DARPA_BAA_HR001118S0007_Q&As.pdf

General Questions:

Q1. Is there an anticipated date for bidders to receive DARPA’s evaluation and recommendation to provide a full proposal?

A. On January 2, 2018, DARPA provided feedback for all abstracts received by the due date.

Q2. We have the following questions with regard to the referenced BAA:

BAA Section 1.3 indicates a program duration of 24 months, and seems to assume technical performance through the 24th month. Is it acceptable to propose a 26-month program with the final two months reserved for the final report’s draft/comment/final submission cycle?

A. Per section 1.3. Program Schedule and Budget, paragraph 1 page 8 in the BAA, we anticipate a 24-month program, but a different schedule can be proposed if required to execute the program most effectively. We consider schedule as a factor in our overall evaluation, and realize that there may be decisions made between schedule, cost, and achieving specific technical objectives.

Q3. BAA Section 4.3.2, page 26, indicates subawardee proposals may be submitted directly to the Government, if the subawardee does not wish the prime to view its proprietary cost proposal. The directions indicate this submission (1) should be in a sealed envelope, and (2) must provide the same number of hard copies and/or electronic proposals as required of the awardee. Please clarify – are hard copies required if the subawardee submits directly or is an electronic submission sufficient?

Please provide directions for the submittal address for these direct subawardee submissions (electronic and/or physical).

A. Subawardees are encouraged to use the same submission process as the prime via the BAA tool per section 4.2.3. Proposal Submission paragraph 4 page 17 in the BAA.

Q4. Will the Government indicate the amount of funding anticipated to be made available for this program?

A. No.

Q5. re the Abstract Cover Sheet Format : "4.3.1.1. {1} Cover sheet to include:

1. BAA number HR001118S0007

2. Technical area (see Sec 1.1) We can find no reference to “Technical area “ in Sec. 1.1

A. While some BAAs have multiple technical areas, there is only a single one for this BAA, therefore non-applicable.

Q6. Is there a specific program manager that should be indicated for this submittal?

A. The program manager for this program is Dr. David Shaver in DARPA/STO.

Q7. Is this effort related to the Blackjack Program that Dr. Fred Kennedy (DARPA/TTO) has recently spoken about?

A. Not directly, though technologies developed for the ASSET program may be useful for other DARPA programs.

Q8. Has a contractor performed similar work to this for the government in the past? If available, please provide the incumbent contract number. If you are unable to provide a contract number, is it safe to assume this is a new requirement for the government?

A. This is a research and development oriented BAA to drive new technology development.

We will not be funding work similar to work that has already been performed for the Government.