TRANSTECH SN 95-06. POC: C.E. Stuart, Technical, Maritime Systems Technology Office (MSTO) (703)696-2315. The Advanced Research Projects Agency, Maritime Systems Technology Office, (ARPA MSTO) and Software and Intelligent Systems Technology Office (ARPA SISTO) are seeking comments from all sources (Public, Private, Governmental, Academia) regarding an upcoming FY96 program, TransTech. This is not a request for proposals nor a solicitation for bids. ARPA MSTO and SISTO plan to issue a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), as contemplated in FAR 35.016, in the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 1995 for TransTech. Comments on the form, structure, or contents (or lack thereof) of the following are solicited. Introduction: The US military has a requirement that by the year 2001 it must be able to conduct deployments for two nearly simultaneous major regional contingencies. The U.S. transportation infrastructure and our strategic mobility assets will be severely taxed. To meet this stressing requirement, logistics and transportation assets must be deployed, tracked, refurbished and redeployed more efficiently than ever before. In this era of downsizing, the Department of Defense (DoD) will become more and more dependent on commercial transportation. DoD must have the insight to focus its investment in research and infrastructure to take advantage of commercial trends. Examples from recent history include new methods of moving freight: overnight express packages, containerization, and intermodal transportation. All have been adopted by industry expressly for achieving efficiency and profit, and are now an integral part of the defense transportation strategy. The goal of this new program, TransTech, is to develop a comprehensive transportation and logistics operations, planning and simulation environment. This will facilitate the achievement of Total Asset Visibility, giving our forces powerful new tools to efficiently and flexibly manage the transportation and logistics ``war'' envisioned for the 21st century. The program will capitalize on the revolutionary advances made in communications, simulation, planning and information technology, as well as seek mechanical systems to improve the intermodal system performance and efficiency. ARPA plans to establish a broad network linking transportation/logistics suppliers and users. TransTech will also support the development of systematic investment and policy decisions about our national civilian and military transportation infrastructure. This will facilitate improved decision making by military planners and ultimately permit us to meet the strategic mobility requirements for the next century. As a result of this announcement, ARPA MSTO and SISTO encourage the submission of constructive comments on the following program concept and approach. Objectives: The TransTech program will be developed using revolutionary advances in key technologies of Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I), advanced design processes based on virtual prototyping and advanced modeling, high performance computing, distributed networking, and human computer interaction. The objectives of the TransTech program are to: (1) Allow distributed real-time visualization and interaction with all elements of the military and commercial transportation infrastructure. (2) Allow efficient and effective real time control, planning, replanning, and rehearsal of the movement of forces and materiel, both for initial deployment and subsequent re-deployment. (3) Allow decision makers at all levels, from operators to policy makers, to make and validate systematic investment and policy decisions about the transportation infrastructure. (4) Achieve Total Asset Visibility from factory to foxhole using advanced networks, databases and communications architectures and Automated Identification Technologies (AIT). (5) Develop and demonstrate emerging enabling technologies to enhance transportation system performance especially the physical handling and packaging of cargo to meet throughput requirements at intermodal gateways, the mitigation of relative motion for amphibious operations in the Theater of Operations, and Automated Identification Technologies (AIT) for tracking assets. Approach: ARPA MSTO and SISTO plan to issue a BAA in the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 1995 for execution of the TransTech Program. TransTech will focus development efforts in three areas: (1) TransWeb Synthetic Environment, (2) Applications, and (3) Enabling Technologies. Offerors, either individual or teamed, will be encouraged to propose in any or all of these three focus areas. It will not be necessary for proposers to have experience in military transportation and/or logistics. Pending approval of funding, a total of approximately $10M may be available in FY96 for funding multiple efforts selected from the upcoming solicitation. Size of awards and duration of efforts will vary according to the type of effort undertaken. Area 1. TransWeb Synthetic Environment: TransWeb is envisioned to be a high fidelity synthetic environment that accurately depicts the national military and commercial transportation infrastructure. The TransWeb Environment will permit multiple users to access the same data, view the same displays, and interact with the environment and one another. TransWeb would provide the integrating environment, permitting other transportation systems, models, and data to work together seamlessly and efficiently. TransWeb will consist of standards, databases, networks, architecture and distributed simulation. TransWeb will access models of ports (air, land, sea), transport vehicles (ship, truck, rail, plane), cost, labor, combat support, environment (weather, pollution, etc.), and safety. An information services layer will allow the user in government or industry to