SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Force Application and Launch from CONUS (FALCON) Phase I
- Notice Date
- 7/29/2003
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Other Defense Agencies, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Contracts Management Office, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA, 22203-1714
- ZIP Code
- 22203-1714
- Solicitation Number
- BAA03-35
- Response Due
- 9/12/2003
- Archive Date
- 9/13/2003
- Point of Contact
- James Troutman, Contracting Officer, Phone 703-696-2408, Fax 703-696-2208,
- E-Mail Address
-
jtroutman@darpa.mil
- Description
- Force Application and Launch from CONUS (FALCON) Phase I, BAA03-35. The Tactical Technology Office (TTO) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting proposals for Phase I of a three phase joint DARPA/Air Force FALCON program. The FALCON program is pursuing development and demonstration of near-term (2010) capabilities, such as Common Aero Vehicle (CAV) and Small Launch Vehicle (SLV), while pursuing advancements toward long-term (2025) capabilities such as the Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle (HCV). In addition to this BAA and before submitting proposals, a prospective offeror MUST refer to the FALCON Proposer Information Pamphlet (PIP) located at the DARPA website, WWW.DARPA.MIL/BAA for further information. The FALCON PIP contains additional details regarding the Program Description, Phase I Statement of Objectives, Proposal Preparation Instructions, and Evaluation Criteria for Award. OVERALL PROGRAM GOAL AND VISION: The overall goal of the joint DARPA/Air Force FALCON program is to develop and validate, in-flight, technologies that will enable both near-term and far-term capability to execute time-critical, prompt global reach missions while at the same time, demonstrating affordable and responsive space lift. The Government envisions near-term conventional global strike capability via development of CAV, a rocket boosted munitions delivery system that delivers its payload to the target by executing unpowered glide maneuvers at hypersonic speed. The Government envisions development of a low-cost, responsive launch system called SLV that is capable of boosting a CAV to its requisite pierce point conditions. The FALCON program will pursue the development, integration, and progressive demonstration of the critical and enabling technologies and system attributes leading to an operational CAV/SLV system. A second, but equally important, envisioned capability of the SLV is to place small satellites into low Earth orbit. For this application, the SLV must be at least an order of magnitude more responsive than existing satellite launch systems and must have a low launch cost. The FALCON program will pursue development of innovative SLV concepts possessing these attributes and demonstration of the integrated set of key enabling technologies in a sub-orbital flight demonstration. The program will also seek to develop a unique CONOPS that will support and enable both the responsiveness and low-cost system objectives of SLV. Far-term conventional prompt global strike capability is envisioned as a CONUS-based, reusable, HCV. Reusability and aircraft-like operations are critical to far-term affordable and flexible prompt global strike capability. In order to achieve this capability, the FALCON program will pursue the design, development, integration, and demonstration of critical and enabling technologies and system attributes pertaining to a reusable, operational HCV. PHASE I DESCRIPTION: Phase I is a six month effort. Two tasks are being offered in this BAA; Task 1 is SLV, and Task 2 is Hypersonic Weapon Systems (HWS). The Phase I Task 1, SLV, objective is to solicit technical approaches for SLV design(s) suitable for launching either a global range CAV (Enhanced CAV) with an approximate 1,000 pound munitions payload or a small satellite to a specified low Earth orbit. Phase I products will include conceptual booster designs, performance predictions, and CONOPS and ROM costs for development and operation. The Phase I Task 2, HWS, objective is to develop the conceptual designs for the CAV, Enhanced CAV, and HCV which optimize the Air Force warfighting requirements and operational capabilities; performance requirements; munitions weight, volume and high speed dispense requirements; and launch alternatives. Phase I products will include an integrated demonstration plan including ROM costs to execute, critical technology identification and maturation plan, and conceptual demonstrator designs for the hypersonic weapon systems. Offerors are directed to the PIP for further information. FUNDING: Total funding for Phase I (Tasks 1, and 2) of this solicitation is $7.0M. The government anticipates awarding multiple Phase I agreements/contracts for each task described within this solicitation. It is anticipated that four to five SLV agreements or contracts will be awarded with a government contribution of $0.3M to $0.54M per award, and three to four HWS agreements or contracts with a government contribution of $1.2M to $1.5M per award. The Offeror is expected to provide a realistic technical and cost proposal for best achieving the program objectives within the outlined budget and schedule. The Government reserves the right to select all, some, or none of the proposals received in response to this solicitation and fund portions of proposals if warranted. Final funding determination will be based on the combination of proposed approaches which will reasonably support program success. