AFMC, Air Force Research Laboratory/IFK, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY 13441-4514

A -- MOVING SURFACE TARGET ENGAGEMENT (MSTE) SOL BAA 99-01-IFKPA DUE 011599 POC Bruce L. Johnson, DARPA Program Manager, (703) 248-1521, email bjohnson@darpa.mil; Jon S. Jones, AFRL Program Manager, (315) 330-1665, email jonesj@rl.af.mil; Joetta A. Bernhard, Contracting Officer, (315) 330-2308, email bernhard@rl.af.mil WEB: Briefing and proposal instructions, questions and answers., http://www.if.afrl.af.mil/div/IFK/baa/baa9901.html. E-MAIL: Click here to contact Program Managers or Contracting, bjohnson@darpa.mil; jonesj@rl.af.mil; and bernhard@rl.af.mil.. The DARPA Sensor Technology Office (STO) and Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate, Information and Intelligence Exploitation Division are conducting research and development of innovative concepts and techniques for the engagement of moving surface targets. The focus is on weapon system technologies that enable precise, affordable, all-weather engagement of a wide range of moving surface targets including those on land and sea. In particular, the use of netted GMTI/SAR sensors to provide precision fire control for inexpensive, "non-smart" weapons is to be explored. Since one of the primary goals is affordability, the emphasis is on using existing and planned sensors with existing or modified (reduced cost) weapons. MSTE will exploit advances to the state of the art in all elements of the kill chain, including tracking, combat ID, targeting, weapons, and battle management/command, control, and communications (BM/C3). The program is expected to be a multi-phase effort. Initially, the work will focus on weapon system studies and tracking. Other supporting technologies associated with combat ID and advanced processing for GMTI may also be pursued, but at a lower level. The weapon system studies will conduct system trades to address the value and tactical utility of a robust MSTE, identify the technological advances which offer the highest payoff and outline experimental architectures and campaigns to explore the critical technical issues associated with real-time precision, GMTI fire control. Subsequent efforts, outside the scope of this solicitation, will focus on fire control and weapon system experimentation to support MSTE risk reduction. Researchers will be required to articulate and develop the fundamental kill chain elements of an end-to-end MSTE architecture that will be robust to natural interference sources and enemy countermeasures, and will represent a clear advancement to the state-of-the-art in terms of both performance and cost. These elements include; tracking, combat ID, targeting, weapon assignment, weapon delivery, guidance techniques, and kill assessment. Program participants must be attentive to the supporting infrastructure (i.e. BM/C3 elements) required to fully realize the technical advantages of advanced kill chain elements in realistic operational contexts. Participants in the weapon system studies must be capable of performing quantitative architecture-level performance estimates in order to assess the utility of recommended concepts/techniques and perform architectural trade-offs involving alternative combinations of recommended elements. Participants will also be responsible for devising experimentation and data collection plans to support the evaluation of recommended concepts/techniques. The tracking technology portion of the project will develop the tracking algorithms required to perform maintenance (low update rate) through precision (high update rate) tracking. The critical technical challenges include registration, association, and estimation using multiple sensors of varying metric accuracy's, update rates and viewing angles. Innovative techniques are sought which exploit all potentially available sensor and situational information including terrain-aided and target feature-aided techniques. Coordinated, instrumented, multi-platform data collection is also sought for tracker evaluation on real data. Supporting technologies such as advanced GMTI processing techniques (e.g. Space-Time Adaptive Processing) will also be explored for ECCM and minimum detectable velocity (MDV) enhancement. Low-cost options for collecting multi-aperture GMTI data are also sought. Advanced techniques for combat ID are also sought which exploit the inherent advantages associated with moving targets and multiple viewing angles, as well as the potential benefits of exploiting complex GMTI radar data. Offerors may propose the tracking technology only, or portions of the supporting technology areas. Offerors who propose the weapon system studies portion, are strongly encouraged to also propose the tracking portion. This BAA will have multiple awards, with a base period of 18 months. It is anticipated that 2 -- 3 awards will be made in the architecture area; 2 -- 3 awards in the tracking area; and 3 -- 4 awards in the targeting technology area. Awards of efforts as a result of this BAA will be in the form of contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or other transactions depending upon the nature of the work proposed. Most awards are expected O/A 22 Feb 99. Work to be performed may require SECRET/NOFORN facility clearance and safeguarding capability. Therefore, personnel identified for assignment to a classified effort must be cleared for access to SECRET/NOFORN information at the time of award. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION. PROPOSALS ARE REQUESTED. Offerors are required to submit an original and (3) copies of their proposal (technical and cost) to AFRL/IFEM, ATTN: Jon Jones, 32 Brooks Road, Rome, NY 13441-4114 by 15 January 1999. Technical proposals are limited to atotal page count of seventy-five (75) pages and shall be double-spaced with a font no smaller than 12 pitch. An unclassified briefing for all interested firms will be held on 3 Dec 98, at AFRL/IF, Bldg 106, 26 Electronics Parkway, Rome, NY 13441-4514 at 0900 hours. A briefing package, including complete instructions for proposal preparation, will be made available to all attendees. Please contact Jon S. Jones at (315) 330-1665, or e-mail jonesj@rl.af.mil, not later than 2 Dec 98 if you plan to attend. Firms who do not attend the briefing, but desire to have a copy of the material should provide their firm name, point of contact, complete address, phone number, FAX number, and e-mail address to Mary L. Lovett at (315) 330-7720 or e-mail lovettm@rl.af.mil not later than 2 Dec 98. Alternatively, the briefing and instructions may be obtained at the following Web address: http://www.if.afrl.af.mil/div/IFK/baa/baa9901.html. The previously cited Web site is also available to answer technical program and contractualquestions. This site will be open from 3 Dec 98 to 23 Dec 98. All questions and answers will be posted to this Web site. Evaluation of proposals will be accomplished using the following criteria: (l) overall scientific and technical merit, (2) potential contribution and relevance to this effort, (3) innovativeness of the proposed approach and/or techniques, (4) offeror's capabilities and related experience, and (5) cost realism and reasonableness. In addition, the Government will consider other factors, such as past and present performance on recent Government contracts and the capacity to perform the requirements of the effort. The total value for all awards under this BAA shall not exceed $40,000,000. Foreign participation at the prime contractor level is not authorized for this acquisition. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this announcement is not an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or any other contract, but may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost in FAR 31.205-18. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear significant concerns from offerors or potential offerors during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. Routine questions are not considered to be "significant concerns" and should be communicated directly to the Contracting Officer, Joetta A. Bernhard, (315) 330-2308. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the Contracting Officer or Program Manager, but to communicate contractor concerns, issues, disagreements and recommendations to the appropriate Government personnel. The Ombudsman for this acquisition is Vincent Palmiero, Chief, Policy and Management Division, AFRL/IFK at (315) 330-7746. When requested, the Ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of the proposals or in the source selection process. This BAA is open and effective for eighteen (18) months from the date of the publication of this notice. To receive a copy of the AFRL "BAA & PRDA: A Guide for Industry," Sep 1996 (Rev), write ATTN: Lucille Argenzia, AFRL/IFK, 26 Electronics Parkway, Rome, NY 13441-4514, or fax her at FAX 315-330-4728, or the guide may be accessed at: http://www.rl.af.mil/div/IFK/bp-guide.html. All responsible firms may submit proposals which shall be considered. Respondents are asked to provide their Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) number with their proposal(s) and reference BAA 99-01-IFKPA. Only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government. AFRL/Information Directorate, 26 Electronics Pkwy, Rome, NY 13441-4514 Posted 11/17/98 (W-SN272277). (0321)

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