Synopsis - ARA_FA8750-24-S-7001_A-COP_20231229.docx

NAICS CODE: 541715

FEDERAL AGENCY NAME: Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL - Rome Research Site, AFRL/Information Directorate, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY, 13441-4514

ARA ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Initial announcement

ADVANCED RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT (ARA) TITLE: Advanced Cyber Operations Prototypes (A-COP)

ARA NUMBER: FA8750-24-S-7001

PART I – OVERVIEW INFORMATION

This announcement is for an Open, 2 Step ARA which is open and effective until 6:00PM EST on 30 DEC 2028. Only white papers will be accepted as initial submissions; formal proposals will be accepted by invitation only. While white papers will be considered if received prior to 6:00pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 30 DEC 2028, the following submission dates are suggested to best align with projected funding:

FY24 by 12 Jan 2024 FY25 by 1 Oct 2024 FY26 by 1 Oct 2025 FY27 by 1 Oct 2026 FY28 by 1 Oct 2027

Offerors should monitor the Contract Opportunities on the SAM website at https://SAM.gov in the event this announcement is amended.

CONCISE SUMMARY OF TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENT: Seeking to develop cyber operations prototypes for transition into operational DoD platforms to facilitate superiority in the Cyber Domain.

ARA ESTIMATED FUNDING: Total funding for this ARA is approximately $499.9M. Individual awards will not normally exceed 60 months with dollar amounts normally ranging from $10M to $50M. There is also the potential to make awards up to $99.98M.

ANTICIPATED INDIVIDUAL AWARDS: Multiple Awards are anticipated. However, the Air Force reserves the right to award zero, one, or more Other Transactions, for all, some, or none of the solicited effort based on the offeror’s ability to perform desired work and funding fluctuations. There is no limit on the number of OTs that may be awarded to an individual offeror.

TYPE OF INSTRUMENTS THAT MAY BE AWARDED: FAR based procurement contracts or other transactions (OT) under 10 USC 4021, and 10 USC 4022 (previously 10 USC 4002, 2371, 10 USC 4003, 2371b)

In the event that an Other Transaction for Prototype agreement is awarded as a result of this competitive ARA, and the prototype project is successfully completed, there is the potential for a prototype project to transition to award of a follow-on production contract or transaction. The Other Transaction for Prototype agreement itself will also contain a similar notice of a potential follow-on production contract or agreement.

AGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION: All white paper submissions and any questions of a technical nature shall be directed to the cognizant Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) as specified below (unless otherwise specified in the technical area):

ARA PROGRAM MANAGER:

Thomas Parisi

AFRL/RIGA

525 Brooks Rd Rome, NY 13441-4505 Telephone: (315)330-4505 Email: afrl.riga.firestarter@us.af.mil

Questions of a contractual/business nature shall be directed to the cognizant contracting officer, as specified below (email requests are preferred):

Amber Buckley Telephone (315) 330-3605 Email: Amber.Buckley@us.af.mil

Emails must reference the solicitation ARA number and title of the acquisition.

Pre-Proposal Communication between Prospective Offerors and Government Representatives: Dialogue between prospective offerors and Government representatives is encouraged. Technical and contracting questions can be resolved in writing or through open discussions. Discussions with any of the points of contact shall not constitute a commitment by the Government to subsequently fund or award any proposed effort. Only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government.

Offerors are cautioned that evaluation ratings may be lowered and/or proposal rejected if proposal preparation (Proposal format, content, etc.) and/or submittal instructions are not followed.

PART II – FULL TEXT ANNOUNCEMENT

ADVANCED RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT (ARA) TITLE: Advanced Cyber Operations Prototypes (A-COP)

ARA NUMBER: FA8750-24-S-7001

I. TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS:

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL’s) strategic vision for cyber superiority is to ensure the success of cyberspace-dependent missions in air, space, and cyberspace. The purpose of this Advanced Research Announcement (ARA) is to research, design, develop, implement, and refine the next-generation cyber platform and framework prototypes that also can be integrated and transitioned to existing platforms and frameworks where cyber capabilities can be hosted and executed to expand and enhance full spectrum cyber operations, cyber assurance and resiliency capabilities within the appropriate Department of Defense (DoD) Cyber Weapon Systems as well as US Government (USG), Intelligent Community (IC) and coalition cyber platforms so that they can enhance their cyber warfighting mission systems.

Providing mission assurance in an Air Force context means supporting the notions of Global Vigilance, Global Reach, and Global Power across the five enduring AF core missions: air and space superiority; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; rapid global mobility; global strike; and command and control.

Providing mission assurance in a Space Force context means supporting the responsibilities of Preserving Freedom of Action in a space domain, Enable Joint Lethality and Effectiveness, and Provide Independent Options across the Space Force’s five core competencies: space security; combat power projection; space mobility and logistics; information mobility and logistics; information mobility; and space domain awareness.

