HR001121S0028.pdf

Broad Agency Announcement

Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC)

DARPA STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY OFFICE (STO)

HR001121S0028

April 28, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I: OVERVIEW INFORMATION

PART II: FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Introduction and Background B. Program Description C. Program Structure and Focus Areas D. Program Metrics E. Program Security F. Program Schedule, Milestones, and Deliverables G. Intellectual Property

II. Award Information A. General Award Information B. Fundamental Research

III. Eligibility Information A. Eligible Applicants B. Organizational Conflicts of Interest C. Cost Sharing/Matching D. Collaborative Efforts

IV. Application and Submission Information A. Address to Request Application Package B. Content and Form of Application Submission

V. Application Review Information A. Evaluation Criteria B. Review of Proposals

VI. Award Administration Information A. Selection Notices and Notifications B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements C. Reporting D. Electronic Systems

VII. Agency Contacts VIII. Other Information

IX. APPENDIX 1: PROPOSAL SLIDE SUMMARY

X. APPENDIX 2: SECURITY CLASSIFICATION GUIDE AND CLASSIFIED

ADDENDUM REQUEST FORM

XI. APPENDIX 3: ASSOCIATE CONTRACTOR AGREEMENT (ACA)

XII. APPENDIX 4: VOLUME 1 COVER SHEET TEMPLATE

XIII. APPENDIX 5: VOLUME 2 COVER SHEET AND CHECKLIST

XIV. APPENDIX 6: MINC BAA PROPOSAL WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

TEMPLATE

XV. APPENDIX 7: SECURITY ADDENDUM SAMPLE TEMPLATE

XV. APPENDIX 8: SECURITY TEST / DEMONSTRATION / EXPERIMENTATION

PLANNING

PART I: OVERVIEW INFORMATION

Federal Agency Name – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Strategic Technology Office (STO) Funding Opportunity Title – Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC) Announcement Type – Initial Announcement Funding Opportunity Number – HR001121S0028 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers (CFDA) – Not Applicable Dates o Posting Date: April 28, 2021 o Proposers’ Day: May 4, 2021 o Questions Due Date and Time: June 8, 2021 by 4:00 p.m. (EDT) o Deadline to Request Classified Addendum: June 8, 2021 by 4:00 p.m. (EDT);

requests will not be accepted after this deadline o Deadline to Notify Security of Intent to Submit Classified Proposal: June 14, 2021 by 4:00 p.m. (EDT) o Proposal Due Date and Time: June 29, 2021 by 4:00 p.m. (EDT)

The program configures networks of networks on-demand and securely disseminates network Command and Control (C2) across heterogeneous network resources, Mission- Integrated Network Control (MINC) intends to triage information and communications paths in order to fulfill a mosaic warfare end-state vision for agile, self-healing networks to enable cross-domain kill webs in highly contested, highly dynamic environments.

Anticipated individual awards – Multiple awards are anticipated.

Types of instruments that may be awarded -- Procurement Contract or Other Transaction.

Agency contact o Points of Contact The BAA Coordinator for this effort can be reached at:

HR001121S0028@darpa.mil

DARPA/STO

ATTN: HR001121S0028

675 North Randolph Street Arlington, Virginia 22203-2114

PART II: FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

This publication constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) as contemplated in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.102(d)(2) and 35.016 and 2 CFR § 200.203. Any resultant award negotiations will follow all pertinent law and regulation, and any negotiations and/or awards for procurement contracts will use procedures under FAR 15.4, Contract Pricing, as specified in the BAA.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative proposals to build and demonstrate software that creates a secure network overlay with control mechanisms that enable distributed management of agile, self-healing networks of networks to support multi-domain kill webs in highly-contested, highly-dynamic environments. The program, Mission- Integrated Network Control (MINC), is a vital part of the Mosaic Warfare end-state vision.

Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, devices, or systems. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.

The BAA Classified Addendum contains additional details. See Appendix 2 of this BAA for instructions on how to request the Classified Addendum as well as the Security Classification Guide (SCG) for the MINC program.

A. Introduction and Background

The MINC program objective is to ensure that critical data finds a path to the right user at the right time in highly contested, highly dynamic communication environments using secure control of any available communication or networking resources1. The MINC approach is designed to interoperate with a heterogeneous mix of legacy and future systems to ensure timely and reliable delivery of data that is not guaranteed today. This capability replaces the manual, static configuration of individual, tactical networks and the associated limited internetworking capabilities. The growing emphasis on all-domain warfare compounds the complexity of controlling heterogeneous networks. MINC embraces these challenges by introducing the mosaic warfare concepts of optionality, diversity, and rapid adaptability to the orchestration of networks of networks.

