R&D Contracting Directorate, Bldg 7, 2530 C Street, WPAFB, OH 45433-7607

A -- NARROWBAND MID-IR OPTICAL PARAMETRIC OSCILATOR SOL BAA 97-04-AAK DUE 031897 POC Contact Dawn M. Ross, Contract Negotiator, (937) 255-5311 or Michele L. Dickman, Contracting Officer, (937) 255-2976 Wright Laboratory (WL) is interested in receiving proposals (technical and cost) on the research effort described in Section B. Proposals in response to this BAA shall be submitted by 18 March 1997, 1500 hours Eastern Standard Time, addressed to Wright Laboratory, Directorate of R&D Contracting (Attn: Dawn Ross), WL/AAKE, Building 7, 2530 C Street, WPAFB, OH 45433-7607. Proposals shall not be submitted via facsimile transmission. This is an unrestricted solicitation. Small businesses are encouraged to propose on all or any part of this solicitation. Proposals submitted shall be in accordance with this announcement. Proposal receipt after the cutoff date and time specified herein shall be treated in accordance with the restrictions of FAR 52.215-10; a copy of this provision may be obtained from the contracting point of contact cited in Section F. There will be no other solicitation issued in regard to the this requirement. Offerors should be alert for any amendments to this solicitation that may be published. This BAA may be amended to allow subsequent submission of proposal dates. Offerors should request a copy of the WL PRDA/BAA Guide for Industry. This guide was specifically designed to assist offerors in understanding the PRDA/BAA proposal process. Copies may be requested from the contracting point of contact or obtained via the World Wide Web site: www.wl.wpafb.af.mil/contract. B REQUIREMENTS: Technical Description: Significant advances have been made in demonstrating high power optical parametric oscillators (OPOs). However, many applications including laser radar, remote sensing, and high resolution spectroscopy require sources with narrow bandwidths yet broadband tunability. OPOs are easily tuned but they are difficult to operate with a narrow frequency bandwidth. Typically, narrowband performance is either achieved at the expense of conversion efficiency and output power/energy by using gratings or etalons, or a seed laser is used which restricts tuning to very small spectral regions. This program will develop the basic technology needed to demonstrate tunable and efficient narrowband OPOs which avoid or significantly reduce the limitations of current approaches. (1) The objectives of this procurement are: (a) Demonstrate Phase I feasibility of novel infrared (all wavelengths > 1 micron) OPO tuning techniques which are tunable over more than 500 nm and produce bandwidths as narrow as typical atmospheric absorption features. Techniques which are applicable to a variety of OPO nonlinear materials, laser operating conditions (e.g. Q-switched and cw), and environmental conditions (e.g. large temperature changes and vibration) are particularly desired. (b) In Phase II, demonstrate robust performance of a laboratory device which meets the above bandwidth and tunability requirements with negligible reduction in conversion efficiency and is scaleable to 5 Watts of average power or 500 mJ of energy per pulse. Any processes, algorithms, or materials developed as a part of this program will become Government property. (2) Deliverable Items: The following deliverable data items shall be proposed: (a) Status Report, DI-MGMT-80368A/T, monthly; (b) Funds and Man-Hour Expenditure Report, DI-FNCL-80331, monthly; (c) Project Planning Chart, DI-MGMT-80507A/T, monthly; (d) Contract Funds Status Report (CFSR), DI-MGMT-81468A/T, quarterly; (e) Presentation Material, DI-ADMN-81373A/T, as required; (f) Scientific and Technical Reports, Contractor's Billing Voucher, DI-MISC-80711A/T, monthly and (g) Scientific and Technical Reports, DI-MISC/80711A/T, (Draft and a Reproducible Final). The offerors shall include in their proposal a kickoff meeting at Wright Patterson AFB approximately two weeks after contract award. Technical reviews shall be conducted every six months with half at the contractor's facility and half at Wright Lab. Informal technical interchanges will occur as needed. (3) Security Requirements: This program will be conducted at the unclassified level. International Trade in Arms Restriction does apply. Public Law98-94, Withholding of Unclassified Technical Data from Public Disclosure, does apply. (4) Other Special Requirements: None C ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: (1) Anticipated Period of Performance: The total length of the technical effort is estimated to be 38 months. The contractor shall also provide for an additional 4 months for processing and completion of the final report. (2) Expected Award Date: 14 Jun 97 (3) Air Force Funding Estimate: The funding profile is $36K in FY97, $250K in FY98, $250K in FY99, $250K in FY00 and $100K in FY01 for $900K total. This funding profile is an estimate only and is not a promise for funding as all funding is subject to change due to the discretion of the Air Force and availability of funds. (4) Type of Instrument: Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) contract or Cost contract (no fee); or Assistance Instruments such as grants, cooperative agreements or other transactions. Any grant(s) or cooperative agreement(s) awarded will be cost (no fee) or cost share. Other transactions must be cost share. (5) Government Furnished Property: None contemplated. No Base support is anticipated. (6) Size/Status: For the purpose of this acquisition, the size standard is 500 employees (SIC 8731). (7) Notice to Foreign-Owned Firms: Such firms are asked to immediately notify the contracting point of contact upon deciding to respond to this announcement. Foreign contractors should be aware that restrictions apply which could preclude their participation in this acquisition. D PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS: General Instructions: Offerors should apply the restrictive notice prescribed in the provision at FAR 52.215-12, Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data, to trade secrets or privileged commercial and financial information contained in their proposals. Proposal questions should be directed to one of the points of contact listed below. Offerors should refer to the instructions contained in the WL "PRDA and BAA Guide for Industry" referenced in Section A of this announcement. Separate technical and cost proposal volumes are required and must be valid for 180 days. Proposals must reference the above BAA number. Proposals shall be submitted in an original and six (6) copies. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which shall be evaluated against the criteria set forth below in Section E -- Basis of Award. Offerors are advised that only contracting officers are legally authorized to contractually bind or otherwise commit the Government. (2) Technical Proposal: The technical proposal shall include a discussion of the nature and scope of the research and the technical approach. Additional information on prior work in this area, descriptions of available equipment, data and facilities, and resumes of personnel who will be participating in this effort should also be included as attachments to the technical proposal and are included in the page limit discussed below. The technical proposal shall include a Statement of Work (SOW) detailing the technical tasks and phases to be accomplished under the proposed effort and suitable for contract incorporation. Offerors should refer to the WL Guide to assist in SOW preparation. Any questions concerning the technical proposal or SOW preparation should be referred to the technical point of contact cited below. (3) Cost Proposal: Adequate price competition is anticipated. The accompanying cost proposal/price breakdown shall be furnished with supporting schedules and shall contain a per-hour breakdown per task and also by calendar year. (4) Page Limitations: The technical proposal shall be limited to 75 pages (12 pitch or larger type), double-spaced, single-sided, 8.5x11 inches. The page limitation includes all information (indices, photographs, appendices, etc.) Pages in excess of this limitation will be removed from the proposal and will not be evaluated by the Air Force. Cost proposals have no page limitation, however, offerors are requested to limit cost proposals to 20 pages. (5) Preparation Cost: This announcement does not commit the Air Force to pay for any proposal preparation cost. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this BAA is not an allowable direct charge to any resulting award, or any other procurement instrument. However, it may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost as specified in FAR 31.205-18. E BASIS FOR AWARD: The selection of one or more sources for award will be based on an evaluation of an offeror's technical and cost proposals to determine the overall merit of the proposal in response to the announcement. The technical proposal, which is ranked as the first order of priority, shall be evaluated based on the following criteria listed in descending order of importance: (1) Understanding the Problem -- The offeror's proposal will be evaluated on the degree to which it demonstrates theoretical and experimental understanding of all optical, mechanical, and electrical processes as well as materials to be used. The proposal will be evaluated on the degree to which approaches are shown to be theoretically feasible, if not yet demonstrated experimentally. (2) Soundness of Approach -- The offeror's proposal will be evaluated with respect to the soundness, reliability, and simplicity of the approach. Discussion of potential problems and possible alternative solutions will also be evaluated. (3) Personnel -- The availability of qualified technical personnel and their experience with applicable technologies including mid-IR OPOs will be evaluated. (4) Statement of Work -- Organization, clarity, and thoroughness of the proposed Statement of Work will be evaluated. (5) Compliance with Requirements -- The offeror's proposal will be evaluated on the degree to which all reporting requirements have been addressed as well as demonstration of efficient and effective management of technical activities. Cost and/or price, which includes consideration of proposed budgets and funding profiles, is a substantial factor, but is ranked as the second order of priority. No other evaluation criteria will be used. The technical and costproposals will be evaluated at the same time. The Air Force reserves the right to select for award any, all, part, or none of the proposal(s) received. Award of a grant, cooperative agreement, or other transaction in lieu of a contract will be considered and will be subject to the mutual agreement of both parties. F POINTS OF CONTACT: (1) An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear concerns from offerors and potential offerors during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the contracting officer but to communicate contractor concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations to the appropriate Air Force personnel. All potential offers should use established channels to voice concerns before resorting to use the Ombudsman. 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. The Ombudsman should only be contacted with issues or problems that have been previously brought to the attention of the contracting officer and could not be satisfactorily resolved at that level. These serious concerns only may be directed to the Ombudsman, Mr. Daniel L Kugel, ASC/SY, Bldg 52, 2475 K St, Suite 1, Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7642, email kugeldl@sy.wpafb.af.mil, phone (513) 255-3855. (2) Technical Point of Contact: Dr. Larry Myers, WL/AAJL, 2700 D St. Suite 2 Wright-Patterson Air Force Base OH 45433-7405, email myersle@aa.wpafb.af.mil, phone (937) 255-3804 x309. (3) Contracting/Cost Point of Contact: Ms Dawn Ross, WL/AAKE, Bldg 7, 2530 C Street, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base OH 45433-7607, (513) 255-3379. (0022)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0003 19970124\A-0003.SOL)