The scope and direction of this ARA are derived from these as follows:

Assured and Trusted Cyber Infrastructure

An assured and trusted cyber infrastructure begins with proven-correct designs that are technologically immune to threats and have an autonomous ability to modify the cyber domain to avoid unforeseen attacks and emerging threats. With this kind of infrastructure as the foundation, additional warfighting capabilities can be instantiated. For example, the infrastructure’s intrinsic ability to avoid and be resilient to attacks can be supplemented with tried-and-true warfighting tactics such as deception, maneuver, and even deterrence.

Continually Access and Exercise Command and Control

Global Reach and Provide Independent Options implies the ability to continually access and exercise command and control over warfighting forces. In the cyber domain, this applies to cyber assets supporting ongoing, as well as transient, on-demand missions deployed globally. As deployed and in-garrison cyber assets are exposed to threats, there should be contingency capabilities in the event that the infrastructure described earlier meets a threat with the potential to degrade dependent missions. These contingencies require the ability for critical slices of the infrastructure, i.e., those mapped as supporting mission essential functions (MEFs), to possess an inherent resiliency allowing them to survive the attack by re-provisioning resources to maintain the viability of designated MEFs.

When attacks degrade or destroy resources required for MEFs, the infrastructure shall have the ability to automatically maintain mission continuity by restoring, repairing, or re-provisioning critical resources.

Continuous Situational Awareness

Global Vigilance and Preserving Freedom of Action in the space domain requires continuous situational awareness and understanding across the warfighting domains. However, maintaining this awareness, which is equivalent to a pilot’s need to keep their understanding of the situation “ahead of the plane,” is impossible in an environment based on anything other than an assured and trusted infrastructure. In such an environment, most threats and attacks are avoided because of the very nature and construction of the infrastructure, not because of human operators or reactive tactics. Thus, a trusted infrastructure that is secure against attacks as well as resilient (i.e., able to recover from adverse events) is a prerequisite for the more complex, higher-level operations that achieve Global Vigilance.

Deliver Effects-Based Defenses

Global Power and Enable Joint Lethality and Effectiveness is the ability to deliver precision effects any time, any place. In the context of cyber defense, this means using the assured and trusted infrastructure to automatically compute, provision, and deliver effects-based defenses designed to preserve missions, elicit specific desired adversary action, or provide defensive counter-cyber actions.

Situational Understanding

In addition to a secure, resilient, and trusted foundation with an ability to autonomously stay ahead of the threat, the need for situational understanding, and in turn Global Vigilance, demands a complete understanding of how missions depend on the cyber infrastructure. Since mission execution is dynamic in both time and space, the ability to establish and maintain a dependency map of mission functions and threads to infrastructure must also be dynamic and resolve to continually maintain the validity of the dependency analysis.

Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Electronics Warfare (EW) and Cyber Operations technologies.

Prototype integration areas of interest include methods of improving coordination and advancing the capability to conduct cyberspace operations in a multitude of environments. Approaches should take into consideration operational and contingency planning, as well as technology and approaches to better equip the warfighter. Concepts at the intersection of the areas of Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Electronics Warfare (EW) and Cyber Operations technologies are sought in this Advanced Research Announcement (ARA).

Integration efforts under this program are expected to result in experimental capabilities, concepts, theory, and applications addressing cyber operations problems to support the future needs of units including 16th Air Force and other government agencies. Offerors are asked to describe the pre-conditions and assumptions that are necessary for the proposed techniques to work effectively.

Areas of Interest

Technologies of interest to the strategic vision of this ARA include, but are not limited to: cloud architectures, code analysis and evaluation, cyber modeling & simulation, decision support for cyber missions, design frameworks, evaluation & measurement techniques, formal methods, mobile and embedded device security, methods/means for non-traditional cybersecurity, methods for data security in untrusted environments, protocol development and analysis, cyber situational awareness and risk estimation, secure development tools and techniques, standards for information exchange, trusted hardware and software, virtualization, and zero trust computing.

Broad topics of interest also include, but are not limited to: cyber intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and analytical fusion, disruptive information technology, cyber mission platforms, next-gen cyber operations technology, data embedding, spectrum approaches to the coordination and execution of cyber operations and improving cyber exercise technology, communication net access, enterprise operations, cyber stealth and persistence, machine learning applied to the cyber domain, and Deceive, Deny, Disrupt, Degrade and Destroy (D5) efforts.

Platforms of interest to the Air Force include but are not limited to: Military platforms and Programs of Record (POR) with cyber components or dependence, shared/commercial and private/Government clouds, embedded devices and firmware, mobile and bring your own device (BYOD) platforms, automation systems, tactical systems, wired and wireless networks at the enterprise and tactical levels.

In addition, the transition and refinement of prototypes developed through awards under this announcement would be considered by partnerships AFRL/RI establishes with other agencies, into assured and resilient full spectrum cyber capabilities to include cyberspace infrastructure and effects to be used in pursuit of cyber engagement and freedom of operations in cyberspace. This includes defensive technologies to strengthen the security of US cyber assets and defend against adversarial cyber advancement and cyber exploitation technologies to provide the US with intelligence regarding the cyber landscape and adversary activities in the cyber domain.

