DoD_RIF_2014_Q_A_Amendment_0011__July_28_v2.pdf

HQ0034-14-BAA-RIF-0001

Amendment 0011

The purpose of Amendment 0011 to the DoD FY2014 Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF) Broad Agency Announcement, HQ0034-14-BAA-RIF-0001 is to provide answers to submitted questions:

The following answers are provided to the first round of submitted questions. The final cut-off date for questions is Wednesday, July 09, 2014.

General

Q147) I understand that the appropriate way to include a Government Laboratory as part of a contractor's RIF White Paper is to ask that Laboratory for a statement of work and a cost quote for that work. Is it appropriate for that Laboratory to provide such information between now (7 July 2014) and the due date of the White Papers (8 August 2014)?

A147) As a partner to a potential RIF white paper submission, this would be up to the personnel at the government labs.

Q148) If the answer to #1 is "No", how does the contractor estimate the cost for the Government

Laboratory's proposed contribution to the effort?

A148) See answer to above question.

Q149) When a Government Laboratory is part of a RIF White Paper, does the contractor treat the costs for that Laboratory's contribution as it would the costs of a private subcontractor, in terms of indirect costs (overhead) and fee?

A149) Yes

Q150) When a Government Laboratory will be part of a RIF White Paper, is it appropriate for that Laboratory and the contractor to discuss the Laboratory's proposed contribution to the work between now (7 July 2014) and the due date of the White Papers (8 August 2014)?

A150) Yes, but recognize the government office that is a potential teaming partner cannot then be part of the source selection evaluation process on behalf of the government. They would need to recuse themselves in any evaluation of RIF proposals for similar technical requirements.

Q151) If the answer to #4 is "No", how does the contractor determine what specific contributions the Government Laboratory is able to make to the proposed effort?

A151) See above.

Department of the Army RIF Annex

Requirement Number: PEOC3T05 Title: COTS for Classified

Q152) What security functions does the current hardware inline encryptor perform, so it is clear on what the COTS solution needs to perform?

A152) The current hardware inline encryptor (KGV-72) is designed to provide high confidentiality protection to the Blue Force Tracking message traffic transmitted across approved commercial satellites up to the Secret level. It is NSA evaluated and certified as Type 1. The current hardware inline encryptor employs multiple mechanisms designed to prevent or detect intrusion. These mechanisms along with the use of the Electronic Key Management System (EKMS) devices for the transmittal of keys, assure a high degree of confidentiality and integrity of information as the BFT traffic is being transmitted between the NOC and the vehicle. Integrity of all downloaded software files, profiles and configuration files is implemented as part of the Type 1 signature process.

The KGV-72 currently supports Suite A algorithms, although the addition of Suite B algorithms is a potential future enhancement to facilitate a longer term transition to Suite B. Non-repudiation and TRANSEC are provided external to the KGV-72 and are outside of the scope of this effort. The KGV-72 supports access control via role and device based authentication. Any consequent allowance or restriction of functionality is based upon the success of that authentication. There is a single method of authorization known as Communicator Authentication that will authenticate a bound red side host computer to be able to communicate user data to the KGV-72's red side data interface. The Communicator Authentication acts very much like a software CIK (Cryptographic Ignition Key) between the KGV-72 and the directly connected red host application computer.

The current hardware inline encryptor also supports an approved bypassing capability that allows the vehicular user's application to issue commands and receive responses between the directly connected satellite transceiver in the clear. The current hardware inline encryptor also allows custom tagging information to be bypassed in the clear along with the encrypted data.

The replacement for the KGV-72 could potentially be a Suite B cryptographic solution existing in software on the host computer as part of a composed solution under the NSA Commercial Solution for Classified effort, when used in conjunction with the FIPS 140-2 certified encryption provided by the BFT- 2 satellite transceiver.

Q153) Where would the COTS encryptor run on (e.g. a PC, embedded single board computer, smart phone)?

A153) The COTS encryptor would ideally run on every application device that would directly connect to the satellite transceiver in place of the current inline encryptor. In the NOC, a similar capability needs to be provided as part of the servers in the classified domain that is interfacing to the satellite link, in order to encrypt/decrypt the other end of the pipe in the hub and spoke network.

Application devices are currently Intel x86 platforms, with a mix of 32 bit and 64 bit hardware architectures. The newer 64 bit systems include hardware acceleration for Advanced Encryption Standard - New Instruction set (AES-NI) within the Intel chipset, that is used to reduce the computational burden on host applications using cryptographic services.