Current approaches to connecting and controlling tactical communication systems are manual processes prone to error leading to potentially misconfigured or sub-optimal performing networks. Within each warfighting domain, networks are provisioned and configured prior to a mission leading to static and under- or over-allocated communication resources. These two extremes may lead to underutilized resources or underperforming capacity and the need to process data at an overwhelming scale. Beyond building bigger, faster data networks, traditional approaches to network optimization focus on quality-of-service (QoS) metrics such as

1 Network resources for the purpose of this BAA are defined as communications, compute, or storage capabilities.

maximizing throughput and minimizing latency. Network utility maximization and data prioritization are similarly coarse and do not dynamically map mission objectives to evolving information needs.

Historically the DoD approach to building communications systems models a vertically-integrated stack. Today both DoD and commercial approaches deconstruct this stack moving away from closed, rigid architectures to open, flexible solutions. Successful DARPA networking and information programs such as DyNAMO2, SHARE3, SoSITE4 STITCHES5, and Network UP6 have addressed various challenges associated with deconstructing the stack. Innovations from these efforts provide radio and message interoperability, customized data delivery, packet-level data security, and resilience via data and control plane separation.

MINC will culminate this paradigm shift from static, manual configuration of closed, rigid architectures by moving towards autonomous, mission-driven approaches where applications and networks adapt with mission dynamics and operator feedback. Within the MINC context, sub-optimality may be tolerable providing that the right mission-critical information is delivered at the right time. This is in contrast to optimizing to deliver the greatest amount of data all of the time. Thus, MINC addresses the joint management of networks and information. MINC’s holistic approach will reason over communications parameters across the network stack, e.g., application, network, and physical layers, to realize mission-driven network control, including active control and provisioning of the underlying communication and network resources. Note that the MINC program does not intend to develop any new communication and network resource hardware, but rather will develop the network and communications systems algorithms and associated software to opportunistically configure and control the available resources.

The MINC program will address the three key challenges tactical networks face today with regards to operations in extreme networking environments:

1) The lack of network interoperability across heterogeneous communications systems at scale;

2) Insufficient network capacity to support missions; and

3) The inability to autonomously configure and dynamically reconfigure networks to align with mission objectives.

These challenges negatively impact overall network runtime adaptability and result in insufficient real-time status, an inability to provide instantaneous capacity, and the lack of dynamic discovery, initialization, and tasking of network resources to include communications, compute, and storage capabilities. The MINC program will realize “on-demand” connectivity between kill web services by focusing on the development and integration of three key capabilities:

2 DyNAMO: Dynamic Network Adaptation for Mission Optimization 3 SHARE: Secure Handhelds on Assured Resilient networks at the tactical Edge 4 SoSITE: System of Systems Integration Technology and Experimentation 5 STITCHES: System-of-systems Technology Integration Tool Chain for Heterogeneous Electronic Systems 6 Network UP: Network Universal Persistence

1) Developing an “always-on” network overlay to access available networking and communications resources and control parameters;

2) Using a cross-network approach for optimizing and managing network configuration and information flows; and

3) Creating a mission-driven approach in determining the critical information flows for kill web services.

MINC is envisioned to create real-time autonomous resource discovery with on-demand network orchestration across domains, reference Figure 1. This is exemplified by an “always on” secure control overlay for network Command and Control (C2) that achieves backward and forward compatibility across networks, thus realizing connectivity between kill web services to share mission/application data. Another objective of MINC, as a real-time planning and execution capability, is an ability to jointly manage network configuration and information flows. Such a capability is informed by integrating new mission-driven approaches that capture mission needs and commander’s intent as applied to communications and networking.

Figure 1. Today: Static networks in separate domains limit the ability to execute the mission and only allow limited to no movement of data across networks; Future: MINC will provide real-time, autonomous resource discovery and network orchestration to dynamically compose data pathways across multiple warfighting and networking domains to continuously adapt to meet mission needs

See the BAA Classified Addendum for additional information.

B. Program Description

The MINC program seeks to develop an integrated system of multiple, complex technologies and organizes system components into focus areas (FAs) of research as depicted in Figure 2. The program will consist of the following focus areas to achieve its objectives:

FA 1) Secure Control Overlay, which is to maintain a minimal amount of continuous connectivity across heterogeneous networks to disseminate network control messages to discover and control network resources;

FA 2) Distributed Network Orchestration, which is to perform distributed reasoning over communications parameters to overcome insufficient network capacity by dynamically composing networks of networks on demand; and

FA 3) Mission Integration, which provides interactive MINC-enabled applications while translating mission objectives to network and information needs.

Proposers are expected to provide an integrated solution that addresses all three FAs.

Figure 2. The MINC program is organized into three system components corresponding to three focus areas: Secure Control Overlay, Distributed Network Orchestration, and Mission Integration.

MINC’s new mission-driven approach for securely managing network configuration and information flows has two primary attributes: 1) “always on” virtual network control overlay to maintain awareness and control across heterogeneous networks and 2) connectivity realized “on-demand” between kill web services7 (essentially dynamically creating virtual pathways between end-points, or tunnels, for mission communications).

