NEXT GENERATION COMMAND AND CONTROL (NGC2)

CALL FOR SOLUTIONS (CFS)

FOR

SCALABLE SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS

W9128Z-26-R-A004

ISSUED UNDER W15P7T-25-S-0001

Program Manager Command and Control (PM C2) Applications

SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND

The U.S. Army is transforming command and control (C2) for the current and future fight through the Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) effort. The U.S. Army is replacing fragmented, vertical warfighting systems with a unified technology stack architecture of heterogenous software and hardware components. This transformation ensures data from any sensor, shooter, or warfighting system is accessible from a common data layer, and any application, user dashboard, algorithm, or AI agent accesses the same data source to support Warfighter operations. The architecture eliminates silo-ed data. To dominate on the modern battlefield, commanders and the algorithms that assist them with data synthesis must have access to data on demand, enabling faster and superior decision-making over our adversaries.

The United States Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG), on behalf of CPE C2IN, and PM C2 Applications, is publishing this call under the current Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) W15P7T-25-S-0001, utilizing the authority of 10 U.S.C.

§ 3458 and DFARS 212.70, for scalable software applications in support of NGC2. The information provided herein is intended to ensure that to the maximum extent practicable, competitive procedures are used to identify the best solutions received in response to this call.

1.2 CFS Procedures

This CFS is a competitive solicitation seeking innovative, commercially available software applications capable of scaling in the NGC2 ecosystem. This CFS may result in one or more solutions determined to be “awardable”; and subsequently one or more FAR Part 12 commercial contracts based on operational application needs.

The Call for Solutions is solicitating white papers (WPs) until the call expiration date of 1300 ET on 6 August 2026. WPs submitted in response to the call will be governed by this call and

3.1 General Guidelines in CSO W15P7T-25-S-0001, unless otherwise noted herein.

The Government reserves the right not to fully evaluate any WPs submitted that are not relevant to this call. WPs received will be evaluated according to instruction, submission, and evaluation details described herein.

1.3 Call Approach, Submission and Evaluations of WPs and Proposals

Two- Phase Approach: This call will use a two-phase process to solicit WPs and select offeror(s) eligible for a potential award. Phase I, Step 1 of the process will allow potential offerors to submit descriptive WPs in lieu of full proposals. If necessary, the Government may request a solution demonstration of the white paper proposal which shall be at no cost to the Government under Phase I, Step 2. Based on the Phase I evaluation criteria defined in this call, the Government will select offeror(s) for Phase II.

At Phase II of the process, the Government may request favorable offeror(s) to submit full proposals. Due to available resources, all Phase II eligible (“awardable”) offeror(s) may not receive a proposal request, and not all requested proposals will result in an award.

Submission of a WP does not guarantee advancement to Phase II (Request for Proposal), and the Government is under no obligation to make any award for solutions determined to be “awardable”. The Government reserves the right not to provide clarifications, or significant individual feedback, for submissions that do not advance. The Government will not include a comparison of submissions against a common statement of work (SOW) as the CFS provides no common SOW that constrain how interested parties must respond; instead, the WP represents a submission opportunity for a variety of innovative commercial items, technologies, and/or services that represent meaningful NGC2 modular capabilities of diverse scope and price.

SECTION 2 – Problem Statement

The NGC2 program is transitioning from prototyping at two operational units to the product delivery phase. While previous application efforts focused on experimentation, proof-of-concept development, and iterative development of application functionality, the next phase will emphasize the fielding of scalable, mission-ready applications that comply with established architectural, cybersecurity, data, and interface standards.

NGC2 applications cannot be standalone products; instead, they are productive interfaces for Warfighters to interact, visualize, and synthesize data in support of dynamic operations.

Applications are not an end state for data. NGC2 applications provide a means to add context to data about the battlefield for rapid consumption by other users, algorithms, and/or AI agents.

Data transformed by a user in an application must be published to the data layer, ensuring that it is discoverable and able to be consumed by any other applicable NGC2 component.

As the NGC2 ecosystem matures, the Government requires applications that can integrate into the newly established converged data layer (Common Data Baseline Link) using open APIs and SDKs. Solutions must demonstrate modularity, including required integrations with common services (such as maps, weather, ICAM), required compliance with data registry for how data is consumed or published from and to the data layer, and required compliance with an AI services registry for how AI models are trained, monitored, and deployed. Each application accesses data in compliance with authentication and role-based access controls provided as a common service in the technology stack.