Q154) Are the communications wireless or wired, and what standards are used for communications (e.g. Wifi)?

A154) The current hardware inline encryptor is a dual honed wired connection between 1) the red-side application device and 2) the approved satellite transceiver in vehicular applications. For BFT-2, this wired communications is Ethernet and uses UDP at the transport layer and IP at the network layer. In the BFT NOC, the current hardware inline encryptor is also dual honed and interfaces with the NOC switches and/or routers using an Ethernet connection. This NOC Ethernet connection also uses UDP and IP.

In a vehicle, the COTS encryptor would have to support the same wired communication between the device it is running on and the directly connected satellite transceiver with the current hardware inline encryptor removed. The COTS encryptor would also be required to support a similar wired connection in the NOC as the current hardware inline encryptor. It would also need to support cryptographic bypass of the control plane between the host and the satellite transceiver. If executed as part of a composed solution, the cryptographic bypass would require assessment as a controlled interface.

Requirement Number: PEOC3T07 Title: Improved Reliability and Manufacturability of High Capacity Battery for Rifleman Radio

Q155) Is there a spec on the minimum number of charge/discharge cycles that the rechargeable battery must support for the Rifleman Radio application? The reason for the question is that some technologies that improve battery runtime can limit the number of charge cycles.

A155) For this battery 300 cycles to better than 80% of original capacity, but the Army spec's

224 cycle to better than 80% of original capacity.

Q156) Is the improvement in the battery desired for the handheld variant or vehicle-mounted variant, or both?

A156) Primary focus is for the handheld variant.

Requirement Number: PEOC3T08

Title: Tactical Network Throughput Improvements

Q157) How many units (nodes) are you looking for with this solicitation?

A157) Network throughput is desired to increase for current node count of 40 for Soldier Radio

Waveform (SRW) and 30 for Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW)

Q158) What style of nodes are you looking for? (i.e. aircraft, vehicles, dismounted users)

A158) Dismounted soldiers for SRW and Vehicles for WNW.

Requirement Number: PEOC3T17 Title: Low cost GPS SAASM (Selective Availability Anti-Spoof Module) Receiver for Rifleman Radio

Q159) Would you be so kind and provide a point f contact to the rifleman radio manufacturer?

A159) The current Program of Record Rifleman Radio manufactures are:

- Thales Defense & Security, Inc. and GENERAL DYNAMICS C4 Systems.

Q160) What are the SWaP-C targets?

A160) Must comply with PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT (PRD) FOR

RIFLEMAN RADIO (RR).

Q161) Is an anti-jam capability of interest as well?

A161) Yes

Requirement Number: PEOIEWS14 Title: Robust Positioning Navigation and Timing (PNT) System Electronic Warfare Systems

Q162) Are GNSS signals of interest?

A162) Alternative implementations of traditional multi-GNSS capable system architectures would be of interest.

Q163) RIF is requesting TRL 5 as a minimum. Are lower TRL levels acceptable for this topic?

A163) No, the target outcome of this effort would be a capability proof of concept system ready for field demonstration in a relevant environment

Requirement Numbers: PEOMS01 through PEOMS06 Title: Varies

Q164) Will the government please provide documentation for the AN/TPQ-50 and AN/TPQ-53 to include the Software Requirement Specifications as well as waveform, scan strategies, and any operational details?

A164) The requested detailed information will not be provided at this time. Industry is asked to base their white paper submittals upon reasonable system assumptions, and to state the assumptions in the white paper. The requested detailed information will be provided when a request for proposal sent after white paper selection.

Department of the Navy RIF Annex

NAVSUP

Requirement Number: FY14-DoN-RIF-NAVSUP-02 Title: Logistics Data Access and Information Sharing

Q165) What kinds of logistics systems, i.e. Email, Mainframe, Systems Logs, PLM, inventory, etc.?

A165) Navy ERP SCM Data as well as interfaced and non-interfaced legacy applications and warehouse inventory management systems and business metrics tools.

Q166) What formats do users use to share information, i.e. Email, MS Office Documents, Images, etc?

A166) Shared SAS and Excel libraries and Business Warehouse (BW) reports from Navy ERP.

A Netezza pilot project is underway this fall.

Q167) What are the present workarounds, or an example thereof?

A167) Many of these systems require a manual workaround that consists of extracting data and examining the reports using SAS, Excel, Access and our Fusion Center for reporting and examination of data.