In pursuit of innovative technical solutions that address MINC attributes, the program seeks to leverage recent networking advances as depicted in Figure 3, including, but are not limited to:

Software Defined Networking (SDN) providing software programmability of network controls;

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) for decoupling network functions from hardware;

Information-Centric Networking (ICN) to securely discover and retrieve data; and Intent-Driven Networking (IDN) for autonomous mapping of user objectives to network management policies.

7 A “kill web service” is any military warfighting capability (mission system, sensor, weapon, or platform) connected to some tactical network with its own radio. This will sometimes also be referred to as a “mission service” and is in contrast to a “communications or network service”, which is one of the networking resources (radio, gateway, router, compute node, etc.) directly accessed and managed by MINC.

When coupled with program innovations, MINC solutions will demonstrate the ability to provide virtual connectivity when and where it is needed to enable the execution of mosaic architectures.

It is strongly encouraged that direct partnerships with commercial technology developers be investigated in order to prevent excessive resources spent re-developing key technologies.

Figure 3. MINC seeks to leverage commercial concepts adapted for tactical network use. A notional adaptation is shown where SDN provides flexibility via software programmability and NFV allows for the decoupling of network functions from hardware. MINC expands the concept of virtual network functions to virtual edge functions for the purpose of network, information, and security management. ICN allows MINC to securely discover and retrieve C2 data while IDN maps user objectives to network management policies.

C. Program Structure and Focus Areas

The MINC program includes three focus areas further described below. Each proposal submitted in response to this BAA shall address all three focus areas and the associated integration into a complete network orchestration system. Submissions that do not address all three focus areas will be considered non-conforming.

The overriding objective of the MINC program is to produce the best possible technologies to realize resilient communication across multiple networking and warfighting domains. To this end, the Government intends MINC to be a collaborative program in which all performers constructively interact and exchange ideas related to focus area research. To facilitate the open exchange of information, each contractor shall be required to execute associate contractor agreements (ACAs) as defined in Appendix 3. This clause is intended to ensure appropriate coordination and integration of work done by the MINC performers. Once selections have been made, selectees should have their ACAs in place prior to the first program meeting.

MINC is a three-phase program covering 48 months. The Phase 1 (base) period of performance is 18 months, the Phase 2 option is for 12 months, and the Phase 3 option is for 12 months. An additional 6-month transition effort is planned for the end of Phase 3, with proposal instructions being provided prior to the end of the 12-month Phase 3 option. Only those performer(s) selected to continue into Phase 3 will receive these instructions and be eligible to participate. Proposals should include all three phases with Phase 1 being the base period of performance and all others to be options as summarized in Table 1. Proposal language should reflect that Phase 2 is option period 1 and Phase 3 is option period 2. The additional 6-month Phase 3 transition effort is not being solicited under this BAA. Technical and Cost volumes in response to this BAA should only propose to the Base, Option 1 and Option 2 periods of performance.

Phase Label

Phase Duration (months)

Technical Volume Cost Volume

Base 1 18 Yes Yes Option 1 2 12 Yes Yes Option 2 3 12 Yes Yes N/A 3

(Transition) 6 No; proposal instructions to be provided to Phase 3 performer(s)

No; proposal instructions to be provided to Phase 3 performer(s) Table 1. MINC Program Structure: the Base, Option 1, and Option 2 should be addressed in the technical and cost volumes of proposals. Phase 3 participants will be given supplemental proposal instructions covering the follow-on

Phase 3 Transition effort.

The Government anticipates multiple awards in Phase 1 and reserves the right to exercise subsequent options for all, some, or none of the performers.

DARPA seeks innovative proposals addressing the Focus Areas summarized in Table 2 and depicted in Figure 4.

Focus Area Description

1: Secure Control Overlay

Resilient discovery and secure control of heterogeneous network resources including communications, compute, and storage

2: Distributed Network Orchestration

Semi-autonomous network control in support of mission objectives and information needs

3: Mission Integration

Integrated system and applications to achieve mission-driven networking

Table 2. Overview of MINC Focus Areas of Research

1. Focus Area 1: Secure Control Overlay

FA 1 will develop the methods for resilient discovery and secure control of heterogeneous network resources and mission services. This focus area will develop a resilient secure control architecture above native transport. The secure control overlay will provide a mechanism to discover network resources and distribute network control messages. The challenges of this FA include the ability to:

Create generalizable and scalable approaches to integrating and discovering heterogeneous networking resources

Use this discovery information to construct and maintain a battlespace-wide network resource model shared across the secure control overlay, Maintain the security (confidentiality, integrity, and availability) of the control overlay and associated network resources and mission services8, Manage the complex set of addressable configuration parameters across these network resources and mission services, Traverse multiple networking and security domains with backward and forward compatibility across legacy, existing, and emerging communications systems, Reduce control overhead given that network resources are shared across multiple simultaneous missions9.

