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COMMERCE BUSINESS DAILY ISSUE OF FEBRUARY 25,2000 PSA#2544

Contracts Group, Bldg 588, Mail Stop 32, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, MD 20670-5304

A -- SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND INTEGRATION (SE&I) ORGANIZATIONS IN THE AREA OF AIRBORNE BATTLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (ABMS) TARGETED FOR INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND COMMAND AND CONTROL (C2) FOR TACTICAL IN-FLIGHT APPLICATIONS SOL N00421-00-R-0384 DUE 032300 POC Ms. Chris Marshall, Contract Specialist (301) 342-0055 E-MAIL: E-mail address of the Contract Specialist, Marshallcf@navair.navy.mil. AIRBORNE BATTLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) N00421-00-R-0384 I. INTRODUCTION. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is announcing this BAA to obtain science and technology (S&T) and research and development (R&D) proposals from systems engineering and integration (SE&I) organizations in the area of Airborne Battle Management System (ABMS) targeted for information management and command and control (C2) for tactical in-flight applications. II. GENERAL INFORMATION. The Navy under the ABMS program has been working to develop and demonstrate the emerging focus of Naval Operations on Naval aircraft performing land attacks in the littoral environment, as expressed in "Forward from the Sea". Emerging concepts shift military focus from a platform-centric to a network-centric view of real-time information superiority for time critical detection, decision, engagement and targeting. Naval aircraft will play an increasingly important role as the "high ground" elements of the Naval Force, consequently increasing the demands for connectivity and decision making in the tactical airborne command and control centers. ABMS specifically addresses the problems related to obtaining, processing, managing, and disseminating information to support this expanded role of Naval Aviation. The overall objective of the ABMS program is to automatically handle the vast amount of data collected, and to automatically filter and route the right information to the right operators at the right time. This would include merging multimedia information and fragmenting massive files (i.e., imagery) to deliver only the portions (i.e., image fragments) relevant to the task. It should be primarily a software solution. ABMS is a three- fold program demonstrating: (1) development, application, and/or implementation of concepts for intelligent 4-D (space time) in-flight multimedia information management for substantial bandwidth/ timeline reduction and improved decision support, including where appropriate the integration of the ground picture with the air picture to create one Single Integrated Battle Picture (SIBR); (2) system engineering analysis for implementation and integration of the ABMS concept into appropriate aircraft (E-2C, F/A-18, UAVs, MV-22, Marine Corps helicopters, etc.) to provide tactical airborne Network Centric battle management command and control capability (including determining what software elements are needed/ desirable in each platform) and (3) the Phase 2, if awarded, will consist of simulations, laboratory, and flight demonstrations to demonstrate the tactical utility of the ABMS concepts and technologies identified in phase 1. The technologies and the ABMS system will be demonstrated at contractor/Navy facilities in a series of laboratory and dome simulations as well as feasibility/flight demonstrations. This program will support both Navy and Marine Corps Airborne C3 platforms and be required to inter-operate with surface land attack elements. Expected benefits from this program are improved management of the airborne command and control assets; reduced bandwidth required by the C2, surveillance and strike platforms; improved tactical airborne Network Centric battle management capability; and improved airborne tactical command and control to the strike assets. The program will be divided into two phases. Phase 1 will consist of SE&I studies, evaluations and analyses; assessment of the deficiencies in current operations, and development of preliminary CONOPS; evaluation of potential technological solutions, selection of the appropriate technologies, and development of the system architecture; determine the impact of implementing the ABMS technologies into the various aircraft; develop a program roadmap; etc. Contractors should make use of related technology efforts being pursued by the Navy, Army, Air Force, DARPA and industry (including COTS) pertinent to this development. III. AREAS OF INTEREST. ABMS will develop and/or apply key technologies for managing and disseminating information in real time and integrate these technologies into a command and control battle management system. Work is being solicited in the areas related to: 1. Technologies to support the automatic processing, filtering, managing and dissemination in real time of both data and imagery in the context of Airborne Battle Management. Specifically, technologies that: a. Are able to automatically integrate information, both data and imagery, from various sources; b. Are able to automatically extract the pertinent information from the information collected and catalog it; c. Are able to automatically decide what platforms should get the extracted information and when those platforms should get it; d. Enable network-centric operations; e. Provide the right information to the right people at the right time. 1. Analysis of supporting technologies for time critical engagement and targeting. Areas include: a. Geo-registration of off-board sensor data (e.g. EO, IR, SAR, MSI, HIS) into a 3-D terrain database; b. Facilitate the identification and precision-targeting location of time critical targets and provides both the planning and information distribution infrastructures required to distribute the targeting information to the appropriate shooter. 