NGC2 architecture leverages modern practices aligned with the open container initiative.

Applications will rely on common NGC2 tools for CI/CD that ensure rapid delivery of updates to the deployed operational compute environments, whether in an environment with cloud access or limited to local installs. NGC2 applications must be deployed as containers within the OCI-compliant environment selected by the Government and provided in the converged data layer.

NGC2 applications will not provide their own runtime environment or application platform.

https://www.army.mil/article/293409/army_and_industry_align_on_common_data_baseline_as_next_generation_command_and_control_moves_from_prototyping_to_delivery

Applications must account for functionality across a range of compute infrastructure and range of network transport bandwidth. The NGC2 ecosystem includes a family of compute infrastructure, ranging from robust enterprise cloud infrastructure, multi-GPU or CPU edge hardware, limited mounted compute in platforms such as Abrams, Bradley, Stryker, and down to austere, limited edge compute infrastructure. Consequently, NGC2 software design accounts for configurability for diverse compute form factors, including parameterizing the size of software updates to account for limited compute or time windows for delivery. NGC2 applications must also be designed for dynamic data shaping, accounting for when Warfighters only have access to network transport with limited bandwidth to synchronize data, but flexible to adjust to more expansive data elements when bandwidth is not limited.

The NGC2 ecosystem is designed around a common data layer, providing opportunity for commanders to have some flexibility in what application interfaces are preferred to interact with battlefield data (i.e. data is the same since all applications consume from the same data layer source); however, common applications used across the Army are advantageous for minimizing training as Warfighters transition among operational units every few years. As the NGC2 product delivery progresses, the Government will explore opportunities to find a balance between diversity and commonality in how applications are purchased and available to some or all of the Army. Consequently, the price for applications will account for purchasing for singular Army units (Division, Corps, Reserve) and purchasing for consumption-based usage (using application telemetry data to track how many users).

The Government seeks to identify commercial solutions ready for operational product delivery and capable of supporting both current and emerging mission requirements. Solutions that successfully demonstrate technical merit, scalability, and affordability may be designated as awardable solutions, signifying that they can satisfy one or more anticipated Government capability needs. Once determined to be awardable, solutions are eligible for consideration for future acquisitions without requiring repeated technical evaluations, speeding up the acquisition timeline to meet emerging operational needs at pace. The objective is to reduce acquisition lead times, ensure applications are modular components with the data layer and accelerate the delivery of commercial capability to the warfighter.

SECTION 3 – Phase I

3.1 Phase I- WP Submission

(i) Format: WPs shall be electronically submitted, shall not exceed 5 pages in length (single sided, single spaced, 12-size font, 1 inch margins). The 5-page limitation does not include the completed questionnaire.

a. WP Structure and Contents: A complete WP will consist of four sections with the required information listed in the subparagraphs:

Section 1 - Cover Sheet;

Section 2 - Software Application Description

Section 3 - Scalability Overview; and Section 4 - Price / Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM).

b. Questionnaire: Responses in the questionnaire can be explicitly substantiated with supporting details in the submitted white paper. No additional material may be amended to the questionnaire.

(ii) WPs and the Questionnaire shall be submitted via e-mail to usarmy.apg.acc.mbx.army-c2-solutions@army.mil. It is the offeror’s responsibility to ensure submission is received.

3.2 Phase I - WP Contents

3.2.1 Section 1- Cover Sheet:

White Papers shall include a cover sheet that includes:

(1) The name, CAGE Code, Unique Entity ID of the offeror. Business Size Classification under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 541715;

(2) Primary point of contact, including name, address, phone and e-mail contact information; and

(3) Date of submission.

3.2.2 Section 2 – Software Application Description:

Provide an overview of the software application, identify the warfighting function(s) it supports, and summarize its unique value to the NGC2 ecosystem. Describe the application’s he current technical maturity, capability gaps, use cases, and any known dependencies required to fully capitalize on its use. Specify top differentiators, such as unique technology, specific expertise, and agile processes your solution provides. Describe Cloud to Edge deployment approach, including the ability to adapt between usage on cloud infrastructure and usage onTactical Edge Compute (TECs), including timeframes on edge infrastructure with Disconnected, Degraded, Intermittent, and Low-bandwidth (DDIL) network transport capabilities which may require dynamic data shaping to maintain application performance.