Proposals should specifically identify and address security issues by leveraging recently developed, innovative cybersecurity technologies proven in other research and development efforts that maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of network control data10.

MINC solutions will develop approaches to monitor and model the discovered network resources, associated control parameters, networks, and mission services in order to estimate and report their current state, as well as forecast their future state. This distributed network resource model will capture the availability of network resources, control mechanisms (aka “knobs”) and mission services, and be provided to FA 2 and FA 3. Success in this focus area is defined as the ability to create a secure control overlay spanning multiple heterogeneous networks and warfighting domains while also minimizing the impact of control data overhead on the networks.

Proposals should also discuss how this secure control overlay may be effectively used to generate Blue Force Situational Awareness of network resources and mission services and distribute mission C2 data to mission services.

2. Focus Area 2: Distributed Network Orchestration

FA 2 will create the ability for MINC to semi-autonomously control multiple heterogeneous networks and network resources based on the needs of the mission and information requirements.

FA 2 will develop algorithms and approaches, i.e., the MINC “brains”, to reason over control parameters of multiple heterogeneous networks. Control parameters may include, but are not limited to, control “knobs” inherent to radios and waveforms, the recommendation of physical

8 See Classified Addendum for more details on MINC use cases and missions.

9 See Classified Addendum for more details on MINC use cases and missions.

10 See Classified Addendum for more details on MINC cybersecurity.

movement to address communications gaps, and the introduction of virtual edge functions for the purpose of network, information, and security management.

In order to do this, several challenges must be overcome including, but not limited to:

Insufficient baseline network capacity to optimally support all missions simultaneously, Intermittent and delayed access to mission-relevant information and state of network resources and mission services, Inability to adapt to network and mission dynamics in real time.

Some of the control parameters available to MINC may represent the configuration of a collection of network resources. Proposals should discuss how solutions will handle a collection of network resources and anticipated controls available. For example, an individual Link-16 radio may not offer any controllability, i.e., there are little or no network parameters that can be changed in situ. A gateway, however, accessing a Link-16 network may provide MINC the current communications plan and a means to address radios on that network. In this case, limited controllability options such as movement to a different sub-net may be available. (Note, lower level details of access and control of a network like Link-16 would be managed by the gateway function and are outside the scope of MINC.)

FA 2 will create the software framework to build and deploy the virtual edge functions11 in MINC. Proposals should include discussion of the types of virtual edge functions that will likely improve overall network performance while adapting to the needs of the missions, networks, and applications12. FA 2 will reason over the inputs received from the FA 1 network resource model (network resources, associated control parameters, and their states) and develop orchestration algorithms, which consider inputs from FA 3 on network and mission information needs. FA 2 will compose virtual networks and links on-demand, providing virtual connectivity to enable mission execution. This will be accomplished by managing mission data distribution and load while simultaneously controlling and provisioning network resources. Success in this focus area is defined as the ability to improve battlespace-level network performance and ultimately find a path to the right data at the right time.

3. Focus Area 3: Mission Integration

FA 3 will create the ability to map mission objectives and application needs to network objectives while also providing system integration of all three focus areas. FA 3 will design mission-driven networking approaches and create interactive, MINC-enabled applications that provide customized access to information and services. FA 3 essentially provides the building blocks13 to populate an “app store” with mission applications utilizing the battlespace

11 Virtual edge functions are envisioned as a generalization of virtual network functions. Virtual edge functions could be deployed for the purpose of network, information, and security management. Virtual edge functions may include caching to proactively stage mission data, fusing sensor data, and tuning video flows. These are only examples and proposals should discuss the virtual edge functions to be deployed by their MINC solutions.

12 Virtual edge functions may be employed to tune data flows to optimize quality of information and mission relevance rather than strictly the quantity of data.

13 MINC solutions will produce a software development kit (SDK) and associated application programming interface (API) to provide for the sustained development of MINC-enabled applications beyond the program.

communications fabric created by the MINC system. Each phase of the program will introduce a new MINC-enabled application. Challenges in this FA include:

Providing semi-autonomous control aligned with mission objectives, Creating a framework to express mission objectives and generate a mapping between mission and network objectives in a simple, semi-autonomous manner, Managing user interaction, including development of the MINC user interface with human-centered user experience.

Applications and the mission integration framework should be designed using current commercial software development best practices to enable an open, extensible “app store” for future use. In a desired end-state, it should be very easy for third-parties to develop mission applications and integrate with MINC.

This mission-driven approach to networking will allow FA 3 to provide semi-autonomous control that will reduce the complexity for operators and potentially integrate with other C2 tools. Proposals should discuss potential inputs and outputs to FA 3 and explain how these inputs will be used to specify or derive mission intent and translate/map the intent to network objectives. An output of FA 3 is envisioned to be the translated network and information objectives for FA 2 to reason over. Success in this focus area is defined as the ability to achieve and increase mission success while also lowering the complexity required for users as well as provide continuous feedback regarding the current state of networks in order to satisfy mission objectives. Proposers should provide their own mission-specific quantitative metrics associated with the application’s definition of mission success.

