RFI-AFRL-RQKP-2025-0001.pdf

RFI-AFRL-RQKP-2025-0001

Hybrid AI and Autonomy Research & Development Considered Operationally Relevant and Explainable (HAARDCORE) Sources Sought Synopsis/Request for Information (RFI)

1. Overview

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is issuing a Sources Sought Synopsis (SSS)/Request for Information (RFI) to identify potential sources to serve as prime contractor to provide technical expertise in the development and advancement of tactical flight autonomy and artificially intelligent agent frameworks for mission management in support of USAF autonomous aircraft system objectives.

DISCLAIMER:

This Sources Sought Synopsis (SSS)/Request for Information (RFI) is issued for informational purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation or commit the government to award a contract now or in the future. Submitting information for this RFI is voluntary, and participants will not be compensated. Your response to this RFI will be treated as information only. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses to this announcement or the Government’s use of such information. This request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter into negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by the AF in developing its acquisition strategy, statement of work/statement of objectives, and performance specifications.

Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained within their response as instructed later in this posting.

All information received in response to this RFI that is marked PROPRIETARY will be handled accordingly. The Government shall not be liable or suffer any consequential damage for any proprietary information not identified. Proprietary information or trade secrets should be clearly identified. Data submitted in response to this RFI will be widely distributed and discussed within the government. It is the responsibility of respondents to clearly mark submitted information with appropriate restrictive markings. The Government will not use any proprietary information submitted to establish the capability, requirements, approach, or solution so as to not inadvertently restrict competition. In order to complete its review, AFRL must be able to share the information within the Government. Therefore, any responses marked in a manner that will not permit such internal Government review will be returned/deleted without being assessed/considered. All members of the government team will protect proprietary information as required. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S.

Government to form a binding contract or agreement. The Air Force will not be obligated to pursue any particular acquisition alternative as a result of the RFI. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Not responding to the RFI does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if one is issued.

2. Background Information

The artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy efforts in AFRL address a multitude of challenges aimed at enhancing mission operations. These challenges range from advancing low-level flight control for executing tighter and riskier flight maneuvers than those achievable by human pilots, to orchestrating autonomous team coordination and onboard battle management. Furthermore, there's a critical need for explainable and transparent autonomous decision-making by uncrewed agents. Additionally, less overt challenges, such as ensuring that autonomous systems comprehend and adhere to the operational intricacies delineated by the Mission Commander and the rules of engagement (ROE). As the USAF turns its attention to peer and near-peer adversaries, it is increasingly important to leverage autonomous platforms. Modular autonomy software development will enable platforms in crewed-uncrewed and uncrewed-uncrewed teaming warfare to extend and multiply the warfighters’ reach into contested environments. The required services include platform and payload integration, product ingestion, dynamic planning course-of-action (COA) selection, teaming, route planning, commander’s intent ingestion, flight maneuvers, force mosaic composition, and coordinated behaviors.

3. General Requirements

AFRL is seeking information from industry to help identify potential sources to conduct technical work for artificially intelligent mission management and flight autonomy. No cost or pricing information should be provided. Interested parties who desire to participate in this SSS/RFI are encouraged to submit responses that clearly demonstrate an ability to meet the stated requirements listed below.

Interested vendors shall be able to:

1. Work on base at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, in government facilities (multiple times per week) to collaborate with other R&D teams

2. Obtain and maintain SECRET clearance for personnel (US citizenship required) and be willing to work for significant periods of time in classified environments.

3. Provide required knowledge and experience at contract award to execute ongoing R&D projects without introducing program delays

Interested vendors shall have extensive knowledge of, expertise in, and experience working with all the following specific software suites, frameworks, development tools, and technical areas:

1. USAF Autonomy Core System (ACS) and Yet another Autonomy Kit (YAK) software

2. Mission Management Autonomy

a. AI knowledge representation and reasoning

b. Neuro-symbolic and explainable AI

c. Cognitive-inspired neural networks

d. Symbolic-AI approaches such as stochastic search, automated reasoning, and expert systems

e. Logic-based and declarative programming

f. Combinatorial optimization

g. Multi-criteria decision-making

h. Computational game theory

i. Decision agent frameworks

j. Natural Language Processing (NLP) and knowledge extraction

k. Web-based Generic Modeling Environment (WebGME)

l. Z3, Clingo, MiniZinc, Google OR-Tools

3. USAF Open Mission Systems (OMS) architecture specification

4. USAF Advanced Framework for Simulation Integration and Modeling (AFSIM) software

5. USAF air vehicle mission concepts of operations (CONOPS)

6. Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) tools (e.g., Capella, Cameo)

7. DevOps Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipeline implementation, automation, management and maintenance

4. Submission of Documentation

Responders shall provide one (1) electronic copy (in Microsoft Word or PDF) of their response via email. All email correspondence shall contain a subject line that reads “SOURCES SOUGHT: Hybrid AI and Autonomy Research & Development Considered Operationally Relevant and Explainable (HAARDCORE).” If this subject line is not included, the e-mail may not get through e-mail filters at Wright-Patterson AFB. Filters are designed to delete emails without a subject or with a suspicious subject or attachment. Attachments with files ending in .zip or .exe are not allowable and will be deleted. Ensure only PDF or Word documents are attached to your email. All other attachments may be deleted. DO NOT send any hard copies, CDs, DVDs, or USBs. Submission of marketing information, existing commercial document, and product literature is not an acceptable response. Response submissions shall be sent to Thomas Estrada, thomas.estrada.4@us.af.mil, and Megan Rosenbeck, megan.rosenbeck@us.af.mil.

5. Request for Clarification A responder may request clarification via email to Thomas Estrada, thomas.estrada.4@us.af.mil, and Megan Rosenbeck, megan.rosenbeck@us.af.mil per instructions in previous paragraph.

6. Timeline

The following is a notional timeline for the RFI. Please note that this schedule is to be used for planning purposes only and is subject to change:

o Oct 8th, 2024: RFI Published o Oct 23th, 2024: RFI Response Due

RESPONSES ARE DUE NO LATER THAN 3:00 P.M. (EST) ON OCT 23, 2024.

7. Submission Checklist o No more than 6 pages including cover page o Cover Page (1 page) should include:

RFI number and name mailto:megan.rosenbeck@us.af.mil mailto:megan.rosenbeck@us.af.mil

Address, Company / Institution Name Technical point of contact with name, title, email address, and phone number Date CAGE Code Web Page URL Size of Business pursuant to NAICS Code 541715 Based on above NAICS Code state whether your company is:

• Small Business (Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third Party Certified

• Women-Owned Small Business (Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third Party

Certified Economically Disadvantaged Women Owned Small Business (Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third Party Certified

• HUBZone Certified (Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third Party Certified

• Veteran Owned Small Business (Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third Party

Certified

• Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third Party Certified

• 8(a) Certified (Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third Party Certified SBA

Certification Date: SBA Graduation Date:

The NAICS code for this requirement, if applicable to the company’s capabilities, should be included in the company’s NAICS code listing in SAM.

State whether the company is domestically or foreign owned (if foreign, please indicate the country of ownership).

o 8 ½” x 11” paper o Double Spaced o One-inch margins o Times New Roman 12-point font or larger o Unclassified o No marketing information, commercial documentation, or product literature o Microsoft Word or PDF only o Submitted via email with a subject line that reads “SOURCES SOUGHT: Hybrid AI and

Autonomy Research & Development Considered Operationally Relevant and Explainable

(HAARDCORE).”

o Due date is 3:00 pm on Oct 23, 2024