13-BAA-0001_Amendment_3.pdf

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT: HQ0034-ONA-13-BAA-0001

Amendment 03

This publication constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) in accordance with (IAW) Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 35.016 and FAR 6.102(d) (2). A formal Request for Proposal (RFP), solicitation and/or additional information regarding this announcement will not be issued. This BAA is issued by Washington Headquarters Services, Acquisition Directorate (WHS/AD) on behalf of the Office of Net Assessment, Office of the Secretary of Defense. The community of interest for this BAA is the Office of Net Assessment, Office of the Secretary of Defense.

WHS/AD will not issue paper copies of this announcement. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals in response to this announcement. The Government reserves the right to fund all, some or none of the proposals received under this BAA.

The Government provides no funding for direct reimbursement of proposal development costs.

Technical and cost proposals (or any other material) submitted in response to this BAA will not be returned. WHS/AD will treat all proposals as sensitive competitive information and disclose their contents only for the purposes of evaluation.

I. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

This BAA is open to all profit and non-profit businesses as well as institutions of higher education.

All business entities may submit a proposal, which will be considered by the Government.

All offerors are required to be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM). Information on SAM registration is available at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM.

II. GENERAL INFORMATION

II.1. Agency Name:

Washington Headquarters Services, Acquisition Directorate Enterprise Analysis & Studies Division 1225 S. Clark Street Suite 910 Arlington, VA 22202

II.2. Research Opportunity Title and Program Name:

Research and Studies for the Office of Net Assessment (OSD/NA)

II.3. Research Opportunity Number: HQ0034-ONA-13-BAA-0001

II.4. Response Dates:

https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM

Proposals will be accepted for a period of five years on a bi-monthly basis beginning June 17, 2013 and ending on June 12, 2018. (See paragraph VIII of this announcement for proposal cut-off dates)

II.5. Questions and Communications:

All questions should be directed via e-mail to the following contacts:

Email: maryam.fatima.civ@mail.mil; and rodney.a.johnson77.civ@mail.mil

III. RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Office of Net Assessment conducts and sponsors analyses that compare the standing, trends, and future prospects of U.S. and foreign military capability and military potential. Priority is given to assessing aspects of the security environment and parts of the world that are likely to change in the future, and that may present threats or opportunities to the U.S. Assessments may focus on specific theaters, regions, functions, mission areas, major weapons categories, doctrine, etc., as well as on demographic, economic, and political developments that may affect the power and strategies of nations.

Objective and Areas of Interest: The Office of Net Assessment seeks proposals that respond to the following areas of interest. Proposals will be considered that undertake comprehensive approaches to one or more of the following areas, or that investigate one or more particular aspect(s) or case(s) that belong to the broader areas listed below:

1. Future Naval Warfare: OSD/NA is interested in proposals to study the changing character of military competition on and under the surface of the sea. The increasing sophistication and proliferation of long-range anti-ship location and strike systems may make surface naval vessels considerably more vulnerable over the decades ahead. This may affect not just U.S. forces, but any nation seeking to project or sustain naval power. Under the sea, trends in instrumentation and the development of undersea infrastructure may change the character of the undersea competition and may have an impact on the current U.S. superiority in undersea warfare. Of particular interest is an assessment of the future undersea competition accounting for current and emerging trends in nation-state and non-nation state objectives, associated operating concepts, and advances in commercial, scientific, and military technology. This could include studies that illuminate future strategic opportunities and vulnerabilities, including the potential for new or expanded DoD roles, in the undersea environment.

2. Proliferated world: OSD/NA is interested in proposals exploring heuristic, future security environments marked by varying degrees of nuclear proliferation. Of specific interest are the effect of greater nuclear proliferation on the US Government's ability to execute its overall national security policy, the ability of the US military to accomplish missions assigned to it (in particular DoD's ability to project force when directed by the National Command Authority), the role of Ballistic Missile Defense/Air Defense, the viability of US nuclear forces in a new nuclear environment, and the continued ability of the US to deter aggression against the homeland, our forces, and our Allies. Of additional interest is the influence of greater nuclear proliferation on the military programs, including nuclear, of third actors, changes, if any, in risk perception/management mailto:maryam.fatima.civ@mail.mil mailto:rodney.a.johnson77.civ@mail.mil by key players in regional military balances, changes in deterrent postures and practices of regional powers in a proliferated environment, and changes in dynamic of conflict in environments where proliferation already has occurred.