A critical aspect of FA 3 research in building an integrated system is incorporating user interaction and feedback mechanisms to ensure MINC is not only achieving program objectives, but also enabling potential transition partners to best understand how MINC will meet current or emerging needs of a joint warfighting network. Of value are proposals that explain MINC using mosaic warfare concepts to include technology for autonomy, e.g., methods to simplify human-required actions designed to reduce the overall cognitive burden required for network configuration and management. Proposers should specifically consider where MINC user interface/user experience (UI/UX) design elements would reside in the overall MINC system in support of J6 or even J3 (or Service or component equivalents) actions. MINC UI/UX design should enable operators to rapidly build network and mission situational understanding.

The program structure incorporates workshops and Development Security Operations (DevSecOps) cycles with transition partners. Proposals should address how their research and development plan will incorporate the DevSecOps model and how that will tie into their overall system integration as part of FA 3. This plan should address how and where MINC software and data will physically be integrated into real military network resource hardware and approach software accreditation and authority to operate (ATO) with classified systems and networks.

While performers will not be responsible for obtaining a formal ATO, proposers are encouraged to present implementation concepts that support “direct to operations” transition of leave-behind capability and DevSecOps continuous development, including development, integration, and use by third-parties.

Figure 4 Notional Interaction Between Focus Areas to Accomplish Program Objectives

4. Networks of Interest

With the vision of connecting existing, emerging, and future networks, significant importance is placed on which types of networks, network resources, and applications are of greatest value to the Government and MINC transition partners. For example, Link-16 and associated radios, though widely used, contrasted with Bandwidth Efficient Common Data Link (BE-CDL), do not possess the kind of flexibility of the more modern waveforms and associated transceivers.

Performers should refer to the classified addendum for additional information on anticipated transition partners, relevant networks, and associated control “knobs”. It also includes a notional baseline set of networks for each phase of the program. Note that this list is not exhaustive and performers should identify networks they believe would be of most value to transition partners.

Proposals should demonstrate a firm understanding of the types of performance and configuration “knobs” available to MINC within each network. This understanding is especially important in those cases where legacy networks have limited control features and how those controls, when integrated, might impact overall MINC objectives. Proposals should also address how they will interface and reconcile MINC control decisions with control decisions made by other systems already present in the battlespace and their own organic network operations.

Proposers should ensure that their solution and integration approach is extensible to other types of networks and radios not demonstrated in Phase 1 and be able to demonstrate that extensibility in later phases of the program and beyond. Proposers should detail where in these networks and radios the MINC software would reside. The installed MINC software should be designed in a flexible way that allows it to be installed across the battlespace on multiple different configurations of heterogeneous networks. The “brains” of the MINC system should be adaptable based on the resource constraints of the underlying node.

It should be noted that MINC does not plan to create any new hardware over the course of the program; all networks and radios to be investigated must currently exist and be in use, or planned for use, operationally. If there are any networks or classes of networks with which the proposed solution may not be compatible, that should be noted along with an explanation. Proposals should also include discussion of any gateways, translators, and/or adapters needed to interface between networks. Solutions should be clear about what is included as part of the proposal (to develop gateways/adapters) or if they will be requested as GFE.

In addition to the test and evaluation schedule outlined in the classified addendum, proposals should detail the approach to conduct experimentation over selected networks and radios using modeling and simulation and for the integration of real or emulated hardware into their hardware-in-the-loop experimentation environments. The Government will make every effort to provide relevant radios as GFE during the program for experimentation. Proposals should also describe any additional software and documentation, e.g., interface control documents (ICDs), needed to securely access, control, and configure network resources. The Government will make every effort to provide this information as GFI during the program.

D. Program Metrics

In order for the Government to evaluate the effectiveness of a proposed solution in achieving the stated program objectives, proposers should note that the Government hereby promulgates the following program metrics that may serve as the basis for determining whether satisfactory progress is being made to warrant continued funding of the program. Although the following program metrics are specified, proposers should note that the Government has identified these goals with the intention of bounding the scope of effort, while affording the maximum flexibility, creativity, and innovation in proposing solutions to the stated problem.

Proposals should cite both the quantitative and qualitative success criteria that the proposed effort will achieve by the time of each Phase’s program metric measurement.

MINC program metrics, referenced in the classified addendum, provide the framework for assessing the basic capabilities of MINC. However, proposers are encouraged to provide additional metrics for use during the program in order to report progress. These metrics will be validated by the Government team to ensure applicability and correctness. Transition partners will also provide measures and objectives that are relevant to their systems and needs in order to help establish the practicality of employing MINC in the operational environment. Partners will also help to provide a baseline comparison and performance benefit against existing systems already in use.

