Phillips Laboratory/PKLB, Lasers and Imaging Contracting Division, 2251 Maxwell Avenue SE, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5773

A -- ATOMOSPHERIC COMPENSATION ANALYSIS (ACA) SOL PRDA 96-01 POC Sanae Yata, Contract Specialist, 505/846-5119; Eileen Murer, 505/846- 4712 x363. PROGRAM RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ANNOUNCEMENT (PRDA) FOR ATMOSPHERIC COMPENSATION ANALYSIS (ACA): SOL PRDA 96-01. Contractual POC: Sanae Yata, Contract Specialist, PL/PKLB (505- 846-5119), or Sam Berdin, Contracting Officer, PL/PKLB (505-846- 1097). A -- The Phillips Laboratory (PL), Lasers and Imaging Directorate (LI), is interested in research to solve scientific and engineering problems on Adaptive and Atmospheric Optics Compensation. Proposals with new or unique ideas which enhance the state-of-the-art and scientific knowledge are solicited. All POTENTIAL OFFERORS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT DUE TO UNANTICIPATED BUDGET FLUCTUATIONS, FUNDING MAY CHANGE WITH LITTLE OR NO NOTICE. Proposals are desired for development of new and innovative concepts for real-time correction of tilt anisoplanatism induced by atmospheric turbulence, research of very high temporal bandwidth effects of atmospheric turbulence on ground-based laser receivers and transmitters corrected with adaptive optics, real-time adaptive control schemes and algorithms, concepts for the use of single and multiple artificial laser beacons generated in the mesospheric sodium layer for sensing higher-order wavefront distortions induced by atmospheric turbulence, atmospheric compensation in the presence of strong scintillation including advanced concepts and technologies for real-time compensation of the effects of atmospheric turbulence for laser beam propagation and imaging through turbulence which is distributed along all or most of the propagation path, techniques for providing a high quality reference beacon for adaptive optics systems, approaches for mitigation of the effects of scintillation on adaptive optics reference beacons, techniques for tracking of extended targets in the presence of strong scintillation including technologies for improving high bandwidth and real-time tracking of extended targets through atmospheric turbulence which distributed along the line of sight. Proposals are due 30 days after publication of this announcement. Funding is estimated at $250,000 per year extended over a three year performance period. The technical point of contact is Eileen Murer, 505-846-4712x363. B -- PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS: 1) Technical Proposal: The technical proposal shall include an Executive Summary, Program Description, Program Plan, Milestone Chart, Facilities, Equipment, and Key Individuals. The technical proposal shall also include a Statement of Work (SOW) detailing the technical tasks to be accomplished under the proposed effort and be suitable for contract incorporation. 2) Cost Proposal: The cost proposal price breakdown shall be prepared in accordance with FAR 15.804-6 and shall be in a format which includes the same information needed to complete a SF 1411, together with supporting schedules and person-hour breakdown per task. 3) Deliverable Items: Data Deliverables shall be proposed that will adequately provide the government with sufficient information to ascertain the effectiveness of the offerors operations. 4) Other Requirements: (a) Public Law 98-94 may be applicable to this program. Offerors must submit a DD Form 2345, Militarily critical Technical Data Agreement, to the Commander, Defense Logistics Service Center, Attn: DLSC-FBA, Federal Center, Battle Creek MI 49117-2084, (800)352-3572, for certification. The offeror is required to submit a copy of the approved DD Form 2345, including the required certification acceptance, to the buyer with each proposal. Failure to submit this certification may result in non-consideration for award, if it is determined to apply to the proposed effort. Offerors shall certify in their proposal that they will comply with all provisions of this law, (b) International Trade in Arms Restrictions (ITAR) may apply. Offerors must have appropriate ITAR clearances, if applicable, (c) Foreign owned firms are advised they will not be considered as possible prime contractors. 5) General Information: (a) Offerors should apply the restrictive notice prescribed in FAR 52.215-12, Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data to trade secrets or privileged commercial and financial information contained in their proposals, (b) Technical and cost proposals submitted in separate volumes are required and must be valid for a period of not less than 160 days from submission. Proposals must reference the above PRDA number, include a unique proposal identification number, identify the subject area of the proposal, and the technical point of contact. The Technical Proposal shall be limited to 25 pages (12 pitch or larger type), double spaced, single sided, 8.5 by 11 inch pages. The page limitation includes all information i.e. indices, photographs, foldouts, appendices, attachments, resumes, etc. Pages in excess of this limitation will not be considered by the government. The cost proposal has no page limitation, however, offerors are encouraged to keep cost proposals to a goal of 15 pages. Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or presentations beyond that sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal are not desired. Proposals shall be submitted in an original and four copies with the original being clearly marked as to distinguish it from the copies. Proposals shall be submitted to Phillips Laboratory (PL)/PKLB, Attn: Sanae Yata, 2251 Maxwell Avenue SE, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5773. (c) This announcement is an expression of interest only and does not commit the Government to pay for proposal preparation cost. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this PRDA is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or to any other contract. However, it may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost as specified in FAR 31.205-18. (d) If a subcontract(s) with a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) is proposed, offerors are reminded of the limitations in their use (see FAR 35.017) and must provide documentation in the proposal that work is not otherwise available from the private sector. (e) Each proposal shall reflect the potential for commercial application and the benefits expected to accrue from this commercialization. Discussions with any of the points of contact shall not constitute a commitment by the Government to subsequently fund or award any proposed effort. Only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government. C -- BASIS FOR AWARD: The selection of one proposal for award will be based upon an evaluation of an offerors response (both technical and cost) to determine the overall merit of the proposal addressing all of the requirements in this announcement and the availability of funds. Technical proposals will be evaluated using the following factors in descending order of importance: (1) demonstrated technical and scientific merit, (2) feasibility, (3) Offerors capabilities, related experience, facilities, techniques, etc (4) qualifications of key personnel and (5) the offerors record of present and past performance. Cost proposals will be evaluated for reasonableness and realism. Technical considerations are more important than cost. Proposals will be classified into one of the following three categories: (1) Category I - Well conceived scientifically and technically sound proposals pertinent to program goals and objectives and offered by a responsible contractor with the competent scientific and technical staff and supporting resources needed to ensure satisfactory program results. Proposals in Category I are recommended for acceptance and normally will be displaced only by other Category I proposals. (2) Category II - Scientifically or technically sound proposals that may require further development and can be recommended for acceptance but are at a lower priority than Category I. Proposals in this category are not always funded. (3) Category III - Proposals are recommended for rejection for the particular announcement under consideration. D -- This is an unrestricted competition. This program is anticipated to be unclassified. For the purposes of this PRDA, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code is 8731, 1000 employees. This CBD announcement in and of itself constitutes the PRDA as contemplated in FAR 6.102(d)(2). Pending availability of funds, one award is expected to be made within 120 days after the due date. A Cost Reimbursement type contract is expected to be awarded. Proposers are advised that a copy of each final report of any resultant contracts is available, subject to national disclosure policy and regulations. This PRDA will be posted on the PL Contracting Bulletin Board, the Science and Technology Acquisition Referral System (STARS). STARS is provided by the PL, Kirtland AFB NM as a service to industry and other interested parties. STARS is a means of disseminating key solicitation documents to allow contractors and other interested parties to access and download these documents into their existing computer systems. The STARS Bulletin Board is available on the Internet-- http,//www.plk.af.mil/. All files in the ''Show Available RFPs'' category are self-extracting executable (.EXE) files. In order to access STARS on the Internet, PC users need to run NETSCAPE or MOSAIC version 2.0 Beta 4. STARS BB POC: Sandra M Maes, PL/PKM, 505-846-4457. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear concerns from potential offerors during the proposal development phase for this effort. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the program director or contracting officer, but to communicate contractor concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations to the appropriate government personnel. Before contacting the Ombudsman, potential offerors should first communicate with the contracting officer. In those instances where offerors cannot obtain resolution from the contracting officer, they are invited to contact the PL Ombudsman, Col James D Ledbetter, PL Vice Commander, at 505-846-4964, or at 3550 Aberdeen Ave SE, Kirtland AFB NM 87117-5776. When requested, the Ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals or in the source selection process. (0082)

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