3. Space: OSD/NA is interested in space as an area of military competition that is or may be undergoing significant change. The growing role of commercial space assets, many replicating traditional military capabilities, is opening this area to new competitors. Other powers are also developing substantial space programs with major, though uncertain, military implications.

OSD/NA is interested in studies and analyses of the changing competition, possible scenarios, and the characteristics of new and emerging competitors as they relate to space as an area of military competition.

4. Sustaining Current Areas of U.S. Advantage: OSD/NA is interested in diagnoses of specific areas of military competition in which the United States has or might plausibly develop a position of considerable competitive advantage. This includes assessments of trends - technological, political, economic, military, and others - that may fundamentally change the character of the competition or substantially alter the competitive position of the United States or other actors. OSD/NA is also interested in analyses of emerging areas of military competition in which the United States may want to develop positions of advantage, as well as strategies that the Department of Defense might plausibly pursue.

5. History (Military): OSD/NA is interested in studies on historical topics of interest to the Department of Defense, with a particular emphasis on military history. This includes but is not limited to the history of specific campaigns, both ancient and modern, particularly in Asia or the Middle East; histories of ancient empires; histories of religious warfare; and histories of the development of new technologies, operational concepts, and doctrine.

6. Precision Strike: OSD/NA is interested in studies, wargames, and other analytic efforts exploring the potential future maturation and proliferation of technologies and concepts associated with precision strike, including reconnaissance, command and control, and weapon delivery systems of both long- and short-range. OSD/NA is interested in efforts that examine how the maturation and proliferation of precision strike may bring changes in the character of warfare over the next 20-40 years, as well as the broad strategic implications of these changes in warfare, including changes for the United States as well as potential competitors. OSD/NA is also interested in assessments of possible competitors who may enter the precision strike competition, including their strengths, weaknesses, and their ambitions in this emerging area of military competition.

7. Additional Research Topics: Proposals on other germane topics may be of interest. These proposals could address aspects of the future security environment, or possible alternative futures that may affect the shape and character of geostrategic competition. They might also propose analyses that compare the standing, trends, and future prospects of US and foreign military capability and military potential, or assess underlying factors with important effects on those issues, and that are not covered in the topics listed above.

8. Economics: The Office of Net Assessment is interested in the study of economics in peace and war. This area includes studies of the economic conditions and constraints affecting relative military power, including the economic burden on the US and on major competitors and allies of military and other strategic activities; methods of estimating comparative future trends in major power economic capacity and military spending; and improved cross-national comparisons of the size of military and related programs. OSD/NA is also interested in the economic dimension of military crises and warfare, including the character of economic warfare in a range of contexts and the implications for the United States, allies, and adversaries. More specifically, OSD/NA has a particular interest in analyses of the impact of interruptions in trade, such as blockades and quarantines, and other measures that might be taken as part of future economic warfare.

9. Wargames: OSD/NA is interested in innovative approaches to implement wargames to explore the competition between peer and near-peer competitors. OSD/NA is interested in new gaming formats enabling expansion of understanding of, and interactions between, modern and emerging warfare areas such as information, cyber, and space combat operations. OSD/NA is interested in several different styles and types of gaming formats, depending on the nature of the question under examination. OSD/NA desires games that effectively match structure, adjudication, processes, visualization, and data capture to the level of rigor appropriate to the understanding of the problems.

Proposals should address how iterative games and analysis can improve understanding of problems (e.g. moving from unstructured to structured, etc.).

IV. AWARD INFORMATION:

IV.1. Period of Performance: The period of performance of the awards typically ranges from one to five years. Options will be considered at the government’s discretion.

IV.2. Instrument Type:

The type of funding instrument selected by the Government may be a contract, grant or cooperative agreement. Award may be made consistent with 10 U.S.C. 2358, 10 U.S.C. 2361, and 10 U.S.C.