Metrics that will be evaluated during the program are defined below. See the classified addendum for further detail.

- Number of networks: Ability to discover heterogeneous assets across multiple networking and security domains

- Number of warfighting domains: Ability to discover heterogeneous assets across multiple warfighting domains, e.g., air, space, land, maritime, cyber, etc.

- Reachability: Probability an asset can be reached within time limit

- Overhead: Percent of control traffic relative to useful data

- Signature: Pattern of traffic revealing control structure as a tunable system parameter

- Control plane integrity: Ensure protection of control data and functionality by denying unauthorized access to the MINC system

- Packet delivery ratio: Relative improvement in network efficiency measured by packets received/packets sent

- Mission execution success: Quality-of-experience (QoE) in mission execution to be measured per MINC-enabled application

Proposals should specifically discuss how mission execution success will be defined and measured per MINC-enabled application. The metric(s) for mission execution success will be refined throughout the program.

E. Program Security

The overall classification of the MINC program is collateral SECRET. However, it is anticipated that most of the MINC technical research and development will be performed at the unclassified and CUI levels; academic, small business, and commercial participation is encouraged.

The MINC Security Classification Guide (SCG) provides additional detail on the exact classification lines of the MINC program. The Classified Addendum contains additional technical and programmatic details of the MINC program. Proposers who are to request the Classified Addendum and the SCG need to do so in accordance with the Appendix 2 Request Form.

Proposals should include a Science and Technology (S&T) Protection Implementation Plan (PIP). This is designed to be a top-level overview of how the proposal team is planning for the successful implementation of Program Protection in support of MINC. If selected and awarded a contract, the prime contractor should anticipate a requirement for a more in-depth S&T PIP to be submitted as a contract deliverable within 45 days of contract award. Please see Appendix 7 for additional information on the S&T PIP and Appendix 8 for additional information regarding Security Test/Demonstration/Experimentation Planning.

F. Program Schedule, Milestones, and Deliverables

Figure 5 provides a notional program schedule and milestones. Proposers should note in the notional program timeline that there are planned experiments during each of the phases that act as intermediate check points to assess functionality and progress. With each Performer Experiment, the Government will review delivered source code. Proposals should account for the planned interactions between DARPA, other performers, the Government team and transition partners during program workshops and DevSecOps exercises. This level of effort and interaction is intended to achieve a DevSecOps routine and continuous development cycle that will enable full participation by potential transition partners during the latter part of Phase 2 and during all of Phase 3. It is envisioned that transition partner participation will directly impact Phase 3 efforts with the goal of reducing the risk of adopting MINC technology for operational use.

Figure 5 MINC Program Milestones

Proposals should reflect an 18-month base program effort with a nominal start date of 1 December 2021. For planning purposes, proposers may assume that the program kickoff meeting will be held in the Washington, DC area with remaining program events alternating between DC and a West Coast location. It is possible that some meeting venues may be moved to other locations once the program begins, depending on physical locations of performers.

Figure 6 outlines the envisioned progression of MINC solution functionality and maturity over time with each phase culminating in a test and evaluation (T&E) event and demonstration14. If a proposer believes a different structure is necessary, please describe the alternate structure and rationale for review by the Government team.

T&E is highly valued as it is intended to validate the ability of the performer to satisfy MINC functionality and performance given specified MINC-enabled FA 3 applications, e.g. Blue Force Situational Awareness application in Phase 1 and Integrated Mission C2 Controller application in Phase 2. The intent of the Mission C2 application is to exercise MINC’s ability to compose networks of networks on-demand in support of the execution of kill webs. The program is not seeking new approaches to tasking and re-tasking assets for mission C2, but rather to provide a reliable means of delivering C2 mission tasking messages to a mission resource. The Phase 2 MINC-enabled application can be as simple as a software service exercising the MINC interface and corresponding functionality to compose a network on-demand. Features of that interface will be refined during the program by performers and the Government team to ensure MINC is compatible with existing or emerging Mission C2 applications. For Phase 3, proposers should submit conceptual ideas for transition application(s) describing how those will round out MINC R&D and appeal to potential transition partners both during and after DARPA funding ends.

Proposals should describe the MINC operator interface and the planned phasing of user features

14 See Classified Addendum for more details on the expected progression of MINC solution functionality and maturity.

over time. Proposals should also present mission-based performance metrics for proposed FA 3 applications.

Figure 6 Overview of MINC Research and Development Objectives Per Phase

A summary of program milestones is given below in Table 3.

Event Duration Participants Description

Kickoff 1 Day All performers, DARPA Gov’t Team, and interested stakeholders

Agenda will consist of plenary sessions to discuss Government programmatic details and MINC approaches and technology. Will include Performer/Government (Gov’t) Team one-on-ones sessions.

