UAS Marketplace CSO Att 1 - Method 1-Innovative Warfighter Solutions3.16.26.docx

Attachment 1 UAS Marketplace Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) Innovative Warfighter Solutions (IWS

A. INNOVATIVE WARFIGHTER SOLUTION PROCEDURES

The below sections outline the competitive procedures for submitting an Innovative Warfighter Solution in response to a posted Area of Interest (AOI) under this Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO).

This document governs all submissions via the IWS method. It does not apply to discrete Calls for Solutions (C4S), which are governed by their own unique processes. Solution Briefs will be accepted for the duration this CSO is posted as "Open" under the announcement titled "UAS Marketplace Commercial Solutions Opening W58RGZ-26-S-C001”.

Any awards resulting from these procedures will be Fixed-Price or Fixed-Price-Incentive instruments, utilizing either FAR Part 12 (Acquisition of Commercial Items), Other Transaction Authorities (OTA) or 10 U.S.C 4023 Procurement for Experimental Purposes.

The Solution Basket: If the Government does not immediately select a company’s submission for further review, the submission will be retained in our Solution Basket for a period of up to three years. This allows the Government to reconsider the submission for future needs, maximizing its value to both the vendor and the DoW.

B. PHASES OVERVIEW FOR INNOVATIVE WARFIGHTER SOLUTIONS

The process for evaluating submissions from the IWS may consist of up to three (3) phases:

1. Phase I – Solution Brief

2. Phase II – Live Demonstration

3. Phase III – Commercial Solution Proposal (CSP) This document details the procedures for Phase I. The procedures for Phase II and III will be provided directly to invited participants by the sponsoring mission partner and their corresponding contracting activity.

Phase I – Solution Brief Companies submit a Solution Brief addressing a posted AOI, as detailed in Section C.1. The Government will evaluate these briefs against the criteria in Section C.3. The Government will not pay for any costs associated with preparing or submitting a Solution Brief.

Phase II – Live Demonstration Session Companies whose Solution Briefs are selected for further consideration may be invited to provide a live demonstration of their capability. The Government reserves the right to limit the number of invitations and may select a solution for further consideration without requesting a demonstration. The Government will not pay for costs associated with live demonstrations unless explicitly authorized in writing by a contracting or agreements officer. The Government reserves the right to record all demonstrations and may bypass this phase entirely.

Phase III – Commercial Solution Proposal (CSP) Companies successfully advancing from the prior phases may be invited to submit a full CSP. Any subsequent awards are subject to the availability of funding. The Government will not pay for costs associated with proposal development or negotiations unless authorized in writing by a contracting or agreements officer.

B.1 GENERAL GUIDELINES

a) Elaborate brochures or unnecessarily long proposals are discouraged. Be clear and concise.

b) Use of diagrams or figures to depict the core of your proposed solution is strongly encouraged.

c) Companies may submit multiple Solution Briefs, provided each submission represents a distinct and separate concept. An individual brief may only address one concept.

d) Technical data with military application may require appropriate approval for lawful exportation.

e) All submissions shall be unclassified. If a submission contains company proprietary data, the cover page must include the following notice:

“This [select one: Solution Brief, Live Demonstration, and Full CSP] includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the Government, except to non-Government personnel for evaluation purposes, and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed -- in whole or in part -- for any purpose other than to evaluate this submission. If, however, an agreement or contract is awarded to this Company as a result of -- or in connection with – the submission of this data, the Government shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent agreed upon by both parties in the resulting Agreement. This restriction does not limit the Government's right to use the information contained in this data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in sheets [insert numbers or other identification of sheets]”

Each restricted data sheet shall be marked as follows:

“Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this proposal.”

f) Submissions must be sent electronically, with the AOI in the subject line, to the e-mail listed in the BASE SOLICITATION, SECTION J - CONTACT INFORMATION. Submissions sent through other channels may not be considered.

g) Identification of Intellectual Property (IP) and restrictions. The Solution Brief shall identify (1) any patent involved in the effort and any royalty associated with the patent; and (2) any restrictions on the Government’s rights (e.g. Data rights) in using, disclosing, reproducing, and/or modifying technical data, computer software, and/or non-technical data (e.g. Business/financial/administrative data and AI/ML training data) involved in the effort.

h) Personally identifiable information and/or protected health information related information is prohibited from being included within IWS submissions.

B.2 Commercial Terms and Conditions a.) Consistent with FAR Part 12, companies may propose commercial terms and conditions.

b.) FAR-based contracts are subject to FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items (Oct 2018), FAR 212-5, DFARS 212.301 and DFARS 227.7102-4.