Q168) Do individual users require ad-hoc capability?

A168) Analysts do require an ad-hoc capability.

SPAWAR

Requirement Number: FY14-DoN-RIF-SPAWAR-10 Title: SPAWAR: Electronic Procurement Systems (EPS)

Q169) Are we providing a recommendation on the COTS contract writing product? If not, is one selected? If so, what was the selection?

A169) No, the government is not providing a recommendation on the product.

Q170) Can the business process mapping tool be a COTS product with custom built mapping steps? If so, are we providing a recommendation on it?

A170) No specific product is being recommended and our goal is to optimize a COTS solution to maximum extent possible.

Q171) Can we get a general overview of the current contract writing process?

A171) The CWS process overview is contained in the attached RFI and its attachment.

Department of the Air Force RIF Annex

Air Force General

Clarification for Amendment 10, A92:

A92) It is not the intent of the Air Force to only compare existing products. Companies with technology that can address the requirement of Low Temperature Curing Powder Coating as described in topic area 4.f, and comply with BAA guidelines, are welcome to submit a white paper.

3) AIR FORCE PROPULSION DIRECTORATE

Requirement Number: 3.c.

Title: Plasma Spray process optimization for thermal barrier coatings

Q172) Is "sensor integration with closed loop control" required for this topic?

A172) Yes

Q173) We are developing an experimentally validated computational model for predicting the coating thickness and quality for robotic plasma spray coating processes for geometrically complex parts. Based on that model we are planning to develop a software system to automatically generate (offline) the optimum robot program for coating engine parts using plasma spray. The optimum program is the program that minimizes coating thickness deviation from the desired thickness and maximizes the coating quality. We will use high-speed imaging based spray particle diagnostics to ensure the torch is operating within tolerance while validating our model. Would such a software development project be responsive to this requirement?

A173) Yes

4) AIR FORCE SUSTAINMENT CENTER

Requirement Number: 4.h.

Title: NDE without disassembly

Q174) What types of weapon systems? Aircraft structures? UAVs? Others?

What type of items? Internal structures? Others?

A174) The Air Force Sustainment Center is charged with the depot maintenance function, technologies for this capability could conceivably apply to any aerospace vehicle (including drones) or component undergoing an overhaul effort.

The long-term intent is evaluation of aerospace vehicle (or component) internal structure which may be inaccessible without time-consuming removal of structural panels, skins, or housings. This may include internal feature evaluation of aerospace structures such as longerons or bulkheads under aircraft skins, or internal condition of components beneath housings, etc. As suggested by the topic, this can also include the ability to detect relevant indications beneath coatings/platings. Plating/coating removal is very costly and produces a significant waste stream; reducing or eliminating the requirement to strip during maintenance is highly desirable.

6) PEO BATTLE MANAGEMENT

Requirement Number: 6.e.

Title: Information Processing

Q175) Amount of data:

- Approximate size of all data in megabytes, terabytes or petabytes?

- Approximate number of data sources?

- Approximate number of columns?

- Approximate number of rows?

Complexity of data:

- Majority of structured data is RDBMS, XML, JSON, CSV, ISAM, etc.?

- Is the existing unstructured data currently being utilized for analytics?

- Do you see a huge potential in the unstructured data that is being - ignored due to complexity?

A175) The questions above refer to specific system parameters which are undefined. The Air

Force has a broader macro level requirements description. Basically, a problem set confronting the Air Force is the need for timely derived actionable intelligence from the wide array of data gained from multiple, separate, and usually unconnected intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensors and data sources. This data comes in various structured and unstructured formats and stored in different repositories. Challenges arise along the entire data analytics chain to include data indexing and correlation, modeling, recommending, alerting, etc. Additionally, the need is for actionable intelligence of current threats, as well as, performs forensics on past events. Further, an intelligence sight picture must be developed and maintained over the short and far-term involving multiple and ever changing analysts and product users. For example, analysts may sit in AF Distributed Common Ground System ( AF DCGS) or aerial platforms such as JSTARS. White papers that can address any of the above needs are encouraged to be submitted for evaluation.

7) PEO C3I & NETWORK

Requirement Number: 7.a.

Title: Enterprise Level Security (ELS)

Q176) Based on the description, ELS already contains end to end secured encrypted communications. What are desired improvements to the existing scheme?