Workshops 2 Days All performers, DARPA Gov’t Team, and interested stakeholders

Agenda will consist of workshop-style interaction to discuss research findings, define interfaces, identify desired features, and plan for program exercises.

Principal Investigator (PI) Meetings

1 Day All performers, DARPA Gov’t Team, and interested stakeholders

Agenda will consist of plenary sessions to discuss Government programmatic details and performer status. Will include Performer/Gov’t Team one-on-ones to discuss specific items including risk assessment.

Performer Experimentation

N/A Coincident with program meetings, e.g., PI or workshops

Experimentation conducted offline by performers with results presented during program meetings. These intermediate checks serve to evaluate technical progress and the ability to achieve specific Phase objectives.

Performers should deliver source code used in reported results for independent Gov’t review.

Experimentation can be conducted using performer testbeds and experimentation

Event Duration Participants Description environments, which should be described in detail to demonstrate progress towards phase objectives.

Test Readiness Review

½ Day Individual performer with DARPA Gov’t Team

Readiness review with DARPA Program Manager to review technical progress and Test and Evaluation objectives.

Test and Evaluation (T&E)

P1 (2 Days)

P2 (1 Wk)

P3

(2 Wks)

All performers, DARPA Gov’t Team, and interested stakeholders

T&E will include formal Test Plans developed in concert with the Government team. T&E is intended to validate performer ability to achieve program metrics and inform PM decisions regarding potential down-selects for follow-on research. Phase 1 and 2 T&E will be conducted using government furnished experimentation environments. Phase 3 T&E is intended to be conducted during a live exercise with full participation of transition partners using MINC for mission planning and execution.

DevSecOps Planning

1 Day All performers, DARPA Gov’t Team, and transition partners

While not intended to assess performance metrics, DevSecOps planning and events will determine MINC system objectives and CONOPs that are specific to transition partner operational needs.

DevSecOps 1 Week All performers, DARPA Gov’t Team, and transition partners

With identified system objectives and CONOPs, assess MINC’s ability to meet transition partner operational needs with feedback directly influencing follow-on development.

Table 3. MINC Program Milestones

1. Phase 1 (Base) Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Phase 1 will focus on technology development for each of the three focus areas that will result in a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) operating with a MINC-enabled Blue Force Situational Awareness application at the end of the phase.

Focus Area 1 will design and develop the secure control overlay and exercise system interfaces including providing inputs to the Blue Force Situational Awareness application developed by FA 3.

Focus Area 2 will develop control algorithms, design the secure framework to build and deploy the virtual edge functions, and demonstrate control decisions aligned with mission objectives. Key to FA 2 research objectives in Phase 1 is understanding the effect and interaction of various controls on overall network and mission performance.

Focus Area 3 will research mission-driven networking techniques, develop a user interface, build the Blue Force Situational Awareness application, integrate with network discovery data produced by FA 1, and demonstrate the MVP in a lab environment.

Multiple performer teams are anticipated to be selected in Phase 1 to pursue research and development in all three focus areas, producing software suitable for review and end-to-end experimentation. Each performer will demonstrate interim progress of their MINC solution via experimentation. Phase 1 will culminate in a Government-assessed Test and Evaluation (T&E) event and laboratory demonstration in a partner testbed with real and emulated radio hardware and networks. Proposers should refer to the Classified Addendum for more details on transition and T&E expectations including meeting or exceeding specified program metrics.

Deliverable Format Months After Contract Award

Initial SW Development Plan and Risk Assessment

Document & Slide Presentations

Due at Kickoff

Initial System MVP Architecture Design

Document 3

Initial Software Design Document Document 3 Workshops Slide Presentation 3, 9 PI Meetings Slide Presentation 6, 12 Performer Experiments Slides summarizing experiments and results 9, 12

Phase 1 MVP TRR Document & Slide Presentations

Phase 1 MVP T&E Software and User Guide (slides or document)

Phase 1 Final Report, due for performers who Phase 2 option is not exercised

Document 18

Incremental Software Builds Commented source code check-in, executables delivered

Source code due 1 week prior to performer experimentation reporting and T&E S&T PIP Document 45 days after contract award and updated appropriately as program develops Security Test Plan Document, see Appendix 8 45 days prior to

Phase 1 test, experimentation, and demonstration events

Phase 1 Products • Minimum viable product (MVP) with User Interface (UI)

Deliverable Format Months After Contract Award

• Blue Force Situational Awareness application

• Integrated SA and MVP solution

• System design document and user guide

• Interface control document (ICD)

• Performer experimentation results

• Detailed path to Mission Command and

Control (C2) application

• S&T PIP Document

Table 4. Phase 1 Deliverables

2. Phase 2 (Option 1) Integrated System

Phase 2 will further integrate the multiple capabilities from the focus areas into a single, demonstrable system. Performer(s) selected to continue will build on their Phase 1 capabilities in all three Focus Areas.