IMPORTANT NOTES REGARDING:

REFERENCES TO THE FEDERAL ACQUISTION REGULATION (FAR) AND FAR SUPPLEMENTS RELATED TO OT AWARDS. The requirements of Chapter 137 of Title 10 do not apply to the awards of OTs under this ARA per the statutory authority at 10 USC 4021 (previously 10 USC 4002, 2371) , and 10 USC 4022 (previously 10 USC 4003, 2371b). Any references to the FAR or FAR Supplements are included in this ARA strictly for the sake of convenience (that is, in lieu of including the requirements in full text in this ARA), and are not to be construed to imply that the requirements of Chapter 137 of Title 10 as a whole apply to this ARA. This paragraph only applies to OT awards as a result of this ARA, not FAR based awards.

FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH. It is DoD policy that the publication of products of fundamental research will remain unrestricted to the maximum extent possible. National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 189 defines fundamental research as follows:

‘Fundamental research’ means basic and applied research in science and engineering, the results of which ordinarily are published and shared broadly within the scientific community, as distinguished from proprietary research and from industrial development, design, production, and product utilization, the results of which ordinarily are restricted for proprietary or national security reasons.

As of the date of publication of this ARA, the Government does not anticipate work proposed under this ARA to be considered fundamental research. Proposers should indicate in their proposal whether they believe the scope of the research included in their proposal is fundamental or not. While proposers should clearly explain the intended results of their research, the Government shall have sole discretion to select award instrument type and to negotiate all instrument terms and conditions with selectees. Appropriate clauses will be included in resultant awards for non-fundamental research to prescribe publication requirements and other restrictions, as appropriate.

For certain research projects, it may be possible that although the research being performed by the awardee is restricted research, a sub-awardee may be conducting fundamental research. In those cases, it is the awardee’s responsibility to explain in their proposal why its sub-awardee’s effort is fundamental research.

1. OTHER TRANSACTION FOR RESEARCH PROJECTS. Governed by 10 USC 4021 (previously 10 USC 4002, 2371). Research projects other than contracts, cooperative agreements and grants in carrying out basic, applied, and advanced research projects.

2. OTHER TRANSACTION FOR PROTOTYPE.

a. Governed by 10 USC 4022 (previously 10 USC 4003, 2371b). Under an OTP, the prototype agreement must be successfully completed. Successful completion can occur prior to the conclusion of a prototype project to allow the Government to transition any aspect of the prototype project determined to provide utility into production while other aspects of the prototype project have yet to be completed.

b. Governed by 10 USC 4023 (previously 10 USC 4004, 2373) when tied to experimental actions.* The white paper/proposal must cover the acquisition of “ordnance, signal, chemical activity, transportation, energy, medical, space-flight, telecommunications, and aeronautical supplies, including parts and accessories, and designs thereof, that the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary concerned considers necessary for experimental or test purposes in the development of the best supplies that are needed for the national defense.”

*10 USC 4023 also allows for FAR based contracts and OTs for research.

CLOUD COMPUTING. In accordance with DFARS Clause 252.239-7010, if the development proposed requires storage of Government, or Government-related data on the cloud, offerors need to ensure that the cloud service provider proposed has been granted Provisional Authorization by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) at the level appropriate to the requirement.

II. AWARD INFORMATION:

1. FUNDING: Total funding for this ARA is approximately $499.9M. The anticipated funding to be obligated under this ARA is broken out by fiscal year as follows:

FY24 - $99.98M

FY25 - $99.98M

FY26 - $99.98M

FY27 - $99.98M

FY28 - $99.98M

a. Individual awards will not normally exceed 60 months with dollar amounts normally ranging from $10M to $50M. Awards under this solicitation will not exceed $99.98M.

b. The Government reserves the right to select all, part, or none of the proposals received, subject to the availability of funds. All potential Offerors should be aware that due to unanticipated budget fluctuations, funding in any or all areas may change with little or no notice.

2. FORM. Awards of efforts as a result of this announcement will be in the form of contracts or other transactions depending upon the nature of the work proposed.

3. ARA TYPE: This is a two-step open advanced research announcement. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation.

STEP ONE – The Government is only soliciting white papers at this time. DO NOT SUBMIT A FORMAL PROPOSAL. Those white papers found to be consistent with the intent of this ARA may be invited to submit a technical and cost proposal. See Section VI of this announcement for further details regarding the proposal.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION:

1. ELIGIBILITY: All qualified offerors who meet the requirements of this ARA may apply.

2. FOREIGN PARTICIPATION/ACCESS:

a. This ARA is closed to foreign participation. This includes both foreign ownership and foreign nationals as employees or subcontractors.

b. Exceptions.

