CSO NSWC 2024 _2Jan24.pdf

Special Notice Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO)

H92240-24-S-CS01

Naval Special Warfare Command

SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION

1.1 Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC) seeks to accelerate the development, procurement and integration of unique capabilities into deployable warfighting capabilities in support of the Joint Force and our allied Special Operations Forces (SOF).

1.2 NSWC seeks to award FAR contracts to carry out projects that are directly relevant to enhancing the mission effectiveness of the special operator and the supporting platforms, systems, components, or material to be acquired, developed, or already in use by NSWC, as well as its interagency and FVEY partners. As such, under the authority of DFARS 212.70, NSWC releases this Commercial Solutions Opening. This CSO may result in a FAR-based contract.

NSWC anticipates the award of a Firm-Fixed Price type contract in accordance with FAR Part 12. Offerors are encouraged to review FAR 52.212-4 and 52.212-5 for standard terms and conditions of a FAR Part 12 contract. In addition, NSWC reserves the right to award an Other Transaction (OT) for Prototype Project in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2371b.

Use of a CSO in accordance with DFARS Subpart 212.70 is considered to be a competitive procedure for the purposes of 10 U.S.C. chapter 221 and FAR 6.102. Finally, Contracting Officers shall treat items, technologies, and services acquired using a CSO as commercial items.

1.3 This Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) will make awards to proposals for innovative, commercial technologies through a multi-phased, competitive processes throughout 2024.

The CSO outlines the competitive procedures to submit a response to an AOI and consists of three-phases: Solution Briefs/White Papers, Demonstration/Pitch, and full written proposal:

1.3.1 Phase I (Solution Briefs/White Papers): Solutions will be sought under certain technology areas of interest to SOF. The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) Unclassified Interest Items List, USSOCOM S&T priorities, and capability development priorities by SOF FVEY can be referenced for that purpose. Initial submissions will be requested as Solution Briefs (SB) mainly in the form of a White Paper (WP) or scout card through the Vulcan Platform. A team of Government personnel who are subject matter experts for the given Area of Interest (AOI) will evaluate each submission for potential to address capability gaps within the AOI for advancement to Phase II. Trident Spectre submissions also satisfy Phase 1 requirements. Trident Spectre participation is not required under this CSO, however Trident Spectre is an annual event with an established process. The Government may elect to proceed directly to Phase III after a successful Phase I evaluation.

1.3.2 Phase II (Demonstration/Pitch): Solutions selected in Phase I to proceed to Phase II will undergo further evaluation in Phase II typically in a demonstration and experimentation setting. The Government plans to host solution providers at Trident Spectre and/or in NSWC, United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)experimentation venues, to develop actionable evaluation reports on invited innovations and their ability to address prioritized SOF and Intelligence Community (IC) capability gaps and needs. Participation in Trident Spectre is not mandatory and this phase may be accomplished through an independently arranged Phase II demonstration/evaluation with the Government. Discussions may continue outside of the pitch/demonstration session. Participation in Phase II will be entirely at the offeror’s expense. Favorably evaluated capabilities will receive a Request for Prototype Proposal (RPP) that marks the beginning of Phase III. Note, Phase II is optional for the CSO process, and may not always be conducted, or may not be required for every successful Phase I submission.

1.3.3 Phase III (Proposal): The Government will only advance companies to Phase III if it intends to award a contract for the proposed solution. Companies will collaboratively build Statements of Work with the Government team and negotiate Contract Terms and Conditions for award.

1.4 There are four (4) AOIs:

1.4.1 AOI 1: Operations – Submissions should address innovative commercial items, technologies or services that can improve tactics, techniques and procedures and support the development of operational concepts. May also include Unmanned Systems and artificial intelligence technologies.

1.4.2 AOI 2: Intelligence – Submissions should address innovative technologies to meet intelligence and operational requirements, to include cyber and that which is required to achieve information and/or decision dominance.

1.4.3 AOI 3: Multi-Domain Test and Evaluation– Submissions should address innovative commercial items, technologies, or services that aid in one or multiple domains, including aviation experimentation, cyber/Internet of Things evaluation (to include penetration testing), maritime/undersea evaluation, communications testing and electromagnetic warfare analyses.

1.4.4 AOI 4 Communications – Submissions should address network and cyber security requirements to include network architecture and nimble programming / configuration for comms pathways. Survivable Command and Control such as Free Space Optics and next generation MANET systems. Signature Management in the RF Spectrum

1.5 This notice fulfills synopsis requirements. Synopsis under FAR subpart 5.2 of the individual contract actions under this CSO is not required. Companies are encouraged to monitor SAM.gov as this notice may be updated with additional AOI’s.

