SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Technologies for Persistent Operations in High LAtitude Regions (POLAR)
- Notice Date
- 6/12/2007
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541710
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences
- Contracting Office
- Other Defense Agencies, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Contracts Management Office, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA, 22203-1714, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- BAA07-40
- Response Due
- 6/11/2009
- Archive Date
- 6/12/2009
- Description
- BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) 07-40 Technologies for Persistent Operations in High LAtitude Regions (POLAR); CLOSING DATE: Two years from the date of publication in www.fbo.gov and/or www.grants.gov; POC: Dr. Brian M. Pierce, DARPA/STO; Email: BAA07-40@darpa.mil; Website: http://www.darpa.mil/sto/solicitations/BAA07-40/index.html. This BAA plus the associated Proposer Information Pamphlet (PIP) constitute the full BAA and proposers must obtain and follow the details of submission set forth in the PIP. INTRODUCTION The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting proposals under this BAA 07-40 to pursue research, development, design, and testing that will lead to the advancement of technologies for Persistent Operations in High LAtitude Regions (POLAR). The objective is to enhance U.S. military capabilities in the Polar Regions. DARPA is interested in new high-risk/high-payoff technologies and operating concepts that would give U.S. military forces revolutionary capabilities that address operational challenges specific to polar environments. DARPA is not interested in incremental approaches, but seeks highly innovative technical approaches and operational perspectives, approaches that exploit novel technologies, and new operational concepts. TECHNICAL TOPIC AREAS Research supporting the broad mission objective identified in the Introduction above may be submitted under this BAA. Topic areas of specific interest include, but are not limited to, the following. 1. System Architectures and Integration: This area seeks novel integrated Concepts of Operations (CONOPS) specifically tailored for the polar environment, which increase the duration and speed of operations by U.S. military forces. The goal is to create system level approaches by providing technical and operational options enabling the planning and execution of more persistent polar operations. Solutions may apply to a wide range of military operations. Of particular interest are solutions that address the very different challenges presented by operations in the polar environment. Proposers should explain what tools are used to plan and provide intelligence, as well as discuss the size of the force and its make up, including: personnel, weapons, logistics support, combat equipment, etc. 2. Communications, Command, Control, and Intelligence (C3I) Systems: This area seeks new approaches to collaborative and all-echelon C3I needed to support polar operations in the space, air, land, sea-surface, and undersea domains. C3I links within and between these domains are challenged by the maritime, atmospheric, ionospheric, and magnetospheric conditions unique to the polar environment. Furthermore, satellites in high inclination orbits are more important to C3I in the Polar Regions than satellites in geosynchronous orbits. The C3I systems need to integrate unmanned capabilities with manned systems. Where practical, the new systems of interest to this area should integrate with current C3I systems. 3. Persistent Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA) Systems: This area seeks advances in RSTA systems needed to support polar operations in the space, air, land, sea-surface, and undersea domains. Similar to C3I, RSTA within and between these domains is challenged by the maritime, atmospheric, ionospheric, and magnetospheric conditions unique to the polar environment. The RSTA systems need to integrate unmanned capabilities with manned systems. Information processing technologies supporting and enhancing RSTA systems for operations in the polar environment are also of interest. Proposed approaches should have high confidence and low latency to support C3I. 4. Navigation: High latitude operations are challenging as traditional fix sources degrade; are out of range or not available; or require alternative computational methods to recover an accurate fix. For example, the use of inertial navigation systems for operations under ice becomes problematic as errors accumulate. This area seeks to develop technologies that significantly improve the reliability and accuracy of polar navigation in all environmental conditions. 5. Weapons Systems: This area seeks advances in weapons systems needed to support polar operations in the air, land, sea-surface, and undersea domains. For example, the 'zero-ceiling' and 'zero-visibility' weather often seen in the Polar Regions can challenge weapon guidance systems. 6. Access and Mobility: This area seeks technologies that enhance polar access and mobility in the air, land, sea-surface, and undersea domains. Regional weather increases the likelihood of icing. Approaches that reduce ice buildup and/or remove ice on aircraft, ships and vehicles are highly desired. Of interest are novel approaches that facilitate rapid mobility of vessels in ice-covered waters. Vertical lift is critical to polar operations, and of interest are systems that can operate for extended periods in the polar environment. Approaches that will overcome the challenges of ice, snow and permafrost to land mobility are of interest. Manned and unmanned vehicles (aerial, aquatic, terrestrial) that enable access and mobility with machine-enhanced navigational aids or autonomic guidance are desired in general. 7. Logistics and Support: This area seeks to develop technologies that would significantly reduce overhead required to support U.S. military forces for polar operations. This includes both on-demand delivery as well as portable technologies that significantly reduce the logistics burden of operational necessities (food, water, power, medical, etc.). For example, an average person's caloric requirement just to stay warm at high latitudes is on the order of 5,000 calories/day, which is significantly more than that at temperate latitudes. Technologies maintaining personnel performance in the air, land and sea during extended periods of exposure to cold, wind chill, and darkness/light typical of the polar environment are of interest. Polar operations will challenge the replenishment of ships that is usually performed underway at lower latitudes. 