1. Fundamental Research. If the work to be performed is unclassified, fundamental research, this must be clearly identified in the white paper and/or proposal. See Part II, Section I for more details regarding Fundamental Research. Offerors should still identify any performance by foreign nationals at any level (prime contractor or subcontractor) in their proposals. Please specify the nationals’ country of origin, the type of visa or work permit under which they are performing and an explanation of their anticipated level of involvement. You may be asked to provide additional information during negotiations in order to verify the foreign citizen’s eligibility to participate on other transactions issued as a result of this announcement

2. Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence (FOCI) companies who have mitigation plans/paperwork in place. Proof of approved mitigation documentation must be provided to the contracting office focal point, Amber Buckley, Contracting Officer, telephone (315) 330-3605, or e-mail Amber.Buckley@us.af.mil prior to submitting a white paper and/or a proposal. For information on FOCI mitigation, contact the contact the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). Additional details can be found at: https://www.dcsa.mil/Industrial-Security/Entity-Vetting-Facility-Clearances-FOCI/Foreign-Ownership-Control-or-Influence/

3. Foreign Nationals as Employees or Subcontractors. Applicable to any effort not considered Fundamental Research. Offerors are responsible for ensuring that all employees and/or subcontractors who will work on a resulting contract are eligible to do so. Any employee who is not a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident will be restricted from working on any resultant contract unless prior approval of the Department of State or the Department of Commerce is obtained via a technical assistance agreement or an export license. Violations of these regulations can result in criminal or civil penalties.

c. Information Regarding Non-US Citizens Assigned to this Project

1. Contractor employees requiring access to USAF bases, AFRL facilities, and/or access to U.S. Government Information Technology (IT) networks in connection with the work on contracts, other transactions awarded under this ARA must be U.S. citizens. For the purpose of base and network access, possession of a permanent resident card ("Green Card") does not equate to U.S. citizenship. This requirement does not apply to foreign nationals approved by the U.S. Department of Defense or U.S. State Department under international personnel exchange agreements with foreign governments. It also does not apply to dual citizens who possess US citizenship, to include Naturalized citizens. Any waivers to this requirement must be granted in writing by the Contracting Officer prior to providing access. Specific format for waiver request will be provided upon request to the Contracting Officer. The above requirements are in addition to any other contract requirements related to obtaining a Common Access Card (CAC).

2. For the purposes of Paragraph 1, it an IT network/system does not require AFRL to endorse a contractor's application to said network/system in order to gain access, the organization operating the IT network/system is responsible for controlling access to its system. If an IT network/system requires a U.S. Government sponsor to endorse the application in order for access to the IT network/system, AFRL will only endorse the following types of applications, consistent with the requirements above:

a) Contractor employees who are U.S. citizens performing work under contracts, other transactions awarded under this ARA.

b) Contractor employees who are non-U.S. citizens and who have been granted a waiver.

Any additional access restrictions established by the IT network/system owner apply.

3. FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTERS AND GOVERNMENT ENTITIES: Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and Government entities (e.g., Government/National laboratories, military educational institutions, etc.) are subject to applicable direct competition limitations and cannot propose to this ARA in any capacity unless they meet the following conditions:

1. FFRDCs: FFRDCs must clearly demonstrate that the proposed work is not otherwise available from the private sector; and FFRDCs must provide a letter on official letterhead from their sponsoring organization citing the specific authority establishing their eligibility to propose to Government solicitations and compete with industry, and their compliance with the associated FFRDC sponsor agreement’s terms and conditions. This information is required for FFRDCs proposing to be prime contractors or sub-awardees.

1. Government Entities: Government entities must clearly demonstrate that the work is not otherwise available from the private sector and provide written documentation citing the specific statutory authority and contractual authority, if relevant, establishing their ability to propose to Government solicitations. While 10 U.S.C.§ 2539b may be the appropriate statutory starting point for some entities, specific supporting regulatory guidance, together with evidence of agency approval, will still be required to fully establish eligibility.

FFRDC and Government entity eligibility will be determined on a case-by-case basis; however, the burden to prove eligibility for all team members rests solely with the proposer.

Government agencies interested in performing work related to this announcement should contact the Technical Point of Contact (TPOC). If resulting discussions reveal a mutual interest, cooperation may be pursued via other vehicles.

4. ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: In accordance with FAR 9.5, offerors are required to identify and disclose all facts relevant to potential OCIs involving the offerors organization and any proposed team member (sub-awardee, consultant). Under this Section, the offeror is responsible for providing this disclosure with each proposal submitted to the solicitation. The disclosure must include the offerors, and as applicable, proposed team member’s OCI mitigation plan. The OCI mitigation plan must include a description of the actions the offeror has taken, or intends to take, to prevent the existence of conflicting roles that might bias the offerors judgment and to prevent the offeror from having unfair competitive advantage. The OCI mitigation plan will specifically discuss the disclosed OCI in the context of each of the OCI limitations outlined in FAR 9.505-1 through FAR 9.505-4.