SECTION 2 – GUIDELINES FOR SOLUTION BRIEFS, DEMONSTRATIONS AND

PROPOSALS

2.1 The purpose of the Phase I Solution Brief is to identify innovative solutions that effectively address SOF prioritized capability gaps. Offerors are encouraged to follow the instructions detailed below. Solution briefs should specifically identify the AOI to which it is responding. The Government aims to provide an evaluation response as soon as practical and no later than 45 days after submission for selection into Phase II and 30 days after the demonstration/ experimentation event.

2.2 Submissions – Phase I Submissions should be made via Vulcan, https://www.vulcan-sof.com. Trident Spectre opens its Submission process in Vulcan following open engagement at an Trident Spectre Industry Day. In some cases, submissions if sensitive or classified may be submitted direct to the Technical SME. Demonstration/Pitch events, other than Trident Spectre, that fulfill the requirements of Phase II of this CSO, may reference this process in their submission instructions.

2.3 Guidelines for Solution Brief Submissions:

2.3.1 Costs of preparing and submitting solution briefs are at the Offeror’s expense.

2.3.2 Marketing information such as unnecessarily elaborate brochures or collateral are not desired. The submissions must be concise and substantive and directly address specific AOIs and Interest items provided by the Government such as those released by JSOC in its Unclassified Interest Items list which is released via Vulcan.

2.3.3 Use of diagram(s) or figure(s) to depict the proposed solution is strongly encouraged.

Generic marketing logos and graphics do not help our assessors visually understand the solution being proposed. It is encouraged to leverage dynamic media content to visually explain solutions (incl. technical diagrams, short videos, and/or 3D models).

2.3.4 Multiple solution briefs addressing different technology AOIs may be submitted by the same organization; however, each solution brief may only address one unique concept or capability based on the specific AOI and/or SOF interest item.

2.3.5 The period of performance for any solution or proposal submitted under this CSO should generally be no greater than 12 months.

2.3.6 Technical data with military application may require appropriate approval, authorization, or license for lawful exportation.

2.3.7 All solution briefs shall be unclassified. Vulcan contains access control options for companies to determine who can have access to their submission. This is articulated in Vulcan when the account is established. The Government may determine a solution brief needs to be discussed and/or expanded in a classified setting and may contact the company to do so.

2.3.8 Foreign-Owned businesses may submit independently or through some form of teaming arrangement with one or more United States-owned businesses. Note, some experimentation and evaluation in Phase II may require personnel clearances depending on the venue.

However, the ability to obtain a contract based upon a submission may depend upon the ability https://www.vulcan-sof.com/ https://www.vulcan-sof.com/ of the Foreign Owned business to obtain necessary export clearances and approvals to obtain AOI information.

2.3.9 Questions regarding the objectives or requirements of the solution brief should be addressed to: TridentSpectreAdmin@socom.mil

2.4 Solution Brief Preparation and Evaluation: Submitter’s solution brief should be concise and substantive. It must describe the capability in terms of the problem(s) it is solving within relevant context and answer the questions provided by the government as part of the submission process for phase 1 (i.e. Trident Spectre submissions). Submitters can provide additional content such as attachments of briefs, slides, and other materials, but note that the quality, relevance, and understanding of the information provided are more desirable to Government assessment teams than the volume of information provided.

2.4.1 Solution Brief Content:

• Vulcan registration and access provides for user and organization profiles that can be managed globally for submissions provided by single organizations. Ensure that such information is up to date in Vulcan. – i.e., Company Name, Phone, and Address.

• Provide a descriptive title for your scout card submission. Remember that each scout card submission should represent one unique capability.

• Technical and Business Points of Contact, E-Mail Addresses. You may also provide Government user (if applicable) or reference information.

• Capability Description - Provide a summary of the capability and the problem it is designed to solve.

• Capability Differentiators: Describe the unique aspects of your capability and how it differs from other similar/comparable capabilities or concepts, especially as it pertains to the specific AOI.

• Technology Readiness Timelines for your proposed capability to better understand the maturity life cycle of your proposed solution and what is needed to further mature the capability in order to meet objectives for specific AOIs.

• You may be asked additional questions such as:

o Whether the effort includes a pilot or demonstration of existing commercial technology (identified as commercially ready and viable technology), or the development of technology for potential commercial or defense application.

o If development or adaptation is proposed, identify a suggested path to mature the technology to meet the stated need. Explain how the technology, process, method, or application is innovative IAW DFARS 212.7001. Previous work with NSWC or USSOCOM Component if applicable.

o Rough Order of Magnitude (schedule and budget) for efforts needed to mature capability to meet operational needs and/or acquisition requirements. Offeror Viability: Provide a brief overview of the offeror including summary of current investments to date or a summary of the business model for the delivery of the capability to the Government.

o A summary of product commercialization and go-to-market strategy.