SECTION C - PHASE I - SOLUTION BRIEF

C.1 Phase I – Solution Brief Content Solution Briefs shall not exceed five (5) written pages using 12-point font, or alternatively, Solution Briefs may take the form of briefing slides which shall not exceed fifteen (15) slides. Submissions shall be submitted as one (1) document in Adobe PDF file format. The Government will not consider inserted textboxes/pop-ups or internet links to additional information as part of the Solution Brief and will not consider such information in its evaluation of submissions. Solution Briefs are intended to be clear, concise and succinct submissions.

The Government anticipates evaluating compliant solution briefs within 90 days after receiving the submission.

Solution Briefs shall include the following at a minimum:

a.) Title Page (does not count against page limit)

i. Company Name, Title, Date, Point of Contact Name, E-Mail Address, Phone, and Address. If registered in SAM.gov, include the Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, and Unique Entity Identification (UEI) code.

ii. Specifically identify the AOI for which the Solution Brief is submitted and include the relevant Program/Government POC, if known.

iii. Identify proposed NAICS code and title based on appropriateness and employee small business size standard under 13 CFR Part 121 (applicable to FAR proposed instrument only).

b.) Executive Summary (one page limit; counts toward page limit)

i. Provide an executive summary of the solution.

c.) High-Level Solution/Concept (counts toward page limit)

i. Describe the unique technical aspects of your solution/concept and how it is relevant and important to the respective AOI.

ii. Describe how the solution/concept is innovative and fulfills requirements.

iii. Describe how the proposed solution/concept solves a capability gap/problem and/or provides potential innovative technological advancements.

iv. Describe the solution/concept capabilities and scalability.

v. Describe how the proposed technical approach is feasible, achievable, and supported by a technical team that has the expertise and experience to accomplish the proposed solution/concept.

vi. Identify whether the proposed solution/concept includes a pilot or demonstration of existing commercial technology (identified as commercially available and viable technology), or the development of technology for potential defense applications. Identify the DoD Technical Readiness Level. If development or adaptation is proposed, discuss the suggested path to maturity. Identify aspects which may be considered proprietary.

d.) Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM/Schedule (two-page limit; counts toward page limit)

i. Submit one (1) ROM and one (1) notional schedule demonstrating the solution/concept timeline milestones to maturity. Companies may use assumptions in the development of the ROM and shall annotate the assumptions.

e.) Company Viability (counts toward page limit)

i. Provide a brief overview of commercial market traction and customer base to include revenue and sales pipeline

ii. Provide a summary of the corporate and financial stability f.) Affirmation of Business Status Certification (does not count against page limit)

i. Include Appendix A for each company that is a participant of the solution/concept. (e.g. Certificate of Status) g.) Intellectual Property Statement/Agreement/Disclosures (does not count against page limit).

i. As needed, include a separate disclosure for each company that is a participant of the solution/concept.

C.2 Phase I – Solution Brief Compliance Check The Government will first review the company’s Solution Brief to ensure compliance with the submission requirements of C.1. The compliance check is a prerequisite to the Technical Evaluation of content in Section C.3. Solution Briefs not in compliance with submission requirements may be excluded from further evaluation. If excluded from further evaluation, the Government will notify the company as soon as practicable.

C.3 Phase I – Solution Brief Basis of Evaluation Compliant solution briefs submitted in response to an AOI will be evaluated against the below criteria. The Government reserves the right to use external market research in the evaluation of a company's viability. In the event multiple submissions are received for an AOI, the Government reserves the right to select all, some, or none of the solution submissions submitted in response to this open solicitation and may result in more than one (1) award or no awards.

The Government intends to evaluate the Solution Brief to determine which proposed solutions have the potential to best meet the Government’s needs utilizing the evaluation criteria below.

a.) Technical Merit: The Government will evaluate the Technical Merit of a company’s Solution Brief. Technical Merit is defined as having relevance to the AOI, innovation, solves a capability gap and/or provides innovative technological advancements. The technical approach shall demonstrate the ability to scale and be determined feasible and achievable. In addition, the Government finds the technical approach and/or underlying technology to be a compelling solution.

b.) ROM/Schedule: The Government will evaluate the feasibility of the company’s proposed solution/concept project schedule, ROM and maturity path.

c.) Viability: The Government will evaluate the submitted company overview, and if applicable, summary of product/solution commercialization and market strategy for viability.

C.4 Phase I - Solution Brief Selection Process Based on the evaluation, the Solution Brief will be categorized as Selected for Further Consideration; Retained for Future Consideration; or Not Selected for Further Consideration. Selection in the next Phase will be based on the criteria listed above, Government need, and funding availability.