access the models, simulations, and data. The information will be assimilated and organized in a visual fashion. It is anticipated that the requirements for TransWeb would include: (1) An open, scalable architecture with a distributed, reconfigurable structure, (2) A self organizing and self updating system architecture with multi-level security (both commercial and DoD) and data access control, including versioning control, (3) User interfaces permitting selection of applications and use of data without regard to data transformation and location, (4) Standards-based data sharing, storage and communication, (5) High performance communications network, including satellite and others, (6) Autonomous update of data and models, (7) Optimization of multiple non-hierarchical parameters, e.g., cost, time, environmental, (8) Varying complexity levels permitting participation with small and large organizations. It is anticipated that requirements for proposals submitted in Area One for TransWeb will include: a multi-phase development plan which demonstrates a clear understanding of the elements of a TransWeb environment, meaningful demonstrations applicable to the overall TransTech program, description of the system architecture, identification of ``show-stopper'' technical issues, along with the technologies to be developed and specific technical approaches to be pursued in resolving them, a plan for periodic demonstrations over the project life, a description of how developments under areas two and three (below) will be integrated into a complete system, even if accomplished by other contractors under separate efforts, and description of personnel, facilities, schedule, and cost. Area 2. Applications: The Applications area is envisioned to include development of individual models and simulations that are used in Total Asset Visibility, planning and executing logistics and transportation operations, as well as optimization routines. This area will also include applications for Infrastructure Investment Planning which will permit the transportation users and planners (including Congress, DoD, Department of Transportation, Municipal Planning Organizations, etc.) to make informed decisions regarding investment in the infrastructure. Where necessary, technical interchange routines will be developed for legacy codes and databases that are already in use. New models and simulations may be developed, along with standards for model interoperability and seamless data exchange. Information gathering techniques, including ``knowledge rovers'' and other intelligent agents, for real time update of transport and infrastructure information will be developed, along with techniques for combining and displaying the data. Area 2A. Logistics Planning: Area 2A will be built upon the on-going Logistics Anchor Desk (LAD) program in SISTO. It is anticipated that LAD will be seamlessly integrated into TransWeb during the TransTech program. The LAD in the year 2001 would be a synthesizing facility capable of existing at various organizational command levels to provide distributed planning tools and expert ``virtual staff'' assistance to theater and deployed joint task force logistics staffs. The LAD would support mission rehearsal and refinement for the Joint Task Force (JTF) staff while enroute to the forward deployed JTF headquarters. Key aspects of the LAD are focused collaborative planning, real-time connections to defense logistics data sources and other LADs, and dynamically reconfigurable software. It is envisioned that the LAD would be capable of being dynamically configured to allow creation of customized information systems that can be individually configured without conventional reprogramming. It is anticipated that requirements for proposals submitted in Area Two will include: a description of specific application(s) to be modeled or simulated, the relevance and feasibility of the application to TransTech, a demonstration plan, an approach for interaction with TransWeb system integrator, and description of personnel, facilities, schedule, and cost. Area 3. Enabling Technologies: The final focus area will identify and develop enabling technologies. Technologies that are being considered for development include, but are not limited to: automated identification technology, global mobile communications, electronic data transfer, cargo handling technologies for port through-put, at-sea off-load technologies, and packaging technologies. Suggestions for other enabling technologies in Area Three are encouraged. It is anticipated that requirements for proposals submitted in Area Three will include: a description of the technology and its state of development, the relevance and feasibility of the technology to TransTech, a multi-phase demonstration plan, including rapid prototyping, an approach for interaction with the TransWeb system integrator, and description of personnel, facilities, schedule, and cost. Comment Submission: Your comments on this new effort should be submitted no later than 1 May 1995, so they may be incorporated into the upcoming BAA. Your response to this announcement will not be acknowledged. The preferred method of submitting comments is via email at transtech@nsnet.com. If you do not have email access, comments should be sent via FAX to 703-516-6065, ATTN: Transtech Admin. Please restrict FAX transmittals to 10 pages or less, including cover page during the period 0630 through 1800 EDT, Monday through Friday. Transmittals greater than 10 pages should be sent in parts during this period or sent between the hours of 1900 thrugh 0600. If you do not have access to email or a facsimile machine, send your comments to: Advanced Research Projects Agency, Maritime Systems Technology Office, ATTN: Transtech Admin, 3701 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203.

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