Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contracts Management Office (CMO), 3701 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA 22203-1714

A -- LOW COST INTERCEPTOR SEEKERS SOL BAA 98-17 DUE 041398 POC Technical: LTC William R. Johnson, USA, DARPA/STO (FAX: 703-522-6108); Contracts: Alan Frederick, DARPA/CMD (Phone: 703-696-0047, FAX: 703-696-2208) WEB: http://www.darpa.mil, http://www.darpa.mil. E-MAIL: BAA98-17@darpa.mil, BAA98-17@darpa.mil. Within the meaning of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) at 6.102 and at 35.016, this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) constitutes DARPA's entire solicitation for this Research and Development (R&D). PROGRAM REQUIREMENT: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Sensor Technology Office (STO), is soliciting proposals for the concept development phase of a low cost seeker system program, capable against a wide array of air vehicle threats. The relatively low cost and simple technology involved in building subsonic air vehicles, along with availability of low cost, highly accurate guidance and control systems, make the proliferation of cruise missiles, unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), and low, slow flying, piloted aircraft likely threats in future conflicts. These threats would travel at low speed, have moderately low RCS and IR signatures, and lack the sophistication to conduct reactive maneuvers, as well as the inability to direct electronic countermeasures against interceptors. However, these threats could fly as low as 100 meters over land, and 30 meters over water, and may be jet-powered, propeller or rotary-wing driven. They may be employed in a surveillance role, may carry a small number of weapons, troops, or supplies, or be capable of jamming surveillance, fire control, navigation, or communications systems. Additionally, such systems could be capable of dispersing chemical and biological agents. Proposed seekers (sensor, gimbal if applicable, signal and data processing, and guidance electronics) must be able to meet the following constraints when tactically packaged: weigh less than 30 pounds, survive >100 g's axially and operate in presence of 50 g's laterally, fit into 6 -- 10 inch diameter by 12 -- 24 inch long volume, consume less than 1000 watts, and be capable of acquiring and homing on a passive threat which has been designated to a cue volume of (nominally) 1 cubic km -- all at significantly lower cost (in production quantities of 3000) than current seekers. In general, low cost, weight, size, and power are highly desired features, as is the capability to operate in a wide variety of weather conditions. Packages with multiple sensors that, as a whole seeker system, meet the above constraints are encouraged (e.g., passive sensor for homing on jammer signal in midcourse and active sensor for terminal homing). Conversely, a family of modular seekers which cover different threats is also of interest. The proposed seeker(s) need not be capable of engaging all threat types, but a multi-threat capability is highly desired. Offerors should also consider threat and handover quality excursions to assess the robustness of their concept. Offerors are expected to be capable of designing, fabricating, and bench testing a prototype seeker in future phases of the program. Offerors are required to indicate, at least notionally, how their concept fits into an interceptor and overall air defense system, and must identify and characterize any off-board sensor requirements beyond the cue volume stated. PROGRAM PLAN: DARPA's current plan contemplates not more than three separate awards for amounts not exceeding $500,000. The period of performance for each award will be 9 months, estimated to be from June 1998 through February 1999. An Offeror's preference for a type of procurement vehicle (contract, grant, cooperative agreement, "other transaction" agreement) should be addressed in the Offeror's proposal. Awards, or authorizations to proceed, are expected in May 1998. Based on the success of this concept development phase, it is the intent of DARPA/STO to progress into subsequent design, fabrication, and demonstration phases using some, none, or all of the awarded concepts. Offerors should describe and cost (to rough order of magnitude) options to take their concept through these phases to captive flight test. INDUSTRY BRIEFING FOLLOW-UP: An Industry Briefing relative to this BAA was held on 24 February 1998. All questions were taken for the record and will be answered via the Frequently Asked Questions file for this BAA on the Internet at http://www.darpa.mil/baa/98-17 by 26 February 1998. The unclassified version of the briefing will also be available at the Internet site at this time. Classified sections can be requested at BAA98-17@darpa.mil. ABSTRACTS: An Offeror is strongly encouraged to submit an abstract (a.k.a. "white paper") of its proposed concept to preclude unwarranted effort on the part of an offeror in preparing a full proposal, and on the part of the Government in reviewing one. An abstract is not required. Any Offeror whose abstract is found to be consistent with the intent of this BAA will be invited to submit a full technical and cost proposal. Such an invitation does not assure any subsequent award. Regardless of the recommendation resulting from the review of an Offeror's abstract, all interested Offerors, including those Offerors who receive negative responses to their abstracts, may submit proposals. Abstracts should be submitted in the following format: (A) 8.5 x 11 inches, single or double spaced, margins not less than one inch, one sided printing, pages numbered, in at least 10 point type, (B) Title page -- clearly labeled "PROPOSAL ABSTRACT" including this BAA number, proposal title, plus offeror's administrative and technical points of contact along with telephone and facsimile numbers, and an authorized officer' signature, (C) Summary (two pages maximum) to include the technical ideas proposed. Abstracts may be classified SECRET. Abstracts in excess of 2 pages may not be reviewed. Abstracts less than the maximum number of pages will not be