Selected for Further Consideration: The submitted Solution Brief has been determined to be of technical merit, represents a feasible schedule, and the Company is considered viable.

Retained For Future Consideration: The submitted Solution Brief has been determined to be of technical merit, represents a feasible schedule, and the Company is considered viable; however, there is no current Government need, manpower and/or funding available. The solution will be retained in a solution repository for future consideration.

Not Selected for Further Consideration: The submitted Solution Brief does not represent the necessary degree of technical merit, a feasible schedule, and/or Company viability to warrant further consideration.

Companies selected for further consideration may be invited to participate in the next Phase, subject to the availability of funds. The Army anticipates that AOIs may routinely receive more Solution Briefs than resources to award. All compliant Solution Brief submissions will be fairly evaluated, however, only select Solution Briefs with the most compelling solutions will be invited to Phase II and/or Phase III. The Government reserves the right to limit the number of companies invited to Phase II and/or Phase III. As such, a company’s solution may be evaluated as retained for future consideration. Submissions evaluated as Retained for Future Consideration will be stored in a repository. Solution Briefs, whether retained for future consideration, selected or not selected for Phase II and/or Phase III will be notified in writing as soon as practicable.

Companies whose Solution Brief is not selected for further consideration may resubmit a solution brief, however, are cautioned that if the new solution brief submission is identical to the first submission, it will not be evaluated.

SECTION D - PHASE II AND/OR PHASE III

Phase II and/or Phase III submission requirements and evaluation criteria will be outlined within the invitation into the respective Phase.

SECTION E – AWARDS

See the UAS Marketplace CSO Base Document, SECTION E.

SECTION F - ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

F.1Security Requirements and Classification Responses under this open solicitation shall be unclassified. Any security requirements and security classification specifications will be determined and requested at the appropriate phase in Section D above. If the company requires classification, then please contact the email identified in AOS Base Document, Section J - Contact Information.

F.2 Data Storage To protect against seizure and improper use by non-United States (U.S.) persons and government entities, all data stored and processed by/for the DoD must reside in a facility under the exclusive legal jurisdiction of the U.S. If awarded a contract or OT under the procedures of this open solicitation, the Company shall be required to maintain all government data that is not physically located on DoD premises within the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and outlying areas of the U.S., unless otherwise authorized by the responsible Government, as described in DoD Instruction (DoDI) 8510.01, Risk Management Framework for DoD Systems, and the DoD Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide.

During the performance of a contract or OT, if Government data is co-located with the non-Government data, the company shall be required to isolate the Government data into an environment where it may be reviewed, scanned, or forensically evaluated in a secure space with access limited to authorized Government personnel identified by the Contracting or Agreements Officer, and without the company's involvement. The company shall be required to record all physical access to the cloud storage facilities and all logical access to the Government data. This may include the entrant's name, role, purpose, account identification, entry and exit time. The company shall be required to provide such records to the Contracting/Agreements Officer or designee in accordance with the agreement or upon request to comply with federal authorities.

F.3 Company Incurred Evaluation Costs As specified in Section B, the Government will not reimburse companies for any costs incurred while participating in Phases 1 through 3 of the open solicitation process. Additionally, the Government will not consider the costs associated with participating in Phases 1 through 3 as allowable charges and such costs shall not be included within the ROM or any pricing information.

F.4 Export Controls Research findings and technology developments arising from any awards may constitute a significant enhancement to the national defense and to the economic vitality of the United States. As such, in the conduct of all work related to this effort, the recipient shall be required to comply strictly with the Arms Export Control Act, 22 U.S.C.§ 2751-2794, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 C.F.R. § 120 et seq.; the Export Administration Act, 50 U.S.C. app. § 2401-2420; the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, 32 CFR § 117; and the Department of Commerce Export Regulation, 15 CFR § 730-774.

F.5 Cost-Share Cost-sharing contracts will also be considered for award. A cost-sharing contract is a cost-reimbursement contract where the contractor receives no fee and is reimbursed only for an agreed upon portion of its allowable cost. It may be used when the contractor agrees to absorb a portion of the cost in the expectation of substantial compensating benefits. The purpose of cost-sharing is to encourage contractors to contribute to R&D projects and to ensure the efficient use of resources. To use this type of contract, the contractor’s accounting system must be adequate for determining costs applicable to the contract. Appropriate Government surveillance during performance will provide reasonable assurance that efficient methods and cost controls are used.

F.6 Amendments All IWS submissions pending evaluation will be evaluated against the most recent amended Attachment 1 on SAM.gov