any White Papers that are late due to issues with either Offeror or Air Force email systems or the DoDSAFE. It is the Offeror’s responsibility to ensure the Air Force receives all attachments through the DoDSAFE website by the specific due date and time.

A confirmation email will be provided by the Contracting Officer or Contracting Specialist promptly upon receipt; therefore, Offerors are urged to submit as early as practicable in order to receive confirmation of timely submission.

8.0 Projected Acquisition Particulars

As previously stated, the submission of a White Paper does not imply or guarantee that an Offeror will receive an RFP after the White Paper is evaluated. The information contained in this solicitation is provided to allow Offerors the opportunity to make an informed business decision in determining whether to respond to this Call. The Government reserves the right to change, add, remove, or modify this information in the RFP.

A. The Government reserves the right to award zero, one, or more Contracts for all, some, or none of the solicited efforts following the evaluation of both White Papers and proposals.

B. A Pitch Day will not be used for White Paper evaluation; however, the Government reserves the right to utilize a Pitch Day in conjunction with the proposal submission and evaluation. The resulting contract shall be a FAR Part 12, Firm-Fixed-Price effort.

C. The successful Offeror(s) shall be an American entity with all work performed in the United States.

D. Should an award(s) be made, the resulting contract will include FAR 52-204-21. For this effort, an authorized user for the purposes of FAR 52.204-21 Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems (Jun 2016) is limited to U.S. Citizens. Non-U.S.

Citizens shall not be considered an authorized user for the purposes of this effort and under no circumstances will be considered authorized, without written permission from the Contracting Officer before the Non-U.S. Citizen begins work or receives any information related to this contract.

E. Use of Non-Government Advisors: Offerors are advised that technical and cost/price data submitted to the Government in response to this Call may be released to non-Government advisors for White Paper review and analysis. All non-Government advisors have appropriate signed non-disclosure statements.

F. The data rights for deliverables under the contract shall be specified in the proposal.

9.0 Contact Information

The Points of Contact for this effort are the Contracting Officer, Capt Alexandra Hutchinson, and the Contract Specialist, Mr. Chhunheng Phay. The Offeror shall not contact any other Government personnel or offices regarding this Call.

Position: Name: Email:

Contracting Officer: Capt Alexandra Hutchinson alexandra.hutchinson.1@us.af.mil Contracting Specialist: Mr. Chhunheng Phay chhunheng.phay@us.af.mil mailto:alexandra.hutchinson.1@us.af.mil mailto:wesley.livesay@us.af.mil