penalized. A maximum of two abstracts will be accepted from each offeror. The original and one copy of each abstract referencing BAA 98-17 shall be submitted to BAA98-17 Abstract, DARPA, 3701 North Fairfax, Arlington, Virginia, 22203-1714. Abstracts will be accepted until 4:00 PM EST on 10 March 1998. EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR PROPOSALS: Proposals will be evaluated through a scientific review using the following criteria: (1) low cost potential, (2) technical feasibility, (3) system performance, (4) robustness of system performance, and (5) capabilities, experience, and qualifications of the key personnel. These criteria are weighted as follows: (1), highest rated; (2), of lower weight than (1), but of greater weight than criteria (3), (4), and (5). These latter criteria are equal in weight to each other. Individual proposals evaluations will be based on acceptability or unacceptability without regard to other proposals submitted under this BAA. Further, due to budgetary constraints, all acceptable proposals may not be funded. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals it receives. PROPOSALS: Proposals shall be submitted in two volumes. PROPOSALS SENT BY FAX OR E-MAIL WILL BE DISREGARDED. Volume I shall be the Offeror's Technical Proposal; Volume II -- Cost Proposal. A maximum of two proposals may be accepted from each Offeror. The proposals shall be prepared in the following format: 8.5x 11 inches, one and one-half line spacing or double spaced, in at least 10 point type, one sided printing, with pages numbered. Volume I may be classified SECRET and shall be no longer than 15 pages to include figures, tables, enclosures and attachments. Use of foldouts is discouraged. Proposals with Volume I in excess of 15 pages may not be reviewed. Proposals less than the maximum number of pages will not be penalized. Offerors are encouraged to submit concise, but descriptive proposals. Volume I of the proposal shall include as a minimum: a cover page including BAA number, proposal title, Offeror's technical and administrative points of contact, address, phone, fax number, and email address; a summary of the Offeror's approach to the problem statement; appropriately detailed substantiation of technical and cost claims; a statement of work to include descriptions of anticipated tasks; a description of potential risk reduction activities, if appropriate; a description of the anticipated results and deliverables from the program; a milestones and schedule summary; a description (two pages, maximum) of the follow-on phases of the program; a description of any potential proprietary issues or an explicit statement denying any proprietary claims; and a section describing the Offerors capabilities and accomplishments relevant to this task. In addition, Volume I shall contain a management plan which describes the overall management approach, the planned project organization, the identification of any government facilities or equipment to be used, and general planning and control practices. Volume II of the proposal shall be no longer than 15 pages. The costs shall be summarized on a single page and then detailed in the remaining pages. Costs, labor hours, and rationale for direct labor by task, travel, material, computer usage and other direct and indirect costs shall be provided. Rough-Order-Of-Magnitude (ROM) estimates for follow-on phases (options) should be included in this volume. Any offers of cost sharing shall be explicitly detailed. The original proposal and four copies should be mailed to BAA 98-17 Proposal, DARPA, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia, 22203-1714. Proposals will be accepted until 4:00 PM EST on 13 April 1998. OTHER NOTICES: HBCU/MI: All responsible sources that submit a proposal shall be considered by DARPA. Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Minority Institutions (MI) are encouraged to submit proposals and/or join others in submitting proposals. However, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCU and MI participation due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of the requisite technology for exclusive competition among these entities. DARPA will treat all information submitted in support of this BAA as competition-sensitive and proprietary. Contractor Support of Source Selection: The Government will employ CEXEC, Inc., and SAIC, Inc., both of Arlington, VA, to assist in the management and administration of abstracts and proposals. Thesesupport contractors are restricted by their contracts from disclosing any abstract and/or proposal information, or using it for other than their assigned tasks. Further, relevant personnel of these organizations are required to sign organizational conflict of interest and non-disclosure statements. In the absence of any notice to Government that identifies information that should not be made available to either of these support contractors, the submission of an abstract and/or a proposal constitutes authorization for the Government to disclose the contents of these documents (abstracts and/or proposals) to these support contractors for the limited purposes described above. ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Awards made under this BAA are subject to the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Subpart 9.5, Organizational Conflict of Interest. All Offerors and proposed subcontractors must affirmatively state whether they are supporting any DARPA technical office(s) through an active contract(s) or subcontract(s). All affirmations must state which DARPA office(s) the Offeror supports, and provide the prime contract number. Affirmations shall be furnished at the time of proposal submission. All facts relevant to the existence or potential existence of organizational conflicts of interest, as that term is defined in FAR 9.501, must be disclosed. This disclosure shall include a description of the action the Offeror has taken, or proposes to take, to avoid, neutralize, or mitigate such conflict(s). E-mail is preferred, and please direct communications to appropriate point-of-contact. (0056)

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