A176) The government is looking for improvements to the processing and scalability of the ELS capabilities. It also has to be able to meet other security in depth requirements such as being able to monitor traffic for anomalies. Securing the end to end communication is just one piece of the puzzle.

Q177) Is a desired improvement to ELS the ability to provide end to end secured encrypted communications without the need for tokens?

A177) No, it is envisioned that the tokens will be needed.

Q178) Is there a CONOPS document for ELS with use cases? If yes, can it be made available to proposing firms?

A178) Not currently and it will not be available before the end of the submission period.

Q179) What is an Authoritative Content Store (ACS) and does EAS aggregate attribute information from ACSs by duplicating user data in a centralized repository?

A179) The EAS does aggregate attribute information but it is not by duplicating user data. The

EAS will have the attributes stored along with the business rules of what data and applications can be accessed by someone with those attributes so that when a user comes in with certain attributes, there token will be given the permissions to the data and applications associated with those attributes.

Q180) What are the typical applications and services ELS is intended to support (e.g. web applications, web services, databases, etc.)?

A180) All of the above.

Q181) Does ELS need to support cross-domain interoperability (e.g. through domain guard)?

A181) Not currently.

Q182) What is expected end state of this project? e.g. solution/product deployed to support certain DoD applications or programs?

A182) The expected end state is for this solution to become one of the Managed Service Office's enterprise services offered up to all Air Force applications for secure access to functional capabilities. It is also being looked at for incorporation into the Joint Information Environment.

Requirement Number: 7.e.

Title: Common Crypto Modularity

Q183) What are the platforms that these devices would be running the data-at-rest and data-in-transmit crypto solutions (e.g. smart phones, embedded microcontrollers, etc.)?

A183) There are a wide range of computing devices used across the Air Force to support connected and disconnected operations, spanning terrestrial (fixed and mobile) and airborne systems / platforms that require Data In Transit (DIT) and/or Data At Rest (DAR) encryption. Within the context of DAR (defined as digitized data in storage) encryption that includes but is not limited to disk drives, flash memory, mobile computing devices, etc. For DIT (defined as digitized data in motion) encryption that includes but is not limited to a wide range of data transmitted via wired or wireless communications.

Q184) Is it desired that the devices authenticate with a central device (e.g. central server) or authenticate with each other in an ad hoc manner?

A184) The need for DAR or DIT devices to authenticate with a central device or authenticate with each other in an ad hoc manner are dependent of overall Concept of Operations (CONOPs) of the system / platform in question. To answer the question, 'Both' are desired, depending on the use of a specific system / platform.

8) PEO FIGHTER/BOMBER

Requirement Number: 8.k.

Title: Structural Maintenance Data Analytics

Q185) Is the tool expected to be a handheld device?

A185) There are no specific expectations with regard to hardware requirements. The intent is to facilitate recording maintenance related information, e.g. inspection findings, final hole size, corrosion damage, blends, etc. This could be captured easily on the shop floor several different ways. The important factor is that the data collection process is easy and efficient so the maintenance organization will comply with requirements.

Q186) Is there a preferred architecture for this tool, such as the Open System Architecture for

Condition Based Maintenance (OSA-CBM)?

A186) The goal is to be able to capture and link the maintenance data within the TeamCenter environment. The existing data management tool is TeamCenter and it provides the ability to pull up a tail number and have the installed serialized components and their history readily available to engineering, maintenance, and logistics.

OSD / Defense Agency RIF Annex

CBD

Requirement Number: CBD-14-BAA-RIF-0002 Title: Permanent Anti-Fog Coatings for Protective Masks

Q187) How mature does this work need to be before it can be considered for a white paper/proposal?

A187) The technology to be provided, at the end of the solicited effort, needs to be matured to the point that it can meet the requirements in the solicitation. This requires having a robust coating and application technique that can be applied to the 24 lenses to be provided by the government for evaluation as per the solicitation. The process needs to demonstrate that lenses subjected to the coating and application process do not adversely affect optical performance of the lens at the temperatures and work levels cited, per the solicitation.

Additionally, the durability of the coating should be adequate for the intended lifetime of the respiratory system, (per the solicitation) and system performance attributes do not significantly vary from lens to lens (per the solicitation).

CTTSO

Requirement Number: CTTSO-14-BAA-RIF-0001 Title: Global Multilingual Social Media Analytical Tool

Q188) "Develop capability for DoD forces to analyze all forms of communications on social media outlets." Is the primary analysis intent of the requirement to develop a social media centered tool/application that detects emerging trends and provides early warnings?