3.2.3 Section 3- Scalability Overview:

The narrative in this section should directly align with, expand upon, and substantiate the responses provided Attachment 0001- Phase I Offeror Questionnaire. Detail the current software application(s) adherence to NGC2 architecture principles described in the problem statement section. Address deployment as containers to a Government-specified, OCI-compliant environment using provided CI/CD tools. Describe security accreditation and posture based on any existing or expired cybersecurity Authority to Operate (ATO) on any military network, and whether for cloud or edge compute environments.

3.2.4 Section 4 – Price (ROM)

This section shall include the ROM price and narrative associated with license costs and services required to scale the application’s use. ROM submissions shall provide enough fidelity for the Government to understand the alignment to the Offerors current commercial offerings.

The ROM narrative shall include, at a minimum, details on the following categories for the

ROM:

License price for a period of twelve (12) months based on the following scale, for unlimited users, within the following potential deployment tiers:

(i) Test/Developer license for non-production environments, sandbox environments, and/or testing capabilities.

(ii) One (1) Active Army Division

(iii) One (1) CORPS and downtrace divisions/brigades/commands

(iv) COMPO 1 Active Army Divisions

(v) Unlimited use within the Army

The ROM pricing shall be assumed to be the license costs, minimal services to maintain adherence to architecture standards as detailed in the questionnaire, and cybersecurity updates per Service Level Agreements. Potential costs including training, travel or user test events shall be excluded from the above price points; however, these costs will be requested at a later time.

3.2.5 Section 5 - Completed Questionnaire

A completed version of Attachment 0001- Phase I Offeror Questionnaire for the software application being proposed. Offerors shall complete and submit this questionnaire in its entirety.

Instructions for completing the questionnaire are provided as a worksheet in the document.

3.3 Phase I- Step 1 WP Evaluation

Phase I Step 1 Evaluation Process: Responses will be evaluated by a panel of subject-matter experts (SMEs) using the criteria specified in this call. Individual WP evaluations will be based on acceptability or unacceptability without regard to other WPs and proposals submitted under this call.

Phase I Evaluation Criteria: The evaluation factors of the white paper include Technical Merit and Scalability as described below. The factors are listed in the descending order of importance.

1) Technical Merit

2) Scalability

The Government will also evaluate the ROM for affordability. A ROM that is deemed excessive or unrealistic for the proposed solution may result in an “unawardable” rating, regardless of the evaluation of the other factors.

3.3.1 Technical Merit:

The Government will evaluate the offeror’s proposed software applications(s) for its technical merit in satisfying the technical challenges and objectives outlined in this call. Additionally, the Government will evaluate how eligibly and effectively the WP narrative substantiates, expands upon, and proves the baseline capabilities affirmed by the offeror in Attachment 0001 - Phase I Offeror Questionnaire. The evaluation will be based on a comprehensive review of the offeror’s

WP.

3.3.2 Scalability

The Government will evaluate the offeror’s proposed software application(s) for its ability to scale across various operational environments and seamlessly interoperate within the NGC2 open architecture. The evaluation will assess how eligibly and effectively the WP substantiates the scalability and interoperability claims affirmed in Attachment 0001 - Phase I Offeror Questionnaire and demonstrates an understanding of anticipated requirements under contract performance.

Note: Answering “No” to an Attachment 0001 question will not automatically exclude a vendor from award consideration, the Government will assess all responses and work with vendors under Phase II to ensure adherence to NGC2 standards.

3.3.3 Affordability

The Government will evaluate the offeror’s proposal to determine the financial feasibility of the proposed solution. The Government will review the offeror’s Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) estimate for overall affordability.

3.3.4 White Paper Evaluation Results

Upon completion of a white paper evaluation, the Government will notify the vendor:

a) The solution has been determined to be awardable as part of Phase I; and the Offeror is invited to submit a formal proposal.

b) The solution has been determined to be awardable as part of Phase I; however, due to available resources is not requested to submit a formal proposal at this time.

c) The proposed solution is of Government interest; the Offeror is requested to demonstrate their solution.

d) The proposed solution is not of interest to the Government currently and therefore is not awardable.