2374(a). Contract type and funding arrangements are at the discretion of the Government.

Offerors who desire to submit a stream of related proposals or multiple proposals in different BAA areas of interest throughout the life of the BAA solicitation may propose an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) type contractual arrangement. IDIQ proposal should be submitted seperately from orders for tasks based on the intention to submit a significant number of proposals across the life of this BAA.

If the government awards an IDIQ contract as a result of the contractor’s proposal, only projects submitted as proposals under the BAA solicitation will be awarded as task orders on the IDIQ. All contract types and contractual arrangements are at the discretion of the Government. The preferred contract type is firm fixed priced contract with costs for travel as a reimbursable item. If option years are appropriate for the project being submitted, the offeror may propose and price project tasks and deliverables for option years, so long as the term of those option years does not extend past the term of the IDIQ.

V. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL

V.1. Proposal Submission

See Section V.2.

V.2. Email Submission:

Starting October 21, 2015, proposals shall be submitted via email to Rodney A. Johnson at rodney.a.johnson77.civ@mail.mil and Maryam Fatima at maryam.fatima.civ@mail.mil. Hard copies will no longer be accepted. The email subject heading for proposal submission shall specify the area of interest (for example, Proposal for Future Naval Warfare Section III. 1). All proposals must be received via e-mail no later than 1 p.m. (EST) on the dates listed in the schedule under paragraph VIII under this announcement. All proposals must state clearly which specific proposal cut-off date and area of interest that the proposal is being submitted to.

Maryam Fatima Rodney Johnson 703-545-1320 703-545-3046

V.3. Validity of Proposals: Offerors must state the period which the proposal will be valid. All proposals shall be valid for a period of 12 months or longer from the date of submission.

V.4. Content and Format of Proposals

V.4.1. Marking of proposals for classified/proprietary information: The proposals submitted in response to this BAA are expected to be unclassified. The proposal submissions will be protected from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR 15.207(b), applicable law, and DoD regulations. Offerors are expected to appropriately mark each page of their submission that contains proprietary information. The proposal should include a severable, self-standing Statement of Work, which contains only unclassified information and does not include any proprietary restrictions.

V.4.2. Important Note: Titles given to the proposals should be descriptive of the work they cover and not be merely a copy of the title of this solicitation.

V.4.3. Format of Proposals:

V.4.3.1. Number of Pages: Content of Technical proposal shall not be more than 30 pages. No page limit on content of Cost proposal.

V.4.3.2. Accepted Format: The Technical Proposal shall be submitted in Microsoft Word. The Cost Proposal shall be submitted in Microsoft Word and/or Microsoft Excel. All Excel spreadsheets shall contain formulas. The Word files shall not be zipped or otherwise condensed.

V.5. Content of Technical Proposals:

mailto:rodney.a.johnson77.civ@mail.mil mailto:maryam.fatima.civ@mail.mil

The technical proposal should include the following sections, at a minimum, each starting on a new page.

V.5.1. Title page: (Not included in page limitations.) This should include the words “Technical Proposal” and the following:

• BAA number;

• Title of proposal;

• Date submitted;

• Identity of Offeror;

• Principal Investigator, (name, phone, fax, e-mail)

• Business contact; (name, phone, fax, e-mail); and,

• Duration of effort

• Area of interest

V.5.2. Technical Approach and Deliverables: A detailed description of the approach planned, results targeted and products to be delivered. Definitions of deliverables (i.e., Manuscript, Report, Wargame) should be included in this section of the technical approach. Deliverables should also be identified in the Cost Proposal, and costs should be distributed among them appropriately.

V.5.3. Statement of Work: A Statement of Work (SOW) clearly detailing the scope and objectives of the effort; tasks to be completed; the technical approach; and deliverables. It is anticipated that the proposed SOW will be incorporated as an attachment to the resultant award instrument. To this end, such proposals must include a severable self-standing SOW without any proprietary restrictions, which can be included in the contract award instrument. Include a detailed listing of the technical tasks/subtasks and deliverables anticipated, organized by year, if applicable.