a. Agency Supplemental OCI Policy: In addition, AFRL has a supplemental OCI policy that prohibits contractors/performers from concurrently providing Scientific Engineering Technical Assistance (SETA), Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) or similar support services and being a technical performer. Therefore, as part of the FAR 9.5 disclosure requirement above, an offeror must affirm whether the offeror or any proposed team member (sub-awardee, consultant) is providing SETA, A&AS, or similar support to any AFRL office(s) under: (a) a current award or subaward; or (b) a past award or subaward that ended within one calendar year prior to the proposal’s submission date. If SETA, A&AS, or similar support is being or was provided to any AFRL office(s), the proposal must include:

. The name of the AFRL office receiving the support;

. The prime contract number;

. Identification of proposed team member (sub-awardee, consultant) providing the support; and . An OCI mitigation plan in accordance with FAR 9.5.

b. Government Procedures: In accordance with FAR 9.503, 9.504 and 9.506, the Government will evaluate OCI mitigation plans to avoid, neutralize or mitigate potential OCI issues before award and to determine whether it is in the Government’s interest to grant a waiver. The Government will only evaluate OCI mitigation plans for proposals that are determined selectable under the solicitation evaluation criteria and funding availability. The Government may require proposers to provide additional information to assist the Government in evaluating the offerors OCI mitigation plan. If the Government determines that an offeror failed to fully disclose an OCI; or failed to provide the affirmation of AFRL support as described above; or failed to reasonably provide additional information requested by the Government to assist in evaluating the proposer’s OCI mitigation plan, the Government may reject the proposal and withdraw it from consideration for award.

5. S&T PROTECTION. In accordance with AFRLI 61-113, S&T Protection, Contractors/Recipients are required to submit with their proposal a Standard Form 424, "Research and Related and Senior and Key Person Profile (Expanded), as well as a Security Program Questionnaire, which are included in the RI-Specific Proposal Preparation Instructions and can be accessed at:

https://sam.gov/opp/e628c811fafe041accdddf55fb8539bf/view?keywords=AFRL-BAA-GUIDE&sort=-relevance&index=&is_active=true&page=1. Always reference the newest versions of these documents. Complete and submit the required forms with your proposal to the technical point of contact (TPOC) listed in Section VII-Agency Contacts AND AFRL.RIOF@us.af.mil.

Contractors will be required to provide documentation of their Security Program Plan for initial Institution S&T Protection Program Review. The purpose of requesting the plan is to evaluate the offeror’s capacity for protecting the Government’s S&T and failure to demonstrate a plan adequate to meet the needs of the requirement may be grounds for considering the proposal unawardable. In the event a security risk is identified and the Government has determined the security risk exceeds the acceptable threshold, the Contractor/Recipient will be notified and informed of the termination/decline of award. The Government will be only required to provide a general statement of the reasoning due to Government OPSEC measures.

After award, the Contractor/Recipient will be required to re-submit the Standard Form 424 as an annual requirement to the points of contact listed above.

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION:

All responses to this announcement must be addressed to the Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) listed in SECTION VII. DO NOT send white papers to the Contracting Officer.

All responsible sources may submit a bid, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency.

1. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES:

It is recommended that white papers be received by 6:00PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on the following dates to maximize the possibility of award:

FY24 by 12 Jan 2024 FY25 by 1 Oct 2024 FY26 by 1 Oct 2025 FY27 by 1 Oct 2026 FY28 by 1 Oct 2027

White papers will be accepted until 6:00PM EST on 30 DEC 2028, but it is less likely that funding will be available in each respective fiscal year after the dates cited. This ARA will close on 30 DEC 2028 at 6:00PM EST.

All offerors submitting white papers will receive notification of their evaluation results within 45 days of submission. Offerors should email the TPOC, and the Contracting Officer listed in Section VII, for status of their white paper(s) after 45 days, if no such correspondence has been received.

2. CONTENT AND FORMAT: Offerors are required to submit a 4-to-5-page white paper summarizing their proposed approach/solution. Any pages in excess of 5 will be removed and not considered in the white paper evaluation. The purpose of the white paper is to preclude unwarranted effort on the part of an offeror whose proposed work is not of interest to the Government.

The white paper will be formatted as follows:

a. Section A: Title, Period of Performance, Estimated Cost, Name/Address of Company, Technical and Contracting Points of Contact (phone and email) (this section is NOT included in the page count)

i. if proposing an OT, one of the following must be met (COTR will specify in the RFP if an OT is anticipated):

· At least one Nontraditional Defense Contractor is a significant participant in the prototype project: or

· ALL significant participants in the transaction other than the Federal Government are Small Businesses or Nontraditional Defense Contractors; or

· A Cost Share of at least 1/3 of the Total Cost of the prototype project is to be paid out of funds provided by parties to the transaction other than the Federal Government.

ii. If the offeror does not meet the definition of a nontraditional defense contractor, nonprofit research institution or small business, they must state if they plan to subcontract with entities who meet these definitions (see Section IV.4.h).

iii. this section is NOT included in the page count.

b. Section B: Task Objective; and

c. Section C: Technical Summary and Proposed Deliverables.