2.4.2 Solution Brief Basis of Evaluation: Individual solution briefs will be evaluated without regard to other submissions received under this announcement against the following criteria:

• Technical o Merit – feasibility and relevancy of the proposed solution to address the AOI in tangible ways both technically and functionally. Also, ability to address vulnerabilities of the proposed solution thoughtfully and coherently in current and emerging context.

o Innovation – degree to which the proposed solution provides an innovative, unique, underutilized and/or unconventional approach to solve a problem/gap within AOIs

• Importance to Agency programs o Relevancy – how the proposed solution relates to the AOI o Business Viability – strength of the offeror and commercial viability of the proposed solution. The Government may elect to use internal and external market research in the evaluation of an offeror’s viability. The Government may also request the Capability Provider’s interest in external Venture Capital from strategic Government partners to accelerate maturation and delivery of capabilities of interest to SOF and its partners.

• Funds Availability o Price

2.4.3 After evaluation of a solution brief, the Government may elect to invite a Company to demonstrate their technology in relevant environment and request additional information from the offeror. The Government reserves the right to move to award without prior demonstration.

2.5 Demonstration / Pitch Content: The objective of the capability demonstration / experimentation is to provide evidence and more details on the technical merit, operational relevance and business viability of the proposed solution submitted in the Solution Brief.

Regardless of format, demonstration / experimentation must also further address:

• Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) price and notional schedule

• NSWC / SOF utility and how this concept could be tested within a SOF military environment.

• Operational Impact. Detail who the operational users of the technology are expected to be.

• Data Rights and Intellectual Property Assertions.

• The Government may request additional information outside of the /demonstration / experimentation.

2.6 Demonstration / Experimentation Basis of Evaluation: Individual demonstration / experiments will be evaluated according to the process utilized for that purpose. Trident Spectre provides assessments across multiple Lines of Effort (LOE): technical, operational and intelligence. The required assessments for all participating Trident Spectre capabilities are:

Technical, Functional and Vulnerability assessments. These assessments aim to validate proposed capabilities in terms of their viability and applicability. Other evaluation factors for selecting proposals to move forward to award may include current priorities of relevant importance to agency programs, as well as funds availability.

2.7 The Government will aim to complete Phase II evaluations and offeror notification within 30 calendar days of the demonstration / experimentation. All companies selected to proceed to Phase II will receive Phase II notification, however, only favorably evaluated solution /demonstrations / pitches will be eligible to enter Phase III of the CSO process, which may lead to a Request for Proposal (RFP) at the sole discretion of the government.

2.8 Proposal Preparation: RFPs will include preparation instructions. During this Phase companies will collaboratively develop Statements of Work (SOW) with the Government teams for their specific projects and negotiate Terms and Conditions into their Contracts.

SECTION 3 – AWARD

3.1 Only Warranted Contracting Officers may obligate the Government and issues awards for Procurement Contracts. No other feedback or statements, whether through Trident Spectre or any Phase of the CSO process, shall be interpreted to obligate the government or create an expectation of award.

3.2 Awards made under this CSO will be FAR-based Firm Fixed-Price contracts. Contract type will be determined during Phase III. Multiple awards may be made to pursue similar or dissimilar solutions should they all meet the technical criteria, be selected for award, and if funds are available.

3.3 To receive an award, Companies must be a registered entity in the System for Award Management (SAM). This system verifies identity and ensures that payment is sent to the right party. The link can be found here: https://sam.gov/SAM/

3.4 In general, to invoice and receive payment, Companies must register in Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF). The Contracting Officer/Agreement Officer will provide WAWF assistance during Phase 3.

SECTION 4 - NON-GOVERNMENT ADVISORS

Non-Government advisors may be used in the evaluation of solution briefs and proposals and will have signed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) with the Government. The Government understands that information provided in response to this CSO is presented in confidence and may contain trade secret or commercial or financial information, and it agrees to protect such information from unauthorized disclosure to the maximum extent permitted and as required by law.

SECTION 5 - CONTACT INFORMATION

Be advised, only a Contracting Officer has the authority to enter into a binding agreement on behalf of the Government and has exclusive authority to change the terms of a contract or agreement. Inquiries may be sent to the Contracting Officer for this CSO announcement.

https://sam.gov/SAM/