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are encouraged to submit proposals; however, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCU and MI participation because of the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of research and development in FALCON technology. AWARD INSTRUMENT AND EVALUATION APPROACH: The Government may award either a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) based contract or an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) Agreement. Accordingly, Offerors are asked to submit proposal responses that accommodate both options. The Government will evaluate all Offerors? FAR based proposals (Volumes 1 and 2) in accordance with the established evaluation criteria (see Section 5, Evaluation Criteria for Award, of the PIP), other applicable published procedures (FAR Part 35) and the source selection plan. Interim negotiations may be conducted during this evaluation process. After award selection based on the FAR based proposals (Volumes 1 and 2), the Government will evaluate the selected awardees Other Transaction proposal (Volume 3) with the intent of selecting a Phase I program approach that offers the more beneficial program approach of the FAR and OTA instrument types considered. Historically, DARPA has solicited use of Other Transaction Authority exclusively for programs such as this where performance is conducted over multiple phases and it is likely that revolutionary technology accomplishment will benefit both government and industry. There may be significant advantages for a contractor and/or the Government to want to enter into an OTA agreement if the conditions for an OTA can be met. OTAs are discussed in more detail in Section 4 of the PIP. The intent of this evaluation approach is to prevent contractors with greater financial flexibility from reducing the proposed cost to the Government by providing a large cost share or extra effort beyond that of a contractor with less financial capability. In this approach all proposals are evaluated based upon their technical merits and ability to realistically price their proposed technical scope. This approach also affords the Offerors and the Government the opportunity to assess, propose and implement the most beneficial approach to program accomplishment. This approach may also be used in later phases. PROPOSAL PROCEDURES: The Offeror may propose to only one of the two tasks or to both tasks. However, the Offeror must submit a separate (stand alone) proposal for each task if proposing to more than one task. In addition, the Offeror may submit only one proposal per task. The Offeror's proposal should consist of three volumes: Volume 1, FAR Based Technical Proposal; Volume 2, FAR Based Cost Proposal; and Volume 3, OTA Based Delta Proposal. Volume 3 should represent any difference in technical work and associated cost proposed based on a FAR contract versus the technical work and cost proposed based on an OTA agreement. If there are no differences, the Offeror should state this in Volume 3 of its proposal. Volume 3 should also discuss how an OTA would potentially be a better contracting mechanism for both Industry and Government to utilize in Phase I of the FALCON program. The Offeror should refer to Section 4 of the PIP for guidance on how to structure and organize its proposal. All Offerors must be registered with Central Contractor Registration (CCR) and must provide their CAGE, DUNS and TIN numbers on the cover sheet of the proposal. One signed original and eight copies of each proposal volume are required for submission. The Offeror is also required to submit its proposal in electronic format, on CD-ROM, in Microsoft Office 2000 compatible format. Four CD-ROMs with a copy of each proposal volume are required. The deadline for receipt of proposals is September 12, 2003, 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. All proposals should be mailed or hand-carried to the delivery address as follows: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; Attention: Mr. James B. Troutman, CMO; FALCON BAA 03-35; 3701 N. Fairfax Drive; Arlington, VA 22203-1714. Each volume of the proposal shall be packed and sealed separately and clearly marked to identify the volume number. Responses not received at the address and time specified above will not be considered. An Offeror intending to include classified information or data as part of its proposal submission should refer to Section 6 of the PIP for instructions. An Offeror of Task 2 must have or be able to obtain the appropriate United States clearance for Task 2 of the FALCON program. ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Awards made under this BAA are subject to the provisions of the FAR Subpart 9.5, Organizational Conflict of Interest. All Offerors and proposed subcontractors must affirmatively state whether they are supporting any DARPA technical office(s) through an active contract or subcontract. All affirmations must state which office(s) the Offeror supports and identify the prime contract number. Affirmations shall be furnished at the time of proposed submission, and the existence or potential existence of organizational conflicts of interest, as that term is defined in FAR 9.501, must be disclosed. This disclosure shall include a description of the action the Offeror has taken, proposes to take, to avoid, neutralize or mitigate such conflict. If the Offeror believes that no such conflict exists, then the Offeror shall so state in the affirmation. NON-GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL: The Government intends to use support contractors, plus other independent experts to assist in processing and administering proposals during the Source Selection, and to provide advice relative to selected technical areas. These personnel are restricted by their contract from disclosing information contained in any proposal for any purpose to anyone outside of the Source Selection for this effort. Moreover, all personnel used in this capacity are required to enter into separate Organizational Conflict of Interest/Non Disclosure Agreements to this effect. By submission of its proposal, a team agrees that proposals may be disclosed to these personnel for the purpose of providing this assistance.
- Record
- SN00386330-W 20030731/030729214157 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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