1. Engineering analysis for implementation of ABMS into the appropriate platforms: a. Design of the ABMS architecture for implementation into platforms; b. Use of COTS and open systems for the architecture; c. The developed architecture must have a clear roadmap for potential insertion on naval tactical air platforms; 4. Technologies for tactical airborne Network Centric real time information management and command and control for time critical sensor to shooter technologies. Areas include. a. Continuous surveillance and BDI/BDA; information gathering & management; multi-mission coordination/deconfliction; dynamic ROE & ATO; real time targeting/re-targeting; real time management of reconnaissance, surveillance, & targeting assets; supporting strike operations; real time adaptation of Air Control Plans; target/weapon pairing; precision fire; automated distributed/decentralized weaponeering; platform survivability and optimizing weapons and sensor resources, etc. b. Image analysis, automatic target cueing, image fragment selection, information distribution, dynamic rapid mission planning/re-planning and route planning/re-planning, enhanced decision support software, and correlation of the ground picture with theatre combat identification databases for the development of a SIBP. IV. CONTRACT/AGREEMENT TYPE. NAVAIR is willing to consider various types of contract vehicles including traditional FAR/DFARS type contracts and /or non-procurement agreements (e.g. Cooperative Agreements, and Other Transactions). Other Transactions will be entered into under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2371 (Congressional direction requires that at least 50 percent of the cost of a project under this initiative be provided by industry) and "Section 845, Authority to Carry Out Certain Prototype Projects." Information concerning "Other Transactions" can be found at http://www.darpa/mil and http://www.acq.osd.mil/ddre/research. NAVAIR anticipates the immediate funding availability to be $400,000.00 with a potential funding increase up to $800,000.00 for a total anticipated funding availability of $1,200,000.00. V. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENT. All proposals will be submitted as full proposals for Phase I only. Full proposals should be submitted in two (2) volumes: Volume I, Technical Proposal, and Volume II, Cost Proposal. Proposals will be evaluated by the criteria cited in Section VI. Proposals shall be submitted in electronic form utilizing Microsoft Word Version 4.0 to the email address: Marshallcf@navair.navy.mil. VOLUME I -- TECHNICAL PROPOSAL. Technical proposals should not exceed twenty-five (25) pages and include the following two sections: Section I Executive Summary: Provide a brief technical and business description of the contents of the proposal. The technical area should address the proposal's technical goals, approach, and expected results. The business area should address business and/or commercial applications of the proposal technology. Section 2 Technical Issues: Give a detailed explanation of the technical approach, objectives, staffing and resources relating to the development of the proposed technology for military and commercial (if applicable) use. Discuss clearly and specifically in realistic terms the technical objectives of this proposed effort; include a Statement of Work (SOW) that discusses the specific tasks to be accomplished, tied to the specific approach and goals of the project with a detailed description of the current and planned facilities and equipment to accomplish the research objectives. A description of past performance on similar efforts should be included within Section 2. VOLUME II -- COST PROPOSAL. The following information should be included in the cost proposal: elements of cost (labor, direct materials, travel, other direct costs, equipment, software, patents, royalties,indirect costs, and cost of money). Sufficient information should be provided in supporting documents to allow the Government to evaluate the reasonableness of these proposed costs, including salaries, overhead, equipment purchases, fair market rental value of leased items, and the method used for making such valuations. Proposals should contain sufficient information regarding the resources to be provided by the Government so that an evaluation of their availability, timeliness, and control may be made. VI. EVALUATION CRITERIA. The government will evaluate proposals responsive to any or all of the areas of interest discussed herein. The primary evaluation criteria, of equal weight are: (1) Scientific and technical merits of the proposed research to include, (a) the degree to which proposed research and development objectives support the targeted technical topic and (b) validity of the technical basis for the approach offered; (2) relevance and potential contributions of the research to the objectives of the Airborne Battle Management System (ABMS) program, and (3) potential transition paths. Other evaluation criteria, of lesser importance than (1) and (2) but equal to each other, are (3) The adequacy of current or planned facilities and equipment to accomplish the research objectives; (4) The realism and reasonableness of cost, including proposed cost sharing: and (5) Past performance on similar efforts. If cost sharing is proposed, then the issue of data rights must be addressed. This notice constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement as contemplated by FAR 6.102(d)(2). Proposals will not be evaluated against each other since each is a unique technology with no common work statement. There is no commitment by the NAVY to make any awards, to make a specific number of awards, or to be responsible for any monies expended by the proposer before award of a contract/agreement. Information provided herein is subject to amendment and in no way binds the Government to award of a contract/agreement. Unless otherwise statedherein, no additional written information is available, nor will a formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. Requests for the same will be disregarded. The Government reserves the right to select all, some or none of the proposals received in response to this announcement. REQUEST FOR A FULL PROPOSAL DOES NOT GUARENTEE AWARD SELECTION. This BAA is open for 30 days from the publication date of this notice. Proposals may be submitted at any time during this period and will be evaluated upon receipt. This BAA is also listed at WWW.NAVAIR.NAVY.MIL (Business Opportunity/ Open Solicitation). Points of Contacts (POC): Contract Specialist, Ms. Chris Marshall, (301) 342-0055; Technical POC, Gerald Mersten. Posted 02/23/00 (W-SN427838). (0054)

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