All white papers shall be double spaced with a font no smaller than 12-point. Please note that less than 12-point font is acceptable for graphics and illustrations (as in labels and short descriptions) as long as it is readable when printed out on standard 8x11 paper. In addition, respondents are requested to provide their Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code, their unique entity identifier and electronic funds transfer (EFT) indicator (if applicable), an e-mail address and reference ARA FA8750-24-S-7001 with their submission.

Multiple white papers within the purview of this announcement may be submitted by each offeror. If the offeror wishes to restrict its white papers, they must be marked with the restrictive language stated in FAR 15.609(a) and (b).

3. HANDLING AND MAILING INSTRUCTIONS:

a. CLASSIFICATION GUIDANCE. All Proposers should review the NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL SECURITY PROGRAM OPERATING MANUAL (NISPOM), 32 CFR Part 117, as it provides baseline standards for the protection of classified information and prescribes the requirements concerning Contractor Developed Information under paragraph §117.13. Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) Site for the NISPOM is: http://www.dcsa.mil/.

In the event of a possible or actual compromise of classified information in the submission of your white paper or proposal, immediately but no later than 24 hours, bring this to the attention of your cognizant security authority and AFRL Rome Research Site Information Protection Office (IPO):

Information Protection Office (contact only if a security compromise has occurred)

b. CLASSIFIED SUBMISSIONS. AFRL/RIGA will accept classified responses to this ARA when the classification is mandated by classification guidance provided by an Original Classification Authority of the U.S. Government, or when the offeror believes the work, if successful, would merit classification.

Offerors that intend to include classified information or data in their white paper submission or who are unsure about the appropriate classification of their white papers should contact the technical point of contact listed in Section VII for guidance and direction in advance of preparation.

c. MAILING INSTRUCTIONS.

Email Unclassified electronic submission to the TPOC identified in Section VII. Encrypt or password-protect all proprietary information prior to sending. Offerors are responsible to confirm receipt with the TPOC. AFRL is not responsible for undelivered documents. If electronic submission is used, only one copy of the documentation is required.

Questions can be directed to the TPOC listed in Section VII.

4. OTHER SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS/CONSIDERATIONS:

a. COST SHARING OR MATCHING RELATED TO FAR BASED AWARDS. Cost sharing is not a requirement. Cost sharing may be proposed and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Cost share will not be a factor in selection for award. For OT awards, see Section IV.4.h.3.

b. SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (SAM). Offerors must be registered in the SAM database to receive a contract award and remain registered during performance and through final payment of any contract or agreement. Processing time for registration in SAM, which normally takes forty-eight hours, should be taken into consideration when registering. Offerors who are not already registered should consider applying for registration before submitting a proposal. The provision at FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (Oct 2018) applies.

c. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION AND FIRST-TIER SUBCONTRACT/ SUBRECIPIENT AWARDS: Any contract award resulting from this announcement may contain the clause at FAR 52.204-10 - Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards (Jun 2020).

d. ALLOWABLE CHARGES: The cost of preparing white papers/proposals in response to this announcement is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or any other contract but may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost specified in FAR 31.205-18.

e. GOVERNMENT APPROVED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM: An offeror must have a government approved accounting system prior to award of a cost-reimbursement contract per limitations set forth in FAR 16.301-3(a) to ensure the system is adequate for determining costs applicable to the contract. The acceptability of an accounting system is determined based upon an audit performed by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). IMPORTANT: If you do not have a DCAA approved accounting system access the following link for instructions: https://sam.gov/opp/e628c811fafe041accdddf55fb8539bf/view?keywords=AFRL-BAA-Guide&sort=-relevance&index=&is_active=true&page=1

f. HUMAN USE: All research involving human subjects, to include the use of human biological specimens and human data, selected for funding must comply with Federal regulations for human subject protection. Further, research involving human subjects that is conducted or supported by the DoD must comply with 32 CFR 219, “Protection of Human Subjects” found at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_07/32cfr219_07.html, and DoD Instruction 3216.02, “Protection of Human Subjects and Adherence to Ethical Standards in DoD-Supported Research” found at: http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/321602p.pdf.

1. Institutions awarded funding for research involving human subjects must provide documentation of a current Assurance of Compliance with Federal regulations for human subject protection, for example a Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Human Research Protection Federal Wide Assurance found at: http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp.

2. All institutions engaged in human subject research, to include subcontractors, must have a valid assurance. In addition, personnel involved in human subject research must document the completion of appropriate training for the protection of human subjects.

3. For all research that will involve human subjects in the first year or phase of the project, the institution must submit evidence of a plan for review by an institutional review board (IRB) as part of the proposal. The IRB conducting the review must be the IRB identified on the institution’s Assurance of Compliance. The protocol, separate from the proposal, must include a detailed description of the research plan, study population, risks and benefits of study participation, recruitment and consent process, data collection, and data analysis. The designated IRB should be consulted for guidance on writing the protocol. The informed consent document must comply with 32 CFR 219.116. A valid Assurance of Compliance and evidence of appropriate training by all investigators should accompany the protocol for review by the IRB.