An invitation to submit a proposal under Phase II is not a guarantee of contract award. All awards are contingent upon the availability of funds and successful negotiations.

3.4 Phase I – Step 2 Solution Demonstration (If requested)

Upon Government request under Phase I WP results, the offeror may be requested to conduct a Solution Demonstration to validate the WP submission in Phase I. The offeror will actively navigate the software application to prove operational readiness and capabilities. The demonstration shall be either in person or virtually on MS Teams.

Offerors may be required to provide a PowerPoint presentation not to exceed ten (10) slides.

Note: The format and structure of the Solution Demonstration may be adjusted at any time at the sole discretion of the Government.

3.4.3 Solution Demonstration Criteria and Evaluation

The Government will evaluate the Solution Demonstration on an Acceptable/Unacceptable (Awardable/Not Awardable) basis in accordance with Phase I. After the vendor’s demonstration, the Government may request clarification of any points which are still unclear. Final determinations will be based on how successfully the demonstration validates the WP submission to Technical Merit, Scalability, and Affordability. Following the demonstration, the Government will notify the vendor:

a) The solution has been determined to be awardable as part of Phase I; and the Offeror is invited to submit a formal proposal.

b) The solution has been determined to be awardable as part of Phase I; however, due to available resources is not requested to submit a formal proposal at this time.

c) The proposed solution is not of interest to the Government currently and therefore is not awardable.

SECTION 4 – Phase II

4.1 Phase II- Proposal Preparation, Submission, and Evaluation

4.1.1 Proposal Preparation

By Invitation Only: An invitation to submit a full proposal will be sent via a formal RFP package by email. The due date and time for the full proposal submission will be specified in the RFP.

The proposal shall be a direct and comprehensive expansion of the concepts presented in Phase I.

4.1.2. Proposal Structure and Contents:

The proposal package is anticipated to contain the following contents, but the format is subject to change:

a) Army/DoW Demand Picture: A description of your understanding of the current Army/DoW demand for this type of capability and how your solution is positioned to meet both current and future operational needs for NGC2 or the DoW.

b) Product Roadmap: The offeror's product roadmap for the next 12, 24, and 36 months, if available. This should highlight planned feature enhancements, technology upgrades, and future capabilities relevant to NGC2.

c) Commercial Price List

d) License Agreement Terms

e) Intellectual Property & Data Rights Assertions

4.1.3 Submission Instructions

Proposals shall be submitted electronically to the email address specified in the request for proposal. It is the offeror’s responsibility to confirm receipt of the submission prior to the closing date and time. Do not submit proposal information until a formal RFP has been requested by the Government.

4.1.4. Evaluation criteria for Phase II will be further refined and provided by the Government in the request for proposal.

SECTION 5 – Administrative

5.1 The Government may utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist in the review and assessment of submissions. The final assessment and awardable/non-awardable decision remain with the Government.

5.2 Solutions that are determined to be awardable for NGC2 may be used as a basis for establishing an enterprise contract for wider utilization and adoption within PAE Command and Control / Counter Command and Control (C2/CC2), the Army, or the DoW. If an enterprise contract is established, orders outside the scope of NGC2 will require competition, or an exception to competition.

5.3 Solutions that are selected by the Government for Phase II will be determined to be “awardable” and considered as already satisfying competition requirements in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 3458.

5.4 During Phase II, the Government reserves the right to conduct further market research, request updated technical proposals or pricing for “awardable” solutions, compete similar solutions, or award contracts non-competitively as it determined to be in the best interest of the Government at the time of action/need for an application.

5.5 The Government intends to evaluate new or emerging commercial applications regularly through a similar CFS process or through an open CSO to attract new applications into the NGC2 ecosystem, expanding the number of “awardable’ applications over time. The

Government also reserves the right to remove any “awardable” application after a period of three

(3) years without an awarded contract action to reduce the administrative burden of maintaining the NGC2 application ecosystem.

5.6 Subject to change, the Government intends to request updated ROMs for awardable solutions in six (6) month intervals. Awardable solutions will be notified of this request in writing with a timeline to respond. Failure to respond will not result in the status of “awardable” being revoked, however may influence the Government’s future trade-space decisions of funded applications.

5.7 All solution submissions shall be timely, complete and conform to the requirements of this call.