Focus Area 1 will improve network resource modeling techniques, expand interfaces to support additional features, and demonstrate integration with both the Blue Force Situational Awareness application and a mission C2 application.

Focus Area 2 will incorporate feedback signals in response to network dynamics, deploy intelligent edge functions, and demonstrate control decisions aligned with mission objectives.

Focus Area 3 will further semi-autonomous mission-driven networking approaches, expand the features of the BF SA application, build the interface to and integrate with a mission C2 application, and demonstrate an integrated system in a field exercise.

Performer(s) will continue to demonstrate progress via experimentation and the formal Phase 2 T&E.

The T&E and associated demonstration will both occur in the development environment as outlined in the classified addendum.

Deliverable Format Months After Contract Award

Final System Prototype Design and updated Phase 2 SW Design Document and Risk Assessment

Document Due at Kickoff

Workshop Slide Presentation 21 PI Meeting and Performer Experiment

Slide Presentation summarizing progress, experiments, and results

Phase 2 TRR, includes Test Plan Documents & Slide Presentations

Delivery of draft MINC Systems User Guides and Documentation

Document 27

Deliverable Format Months After Contract Award

Phase 2 Final T&E Software and User Guide (slides or document)

DevSecOps Planning, due for identified Phase 3 performers

Documents & Slide Presentation

Phase 2 Final Report, due for performers who Phase 3 option is not exercised

Document 30

Incremental Software Builds Commented source code check-in, executables delivered

Source code due 1 week prior to performer experimentation reporting and T&E S&T PIP Document, see Appendix 7 45 days after Phase 2 award and updated appropriately as program develops Security Test Plan Document, see Appendix 8 45 days prior to

Phase 2 test, experimentation, and demonstration events

Phase 2 Products • Integrated MINC solution with UI

• Mission C2 application

• Integrated Mission C2 app and MINC

• Updated design documents, user guide

• Performer Experimentation results

• Transition demo plan

• Detailed path to Transition application(s)

• S&T PIP Document

Table 5. Phase 2 Deliverables

3. Phase 3 (Option 2) Transition

Phase 3 will focus on the maturation and transition of the MINC solution. Performer(s) selected to continue will build on their work from previous phases.

Focus Area 1 efforts will include advanced network resource modeling and integration with one or more additional MINC-enabled applications.

Focus Area 2 will expand control algorithms and further incorporate feedback signals to support contested operations, continue work with virtual edge functions, and demonstrate control decisions aligned with mission applications and transition partner objectives.

Focus Area 3 will continue development of semi-autonomous mission-driven networking, expand the suite of MINC-enabled applications, and demonstrate the integrated system in a field test. DevSecOps will be conducted with partners to include T&E in a transition partner-sponsored test event.

For planning purposes, proposers should assume that the Phase 3 T&E is in CONUS, will occur over the course of two weeks with one week for setup and one week for testing, and will be conducted with joint services. Phase 3 will also include a 6-month follow-on effort (not being solicited under this BAA) that will focus on meeting the needs of the transition partner via refinement and continued testing of the MINC solution.

Deliverable Format Months After Contract Award

Final SW Development Plan and Updated Risk Assessment

Document & Slide Presentations

Due at Kickoff

Final MINC Architecture Design Document 33 DevSecOps & Delivery of Draft MINC User Guides and Documentation

Document, Slide Presentations & Systems to support experimentation

33, 42

PI Meeting and Performer Experimentation

Slide Presentation summarizing progress, experiments, and results

Phase 3 TRR, includes test plan Document & Slide Presentations

Phase 3 T&E Software and User Guide (slides or document)

Phase 3 Demonstrations and Experimentation

Software and User Guide (slides or document)

Phase 3 Final Report Document 48 Incrementally Functional Software Builds

Commented source code check-in, executables delivered

Source code due 1 week prior to performer experimentation reporting and T&E S&T PIP Document, see Appendix 7 45 days after Phase 3 award and updated appropriately as program develops Security Test Plan Document, see Appendix 8 45 days prior to

Phase 3 test, experimentation, and demonstration events

Phase 3 Products • Transition-ready MINC system with UI

• Transition application and integrated MINC system to support field demo

• Software development kit (SDK) and application programming interface (API)

• Updated design documents, user guide

• Performer Experimentation results

• S&T PIP Document

Table 6. Phase 3 Deliverables

G. Intellectual Property

The program will emphasize creating and leveraging open source technology and architecture.

Intellectual property rights asserted by proposers are strongly encouraged to be aligned with open source models. Additionally, if performers identify existing technologies with Government Purpose rights that would be integral to their MINC solution, they should identify them and request it as GFI/GFE within their proposal. The Government will make every effort to provide those technologies that are deemed necessary to support the MINC program.

A key goal of the program is to establish an open, standards-based, multi-source, plug-and-play architecture that allows for interoperability and integration.