4. In addition to a local IRB approval, an AFRL-level human subject regulatory review and approval is required for all research conducted or supported by the DoD. The Air Force office responsible for managing the award can provide guidance and information about the AFRL-level review process. Confirmation of a current Assurance of Compliance and appropriate human subjects’ protection training is required before AFRL-level approval can be issued.

5. The time required to complete the IRB review/approval process will vary depending on the complexity of the research and/or the level of risk to study participants; ample time should be allotted to complete the approval process. The IRB approval process can last between 1 to 3 months, followed by a DoD review that could last 3 to 6 months. No funding may be used toward human subject research until all approvals are granted.

g. SUPPLIER PERFORMANCE RISK SYSTEM (SPRS). Offerors should have a BASIC NIST SP 800 171 DoD Assessment in the SPRS (https://www.sprs.csd.disa.mil/). Basic assessment is to be conducted by the offeror.

h. The following applies to Other Transactions:

1. NON-TRADITIONAL DEFENSE CONTRACTOR: An entity that is not currently performing and has not performed, for at least the one-year period preceding the solicitation of sources by DoD for the procurement or transaction, any contract or subcontract for the DoD that is subject to full coverage under the cost accounting standards prescribed pursuant to section 1502 of title 41 and the regulations implementing such section (see 10 U.S.C. 3014).

The Government is seeking non-traditional defense contractors or nonprofit research institutions to serve as Primes under this ARA.

2. SIGNFICANT EXTENT: Any offeror interested in submitting a response to the ARA, who does not meet the definition of a non-traditional defense contractor above, must have a subcontractor who meets the definition participate to a significant extent.

Significant participation is defined as supplying a new key technology or product, accomplishing a significant amount of the effort, causing a material reduction in the cost or schedule, and/or causing an increase in the performance, as determined by the Agreements Officer.

3. COST SHARING OR MATCHING: If there is no non-traditional defense contractor nor nonprofit research institution participating to a significant extent, then at least one-third of the total cost of the prototype project must be paid out of funds provided by non-Federal parties to the transaction.

4. PROTOTYPE PROJECT: All prototype OTs shall contain a provision that sets forth the conditions under which that prototype agreement must be successfully completed.

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION:

1. CRITERIA: The following criteria, which are descending order of importance and will be used to determine whether white papers and proposals submitted are consistent with the intent of this ARA and of interest to the Government:

a. Overall Scientific and/or Technical Merit including technical feasibility, degree of innovation, and understanding of the technical and operational approach for employment of the technology.

b. The effort’s potential contribution and relevance to the Department of the Air Force objectives.

No further evaluation criteria will be used to select white papers for proposal invitation. Proposals will be evaluated IAW this evaluation criteria only and categorized/selected for award as detailed in Section V.2.b.2. White papers and proposals submitted will be evaluated as they are received.

2. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS:

1. Only Government employees on the ARA team will evaluate the white papers/proposals for selection. The Air Force Research Laboratory's Information Directorate has contracted for various business and staff support services, some of which require contractors to obtain administrative access to proprietary information submitted by other contractors. Administrative access is defined as "handling or having physical control over information for the sole purpose of accomplishing the administrative functions specified in the administrative support contract, which do not require the review, reading, and comprehension of the content of the information on the part of non-technical professionals assigned to accomplish the specified administrative tasks." These contractors have signed general non-disclosure agreements and organizational conflict of interest statements. The required administrative access will be granted to non-technical professionals. Examples of the administrative tasks performed include; a. Assembling and organizing information for R&D case files; b. Accessing library files for use by government personnel; and c. Handling and administration of proposals, contracts, contract funding and queries. Any objection to administrative access must be in writing to the Contracting Officer and shall include a detailed statement of the basis for the objection.

1. WHITE PAPER/PROPOSAL REVIEW PROCESS:

1. FIRST STEP – White Paper Reviews: The Government will review White Papers to identify those with the greatest potential to meet the Air Force’s needs based on the criteria above. If funding is available for an identified white paper, AFRL/RI will request a formal technical and cost proposal from the Offeror. For white papers not of interest to the Government, or for which funding is not available, those Offerors will receive letters from the Government indicating the basis for non-selection.

1. SECOND STEP – Proposal Review and Selection Process

a) Categories: Based on the evaluation, proposals will be categorized as Selectable or Not Selectable (see definitions below). The selection of one or more offerors for award will be based on the evaluation, as well as importance to agency programs and funding availability.