8. Measurement and Modeling: This area seeks to provide an understanding of how high latitude, snow, ice, permafrost, and weather will challenge emerging sensing, communication, and navigation systems important to the U.S. military. Interest includes understanding how systems using electromagnetic (e.g., RF, IR, EO), acoustic, inertial navigation, and other phenomena will perform in polar environments for all operations. APPROACH The Government encourages responders to this BAA to submit executive summaries, and receive the Government's feedback thereto, prior to preparing and submitting proposal abstracts or full proposals. The purpose of this is to spare responders the burden of preparing abstracts or full proposals that are unlikely to result in an award under this BAA. The required formats for all three submittals (executive summary, proposal abstract, and full proposal) are provided in the Proposer Information Pamphlet (PIP) associated with this BAA. For all responses to this BAA, the responder must clearly identify the technical topic area(s) the proposed effort seeks to address. Responders to this BAA may suggest the award of a Grant, Cooperative Agreement, Procurement Contract, Technology Investment Agreement, Other Transaction for Prototype Agreement, or other such appropriate award instrument. The Government reserves the right to negotiate the type of award instrument determined appropriate under the circumstances. The Government intends to issue awards based on the optimum combination of proposals that offer the best overall value to the Government. The Government reserves the right to award without discussion. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals received in response to this BAA. The Government also reserves the right to select for award some portion(s) of the proposals received; in that event, the Government may select for negotiation all, or portions, of a given proposal. The Government may incrementally fund any award issued under this BAA. PROPOSERS The Government encourages responses from non-traditional defense contractors, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, small businesses, small disadvantaged business concerns, Historically-Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Minority Institutions (MI), large businesses and Government laboratories. Teaming arrangements between and among these groups are encouraged. However, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCU/MI, small or small disadvantaged business participation due to the impracticality of preserving discrete or severable areas of research in the technologies sought. Government/National laboratory proposals may be subject to applicable direct competition limitations, though certain Federally Funded Research and Development Centers are excepted per P.L. 103-337 Section 217 and P.L 105-261 Section 3136. Any responsible and otherwise qualified Proposer is encouraged to respond. Responders may be foreign firms or may team with foreign firms as long as the firm meets the criteria in this BAA and the Government is otherwise permitted to conduct business with the firm, however, only unclassified proposals will be considered from foreign sources, or where any proposed teaming arrangement involves a foreign source. Proposers may include foreign personnel as part of their proposed resources as long as these personnel qualify technically, the proposed effort is unclassified, and such foreign personnel sign any and all appropriate non-disclosure agreements prior to participating in the research effort. PROGRAM SCOPE AND FUNDING The Government anticipates multiple comprehensive awards under this BAA. The Government intends to issue awards based on the optimum combination of proposals that offers the best overall value to the Government. The Government reserves the right to award without discussions. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals received in response to this BAA. The Government also reserves the right to select for award some portion(s) of the proposals received; in that event, the Government may select for negotiation all, or portions, of a given proposal. The Government may incrementally fund any award issued under this BAA. EVALUATION CRITERIA The criteria to be used to evaluate and select offers under this BAA are, in order of descending importance: (a) Overall Scientific and Technical Merit; (b) Offeror's Capabilities and/or Related Experience; (c) Potential Contribution and Relevance to the DARPA Mission; (d) Plans and Capability to Accomplish Technology Transition and (e) Cost and Schedule Reasonableness and Realism. Each proposal will be evaluated on its own merit and relevance rather than against other proposals in the same general area, since no common work statement exists. Proposals may be evaluated as they are received, or they may be collected and periodically reviewed. SECURITY The Government anticipates proposals submitted under this BAA will be UNCLASSIFIED. In the event that a proposer chooses to submit a classified proposal or submit any documentation that may be classified, guidance for submitting this information is provided in Section 6.1 of the associated Proposer Information Pamphlet (PIP). SUBMITTAL INFORMATION This BAA will remain open for two years from the date of publication in www.fbo.gov and/or www.grants.gov. DARPA will employ an electronic upload process for Executive Summary, Abstract and Proposal submissions for BAA 07-40. All submissions will be submitted via http://www.tfims.darpa.mil/baa. (NOTE: University (prime) grant submissions may be made via the Grants.gov web site, http://grants.gov by using the 'Apply for Grants' functions. Dual submissions are not required. Performers may find guidance for the submission process at http://www.darpa.mil/sto/solicitations.htm. This announcement and the PIP may be retrieved via the WWW at URL http://www.darpa.mil/ in the solicitations area. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this announcement is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or any other contract. Proposers are warned that only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government. ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE Additional information regarding program objectives, anticipated schedule, technical milestone criteria, and proposal preparation and submittal is provided in the PIP associated with this BAA. Proposers choosing to respond to this BAA must obtain the PIP associated with this BAA. You can access these documents at www.fbo.gov and/or www.grants.gov. This BAA and PIP together constitute the full BAA for this project. NOTE: Do not contact the contracting officer identified below with respect to this announcement. All questions should be sent to BAA07-40@darpa.mil.
- Record
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