Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Contracts Competency, Division 2.6.3, Bldg 588, MS 32, Patuxent River, Maryland 20670-5304

A -- RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE APPLICABLE TO RADIO FREQUENCY SENSOR SYSTEMS FOR NAVY AIRCRAFT SOL N00421-97-BAA-0001 POC Technical POC Mr. Stuart Altizer, (301) 342-9177, Contractual POC Ms. JoAnn R. Gough, (301) 342-1844 X150. This is a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the RF Sensors Branch of the Avionics Division of NAWCAD Patuxent River Maryland, issued under the provisions of paragraphs 35.016 and 6.102(d)(2) of the Federal Acquisition Regulation which provides for the competitive selection of research proposals for scientific study or experimentation directed toward advancing the state-of-the-art or increasing knowledge or understanding. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River Maryland is interested in receiving proposals for the research efforts described below. This announcement is an expression of interest only and does not commit the Government to make any award or to pay for any response preparation costs. The cost of proposal preparation for response to a BAA is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resultant contract or any other contract. This BAA is to solicit technical/cost proposals for research in technologies that are applicable to Radio Frequency (RF) Sensor systems for Navy Aircraft. Major areas of interest include (1) Signal Processing, (2) Antennas and Propagation, (3) Information Processing, and (4) Devices and Materials. New, innovative and creative approaches to technical problems that significantly advance system performance are sought. Among the primary interest areas are AEW radar operating at UHF through L bands and S-band, tactical radar operating at C, X and Ku bands, and C3I systems operating at any radio frequency throughout the spectrum. Examples of technologies include, but are not limited to, antennas, conformal arrays, propagation, scattering, computational electromagnetics, phased array antenna concepts, devices and materials, optical componenets/fiber optics, photonics and monolithic microwave integrated circuits, high power broadband T/R modules and associated subassembly/device technologies, direct digital synthesis exciter concepts, massively parallel processing architectures for multi-channel space-time adaptive processing (STAP), software engineering, and advanced signal processing concepts for multi-mode sensor operation. THERE WILL BE NO FORMAL REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL OR ANY SOLICITATION DOCUMENT ISSUED IN REGARD TO THIS BAA. Offerors are required to submit three copies of a two to three page white paper on their proposed research topic. The white paper should be formatted as follows: Section A: Title, period of performance, cost of effort, and name of company, Section B: Task objective, and Section C: Technical Summary. Multiple white papers may be submitted in different areas of technology. The purpose of the white paper is to preclude unwarranted effort on the part of the offeror whose proposed work is not of interest under this BAA. Those white papers found to be consistent with the intent of the BAA and of interest to the Government may be invited to submit a proposal. Such an invitation does not assure that the submitting company will be awarded a subsequent contract. When proposals are submitted, they should consist of a clear statement of objectives, a technical section which should include, but not necessarily be limited to, expected contribution of the hardware/research to the DOD RF Sensors Mission, analysis that supports feasibility, background experience, concepts, ideas, methodology, a statement of work and milestones, a biographical section describing key individuals, and a cost section. The technical proposal shall not exceed 50 pages. The cost proposal shall be submitted in a format in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 15.804. Proposed technologies should be fully addressed as part of an overall system concept and include platform considerations as applicable. The proposed effort can include research and/or development and demonstration of relevant processing concepts and/or enabling technologies and hardware. Risk, potential payoffs, and time frame for proof-of-concept demonstration should also be included. For planning purposes, the period of performance is estimated to be one to three years at a level of effort of approximately one to four man-years per year. The contract type is anticipated to be a Cost plus fixed fee completion. The selection of one or more sources for contract award will be based on a scientific review of proposals submitted in response to the BAA. The major purpose of the evaluation will be to determine the relative merit of the technical approach of each proposal. Business and contractual aspects, including proposed cost and cost realism, will also be considered as part of the evaluation. Selection of proposals for award will be based on the potential benefits to the Government compared to the cost of the proposals, in view of the availability of funds. The specific evaluation criteria are as follows: (1) Potential contributions of the effort to DOD priorities in RF Sensor related technologies; (2) Overall scientific and technical merits of the proposal; (3) The offeror's capabilities, related experience, and facilities; and (4) Proposed cost, adjusted for cost realism. In addition, the Government may consider other factors, such as, past and present performance on recent Government contracts and the capacity and capability to perform the requirements of the effort. No further evaluation criteria will be used in selecting proposals. This announcement will be open for one year from the date of publication. Awards may be made at any time throughout the year. Submission of a proposal is not restricted in any way to any particular entity. Any negotiations that may be necessary will be conducted between the offeror and the contracting officer and only contracting officers are legally authorized to commit the Government. The white papers in additon to any technical questions shall be submitted to Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Mr. Stuart Altizer Code 4.5.5.5., Bldg 2187, MS 3, Patuxent River Maryland, 20670-5304. (0289)

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