1. Selectable: Proposals are recommended for acceptance, if sufficient funding* is available.

2. Not Selectable: Even if sufficient funding existed, the proposal should not be funded.

* Selectable proposals will be designated as funded or unfunded. Letters will be sent to the unfunded offerors. These proposals may be funded at a later date without reevaluation, if funding becomes available.

b) The Government reserves the right to award some, all, or none of the proposals. When the Government elects to award only a part of a proposal, the selected part may be categorized as Selectable, though the proposal as a whole may not merit such a categorization.

c) In parallel with the technical evaluation, the Government will review the SF424 and Security Program Questionnaire submitted by the Contractor in order to satisfy the S&T Protection requirements IAW AFRLI 61-113. In the event a security risk is identified and the Government has determined the security risk exceeds the acceptable threshold, the Offeror will be notified and informed of the declination of award.

d) Proposal Risk Assessment: Proposals’ technical, cost, and schedule risk will be assessed as part of the above evaluation criteria’s application. Proposal risk relates to the identification and assessment of the risks associated with an offeror's proposed approach as it relates to accomplishing the proposed effort. Tradeoffs of the assessed risk will be weighed against the potential scientific benefit. Proposal risk for schedule relates to an assessment of the risks associated with the offeror's proposed number of hours, labor categories, materials, or other cost elements as it relates to meeting the proposed period of performance.

e) Prior to award of a potentially successful offer, the Contracting Officer will make a determination regarding price reasonableness and realism.

3. RESPONSIBILITY/QUALIFICATION (R/Q) (FORMERLY FAPIIS) PUBLIC ACCESS: The Government is required to review and consider any information about the applicant that is in SAM.gov before making any award in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold (currently $250,000) over the period of performance. An applicant may review and comment on any information about itself that a federal awarding agency previously entered. The Government will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to other information in SAM.gov in making a judgment about the applicant's integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under federal awards when completing the review of risk posed by applicants as described in 2 CFR § 200.205 Federal Awarding Agency Review of Risk Posed by Applicants and per FAR 9.104-6.

4.ADEQUATE PRICE COMPETITION: As this ARA is an Open ARA, adequate price competition is not anticipated since there is no set response time, and proposals are evaluated at the time of receipt. Offerors whose proposals are selected for award will be expected to submit certified cost and pricing data on contracts exceeding $2M (the threshold is $7.5M for small businesses or nontraditional defense contractors).

VI. STEP TWO INFORMATION – REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL & AWARD:

1. PROPOSAL FORMATING: When developing proposals, reference the AFRL "Broad Agency Announcement (BAA): Guide for Industry," Mar 2020, and RI-Specific Proposal Preparation Instructions, MAY 2023, which may be accessed at: https://sam.gov/opp/e628c811fafe041accdddf55fb8539bf/view?keywords=AFRL-BAA-GUIDE&sort=-relevance&index=&is_active=true&page=1.

Always reference the newest versions of these documents.

Please note that less than 12-point font is acceptable for graphics and illustrations (as in labels and short descriptions) as long as it is readable when printed out on standard 8x11 paper.

2. AWARD NOTICES: Those white papers found to be consistent with the research areas of interest and expected results within the broad topic areas as described in the Technology Requirements section of this ARA and of interest to the Government may be invited to submit a technical and cost proposal. Notification by email or letter will be sent by the TPOC. Such invitation does not assure that the submitting organization will be awarded a contract. Those white papers not selected to submit a proposal will be notified in the same manner. Prospective offerors are advised that only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government. All offerors submitting proposals will receive notification of their evaluation results within 45 days of submission. Offerors should email the TPOC, and the Contracting Officer listed in Section VII, for status of their proposal after 45 days, if no such correspondence has been received.

3. DEBRIEFINGS: If a debriefing is requested in accordance with the time guidelines set out in FAR 15.505 and 15.506, a debriefing will be provided, but the debriefing content may vary to be consistent with the procedures that govern BAAs (FAR 35.016) and OTs (10 USC 4021 (previously 10 USC 4002, 2371), and 10 USC 4022 (previously 10 USC 4003, 2371b). Debriefings will not be provided for white papers.

4. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS:

a. FACILITY CLEARANCE. Depending on the work to be performed, the offeror may require a SECRET or TOP SECRET facility clearance and safeguarding capability; therefore, personnel identified for assignment to a classified effort must be cleared for access to SECRET or TOP SECRET information at the time of award. In addition, the offeror may be required to have, or have access to, a certified and Government-approved facility to support work under this ARA.

b. EXPORT CONTROL LAWS. Awards under this solicitation may require access to, or generation of, data subject to export control laws and regulations. Only contractors who are registered and certified with the Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS) and have a legitimate business purpose may participate in this solicitation. For questions, contact DLIS on-line at http://www.dla.mil/HQ/InformationOperations/LogisticsInformationServices.aspx or at the DLA Logistics Information Service, 74 Washington Avenue North, Battle Creek, Michigan 49037-3084, and telephone number 1-800-352-2255 (24/7). You must submit a copy of your approved DD Form 2345, Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement, with your white paper/proposal.

c. SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION. The Government encourages the best sources from the scientific and industrial communities to propose, including small business concerns, large businesses, academia and non-profit entities.