A -- RAPID AIRBOURNE RECONNAISSANCE FOR MINE DETECTION OVER THE VERY SHALLOW WATER, SURF AND BEACH ZONES

Notice Date

December 6, 2000

Contracting Office

Office of Naval Research, 800 North Quincy St., Arlington, VA 22217-5660

ZIP Code

22217-5660

Solicitation Number

01-004

Point of Contact

Brian D. Glance, ONR Code 252,(703) 696-2596, via e-mail at glanceb@onr.navy.mil

Description

(1) General Statement of Research Need The Office of Naval Research (ONR) seeks white papers and proposals describing demonstration of innovative technologies and techniques that will enhance the future Naval systems for tactical remote Airborne Mine, Minefield, and Obstacle detection and precision location throughout the Very Shallow Water (VSW), Surf Zone (SZ), Beach Zone (BZ), and inland operational environments. When deployed, this capability is intended to be organic to the expeditionary force and will most likely be integrated with the future Naval Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) for operations throughout amphibious operations for assessment, maneuver and targeting. These novel concepts must support the future naval warfare directions of power projection, Operational Maneuver From the Sea (OMFTS), Ship To Objective Maneuver (STOM) and Seabased Logistics. Emphasis is placed upon the future Naval need to rapidly perform reconnaissance in the VTUAV to provide information on location of mines, minefields, barriers and clear areas for tactical planning. Proposals should emphasize unmanned system approaches that meet size, weight, and power constraints for deployment with Expeditionary Forces carrying the VTUAV. Concepts should include technologies to enable day/night operations. There is interest in demonstrating mine/minefield detection capability on the beach and inland for both surface and buried mines; however, emphasis is placed on the VSW and SZ, which are areas not currently covered by the Marine Corps' Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) or the Navy's Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) acquisition programs. To date, the most promising technologies/techniques demonstrated are active (laser) and passive (solar illuminated) hyper/multi-spectral imaging systems, with the obvious next step to fuse these techniques on a single platform; however, the proposed concepts are not limited to nor required to include these technologies. Awards under this BAA will be supported by Advanced Technology Development (Budget Category 6.3) funds. Priority will be given to concepts exhibiting strong evidence of being field demonstrable by 2004. Field demonstrations in 2004 are anticipated to be performed in a manned or unmanned surrogate VTUAV which may be provided by the contractor or by the Government. This effort will NOT develop an UAV. Selection criteria will reward those technologies exhibiting the engineering feasibility of future production to meet the physical size, weight, and power constraints of a future VTUAV payload. Automated system operation, near real-time data processing and use of a limited digital data link are recognized as key components of a successful demonstration. To assist in informing prospective offerors regarding the missions of interest and in so doing promote more responsive white papers, the ONR is establishing a World Wide Web site http://www.onr.navy.mil/sci_tech/ocean/baa/mcmbaa00/ which contains links to several relevant documents describing the operational background. An informational paper including further background and definitions of selected terms used in the above synopsis paragraph is found at this site as well. Proposers should recognize that this offering is distinct from ONR BAA 99-004 (Innovative Technologies for Organic MCM), and ONR BAA 00-002 (Rapid, Organic, Stand-off Technologies for Breaching Surf Zone and Beach Zone Mines and Obstacles), in that this BAA explicitly addresses a technology demonstration for mine and obstacle detection in the VSW and SZ capable of future employment in an VTUAV. Successful technologies demonstrated could lead to P3I insertion into the COBRA acquisition. (2) Instructions for Preparation of Proposals White papers are initially sought to preclude unwarranted effort on the part of an offeror in preparing full technical and cost proposals without an initial assessment of the operational, technical and logistical feasibility of the concept. White papers are due by 16:00 (Washington D.C. local time), 15 January 2001. Offerors submitting the most promising white papers will be encouraged to submit a full technical and cost proposal on all or part of their white paper submission. However, any such encouragement does not assure a subsequent award. Any offeror may submit a full proposal even if its white paper was not identified as promising or if no white paper is submitted. Full proposals for Fiscal Year 2001 funding are due by 1600 (Washington D.C. local time), 23 February 2001. It is anticipated that funding decisions will have been completed by 16 March 2001, followed immediately by funding actions. Approximately $12,000,000 of Advanced Technology Development (Budget Category 6.3) funds is anticipated to be available over a three-year period beginning April 2001 to conduct these research, development and demonstration efforts. The intent is to make a single or multiple awards. Awards may be in the form of contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or other agreements as appropriate. The maximum length of an award will be 3 years. This BAA announcement does not preclude an offeror from submitting a full technical and cost proposal or white paper after published due dates. Proposals received after the published due dates may not be considered for funding under the Fiscal Year 2001 program, but may be considered for funding at a later time. Proposals in response to this BAA received after 1600 (Washington D.C. local time), 31 December 2001 will not be considered. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the submissions. White papers are limited to seven pages and should include the following items: (1) Cover page (cover page counts toward the page limit), clearly labeled "WHITE PAPER", including BAA title and date, title of white paper, administrative, contractual, and technical points of contact along with telephone, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses; (2) A one paragraph executive summary of the proposed effort; (3) Technical Description, to consist of clear discussions of the concept and associated technologies being proposed, development objectives of the proposed effort, major technical issues to be resolved to accomplish objectives, approaches to resolving these issues, and a clear description of and schedule for demonstration of the development, including surrogate VTUAV plans; (4) Managerial Description, to include partnering arrangements if any, list of key personnel, specific prior experience of offeror in the technology areas addressed, facilities, and a plan of action with milestones; (5) Cost Description, to be a one page cost estimate (cost description counts toward the page limitation) on a yearly basis partitioned by major tasks. One-page curriculum vitae for the Principal Technical Investigator, Project Manager, and other key personnel should be submitted. The vitae will not count toward the seven-page limit. Eight copies of the white papers and an electronic copy are due at the submittal address listed below by 1600 EST, 15 January 2001. The format for subsequent full proposals will be similar to that for the white papers and will be posted at http://www.onr.navy.mil/sci_tech/ocean/baa/mcmbaa00/ Offerors must state in their white paper and full proposals that it is submitted in response to this BAA. Eight hard copies of each white paper must be provided along with an electronic copy in Microsoft Word (IBM) format. White papers and full proposal submissions will protected from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR 15.413, applicable law, and DoD/DoN regulations. This BAA provides no funding for white paper or subsequent proposal development purposes. All white papers will be acknowledged. White papers will not be returned after evaluation. White papers and Proposals should be submitted by the due dates cited in the BAA to: Office of Naval Research, Rapid Reconnaissance BAA, ONR Code 32, BCT-1, Room 407, 800 N. Quincy Street, Arlington, VA 22217. Use Joann Jackson at (703) 696-5121 for express mail purposes ONLY. (3) Criteria and Method for Evaluation of White Papers and Proposals White papers and full proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria: (1) overall technical, and socioeconomic merits; (2) technical innovation, feasibility and risk to successfully demonstrate the technologies by 2004; (3) potential to enhance tactical VSW/SZ mine detection, and location capabilities through the application of advanced technologies capable of future employment on the future VTUAV; (4) potential for transition to fleet capability; (5) potential to enhance tactical surface and buried mine/minefield detection in the BZ and inland; (6) the offeror's capabilities, evidence of synergistic industry-academic-government partnering arrangements as appropriate, past performance and related experience, facilities, techniques or unique combinations thereof that are integral factors for achieving the proposed; (7) the qualifications, capabilities and experience of the proposed Principal Technical Investigator, Project Manager, and other key personnel critical in achieving the proposed objectives; (8) budgetary cost and availability of funds. This CBD notice itself constitutes the BAA as contemplated by FAR 6.102(d)(2). Unless otherwise stated herein, neither 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. For awards made as contracts, the socio-economic merits of each proposal will be evaluated based on the extent of commitment in providing meaningful subcontracting opportunities for small business, HUB zone small business, small disadvantaged business, woman-owned small business concerns, and historically black colleges and universities and minority institutions (HBCU/MI). The standard industrial classification code is 8731 with the small business size standard of not to exceed 500 employees. In addition, contract proposals that exceed $500,000 submitted by all but small businesses, must be accompanied by a Small Business Subcontracting Plan in accordance with FAR 52.219-9. No portion of this BAA has been set aside for HBCU and MI participants, though their participation is encouraged. Questions regarding contractual matters relating to this BAA should be directed to: Office of Naval Research, Attention Brian Glance (Code 252), Room 720, Ballston Towers One, 800 N. Quincy St., Arlington, VA 22217-5660, (703) 696-2596, via e-mail at glanceb@onr.navy.mil. Information regarding technical matters is available on the World Wide Web http://www.onr.navy.mil/sci_tech/ocean/baa/mcmbaa00/

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20001208/ASOL002.HTM (W-341 SN5082E4)