A188) Yes

Q189) Is DoD looking for automated tool(s)? Semi-automated tools? Or analyst driven tools?

A189) Automated tools with analyst validation and human expertise

Q190) Which social media outlets are of primary interest?

A190) Twitter, facebook, instagram, and others. However the focus is not on the social media outlet but mostly on the informal language content that needs to be exploited and understood.

Q191) Is the desired output Geospatial Map Products or Charts/Graphs/Text-based products?

A191) All of the above.

Q192) Is the requirement interested in sentiment analysis?

A192) Not the top priority but of interest.

NGA

Requirement Number: NGA-14-BAA-RIF-0002 Title: Improve the Discovery, and Retrieval of Relevant Intelligence Products

Q193) Can you provide an example of "topic and information" tags that analysts are creating/concerned with? What is an example of a generic tag? What is an example of an "overly specific tag?"

A193) Analysts are currently using a set of 24 keywords to tag their reports. The list of

Keywords can be provided on request.

Q194) Is the requirement only related to spatio-temporal (GEO) intel?

A194) No. The requirement is related to activity, event, or other general topical and subject relationships - some of which may not have geospatial or temporal references.

Q195) In addition to metadata tagging, what are the most widely used techniques that analysts are currently using to discover and retrieve intel?

A195) They receive RSS feeds and have frequent interaction with other members of their community of interest, but analytical reports are commonly marked with a few keywords, date, time and location.

SOCOM

Requirement Number: SOCOM-14-BAA-RIF-0001 Title: Joint Mission Network/Ground Forces Platform/System Interoperability

Q196) Please define the 'data black hole when en-route to the objective on-board SOAR aircraft' that is being experienced?

a. Is there an issue with ground forces not being able to communicate over the horizon or line of sight (LOS) with their personal gear while in flight?

b. If air crews and ground forces communications is limited to voice communications, what other means of communication do they want while in an aircraft or on the objective?

A196) Rotary wing aircraft have limited digital networking capability integrated with aircraft systems for the aircrews or ground forces. With situational awareness data, the maneuver forces may adjust their planning enroute. Without capability to access existing data, there is a “data black hole”.

a. There are minimal reported issues with voice communications. Crews utilize the aircraft radios for line of sight (LOS) and over-the horizon (OTH) communications.

The aircraft is equipped with robust LOS and OTH radios to handle any and all voice communications, but there is limited data network capability.

b. Aircrews and ground forces need a means to interface with digital products such as Cursor on Target(CoT), text/chat capability, ability to transfer mission products digitally, and a rapidly updateable means to interface with these digital products.

These capabilities are currently in developmental test and evaluation across the various elements, but not fully fielded in SOCOM.

Q197) What are the current radios in question that are being used?

A197) The aircraft has limited capability to interface with current network capabilities.

Integration of ground radios may enhance the aircraft’s ability to be a relay node for the existing network. A software based solution is envisioned residing on COTS/GOTS hardware; integrated with ground radios, with an aircrew display and interface device (tablet computer or integrated solution) to participate in the network.

Q198) Which of these radios are ground operator and which are in the aircraft?

A198) Aircraft- Currently limited network radios. Ground Forces- Voice and IP based Network radios designed to send and receive tactical data, voice and video to improve situational awareness and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The AN/PRC-117G provides wireless, high-bandwidth communications and is capable of streaming video, simultaneous voice and data feeds, connectivity to secure networks, combat net radio capabilities, and collaborative chat. The AN/PRC-152A is a multiband handheld device that can operate on traditional and wideband IP-based networking waveforms. Its data applications include mobile device apps, text messaging and email, situational awareness and mapping, and video and image sharing. Additional IP based network radios are under development and test.

Q199) Is the desire to integrate existing SOF ground forces radios into SOF aircraft via intercom communications, data bus, or both?

A199) Integration with ICS has already been accomplished for ground voice radios. The intent would be to incorporate all of the various feeds, data streams, and planning tools into a comprehensive package that can be utilized, potentially on data buses as well.

Q200) Are there airworthiness requirements for such integrations?

a. If so, what documentation will be used to govern this?

A200) Airworthiness will be addressed IAW AR70-62 and all local policies and procedures.

a. Airworthiness releases, modification work orders, and policy Letters governing the use, approval and integration of the equipment.