V.5.4. Qualifications: A discussion of previous accomplishments and work in this, or closely related areas, and the qualifications of the investigators. Key personnel resumes should be attached to the proposal and will not count toward the page limitations.

V.6. Content of Cost Proposals:

The cost proposal should include a detailed breakdown of all costs by cost category by calendar/fiscal year. All cost proposals should provide a breakdown of chargeable costs based strictly on deliverables. The following cost areas should be included, if applicable for derivation of pricing:

V.6.1. Direct Labor: Individual labor category or person, with associated labor hours and unburdened direct labor rates;

V.6.2. Indirect Costs: Fringe Benefits, Overhead, G&A, etc.

V.6.3. Travel: Destination, number of trips, number of days per trip, departure and arrival destinations, number of people, etc. Recognition that travel receipts will be submitted in the format of the form attached to this BAA.

V.6.4. Consultant: Provide consultant agreement or other document which verifies the proposed daily/hourly rate. Consultant rates for contracts issued under this BAA shall not exceed $187.50 per hour (Max daily rate of $1,500.00).

V.6.5. Other Direct Costs: should be itemized with costs or estimated costs.

VI. INFORMATION ON EVALUATION

All proposal submissions will be evaluated through a technical/scientific/cost decision process with technical and scientific considerations being more important than cost. Even though cost is of less importance than the technical and scientific factors combined, it will be considered in the overall evaluation. The degree of its importance will increase with the degree of equality of the proposals in relation to the other factors on which selection is to be based, or when the cost is so significantly high as to diminish the value of the technical superiority to the Government. Evaluation Criteria 1-3 are listed in descending order of priority. Any sub-criteria listed under a particular criterion are of equal importance to each other.

VI.1. Potential contribution to ONA’s mission and Department of Defense concerns

VI.1.1. The degree of innovation VI.1.2. The soundness and feasibility of technical approach VI.1.3. The offeror’s understanding of the problem and the technical effort needed to address the problem

VI.2. Offeror’s capabilities, related experience, and past performance, including the qualifications, capabilities, and experience of the proposed personnel

VI.2.1. The quality of technical personnel proposed VI.2.2. The offeror’s experience in relevant efforts with similar resources VI.2.3. The ability to manage the proposed effort

VI.3. The realism of the proposed cost

VI.3.1. Total cost relative to benefit VI.3.2. Realism of cost levels for facilities and staffing

VII. NEGOTIATION AND AWARD OF PROPOSALS

The Government may award/ select proposals with or without negotiations. The Government may ask for additional information/clarification of the proposal at the discretion of the Government.

Awards may be made subject to availability of funds IAW FAR 232.18, Availability of Funds and FAR 232.19, Availability of Funds for the Next Fiscal Year. No further awards will be made after June 12, 2019 or sooner if this BAA solicitation is amended to change the final date. Proposals submitted in response to this BAA will not be returned. The Government will not inform nor notify of the unselected/unaccepted proposals; offerors are hereby informed that the submitted proposal(s) will not be considered nor accepted for award after one year (12 twelve months) from the date of submission cutoff date unless notified otherwise by the Government.

VIII. SCHEDULE OF PROPOSAL RECEIPT CUT-OFF DATES

a) June 17, 2013(only submission date to be considered for funding using FY13 funds)

b) October 15, 2013

c) December 17, 2013

d) February 25, 2014

e) April 22, 2014

f) June 24, 2014 (final submission date to be considered for funding using FY14 funds)

g) October 14, 2014

h) December 16, 2014

i) February 24, 2015

j) April 21, 2015

k) June 23, 2015 (final submission date to be considered for funding using FY15 funds)

l) October 20, 2015

m) December 15, 2015

n) February 23, 2016

o) April 19, 2016

p) June 21, 2016 (final submission date to be considered for funding using FY16 funds)

q) October 18, 2016

r) December 20, 2016

s) February 21, 2017

t) April 25, 2017

u) June 20, 2017 (final submission date to be considered for funding using FY17 funds)

v) October 24, 2017

w) December 19, 2017

x) February 20, 2018

y) April 24, 2018

z) June 12, 2018 (final submission date to be considered under this BAA)

ATTACHMENT: Required Form for Submission of Travel Receipts