Description
This notice constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) as contemplated inFAR 6.102(d) (2). The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is soliciting proposals to increase operator Surveillance and Reconaissance (SR) agility and options through the rapid insertion of maturing and emerging SR technologies specifically for: Sensors; Tagging, Tracking, and Locating; and supporting technologies such as SR Communications and Power management. The SR technology will be characterized, vetted in experiments and demonstrations, and in user exercises to globally track targets. Residual “operational prototypes” are then made available for future employment consideration. The objective of this BAA is to provide USSOCOM with innovative, unique, creative SR solutions, technologies, and state of the art approaches and improvement in the following SR areas: Sensors Guidance: Sensing technologies should consider all observable phenomenology (seismic, magnetic, infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, hyper-spectral, multi-spectral, nuclear, biometric, biological, chemical, etc.). Ideally, sensing devices will be delivered and set-up using remote/hands-off techniques. Sensors must be rugged, capable of withstanding environmental changes, and should be small in size and have wide bandwidth capability. Sensor objectives include combining seismic, magnetic, acoustic, and microwave sensing technologies into single units where feasible; reducing sensor size; improving power management/endurance; improving reliability/reduce false alarm rates; improving capability to remotely emplace the sensors. Tagging, Tracking, and Locating (TTL) Technology Guidance: The Government requires an immediate capability to precisely tag, track, and locate global targets. The TTL systems must provide the users with enhanced situational awareness information from various emplaced devices. Since the requirements for TTL are too broad to be satisfied by a single device, the broader requirement is for a toolbox of TTL devices integrated into an interoperable architecture that would provide ready options for use in short/no notice crisis. TTL technologies include but are not limited to integrated global positioning devices, improved optical tags, improved waveform tags, biometrics, and signature exploitation for automatic identification/detection. General SR technology areas of interest are: 1) Miniaturization of sensing technology, communication modules and antennae, 2) Ruggedized and hardened hardware, both in fabrication and packaging, able to withstand a variety of environmental conditions and temperatures, 3) Lightweight (to enable an individual to easily carry in a pocket or small pack) 4) Self-powered (long-life battery, solar, friction dynamo, other) 5) Disguisable 6) Remote autonomous applications, 7) Stand off applications. It is not the intent of this solicitation to establish new facilities, rather, to identify institutions that have demonstrated integration and development capabilities and have the necessary facilities to meet the objectives described in this BAA. This BAA shall remain open for one (1) year from the date of publication on www.fedbizopps.gov. Although the Government may select proposals for award at any time during this period, it is anticipated that the majority of funding for this program will be committed during the initial selection. All are invited to submit a project proposal not exceeding 20 pages of text that describes the following: 1) The development and integration objective, 2) The development approach, 3) Related work by the investigator or proposer, 4) Anticipated contributions to USSOCOM programs, 5) An estimate of overall costs (including indirect) for up to a three year effort, 6) Proposed payment milestones and program schedule, and 7) A curriculum vitae of the principal investigator(s) appended with any supporting information, such as reprints, that will assist in the evaluation of the pre-proposal submission. Additionally, all offers must identify any rights and restrictions that exist on their technical data, and all offerors are advised that restrictions on technology transfers outside of the U.S. will be imposed on all media created IAW this BAA. In order to be considered during the initial round of funding, full proposals must be submitted to USSOCOM SOALK-KBA 7701 Tampa Point Blvd, MacDill AFB, FL 33621 (Attn.: H92222-05-R-0003) on or before 12:00 NOON, on 6 December 04. All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal that shall be considered by USSOCOM. Small businesses are encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals. However, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for small business due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of this research for exclusive competition among these entities. The government reserves the right to negotiate the type of award instrument determined appropriate under the circumstances. This program will be run at the U.S. SECRET/NOFORN level of classification. A program Security Classification Guide (SCG) for this program is available on request and required for guidance on proposal preparation. Performers must have required U.S. personnel clearances, cleared facilities, storage, and processing capabilities to bid on this solicitation as defined in the program SCG. In the event of discrepancies between information presented from this synopsis or the SCG, the SCG takes precedence. EVALUATION CRITERIA: 1) Practical application and operational technical merits of the proposed SR technology, 2) Demonstration of current emerging development model device, 3) Qualifications and experience of the principal investigator(s), and availability of facilities to support and conduct the integration, demonstrations, training, and deployment of systems and supporting architectures 4) Relevance of the proposed SR technology application to USSOCOM program priorities, 5) Realism of the proposed costs. Each proposal will be evaluated on the merit and relevance of the specific proposal as it relates to the program rather than against other proposals for research in the same general area, since no common work statement exists. The Government may award single or multiple contracts in accordance with technical priority and funding availability. The government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals received in response to this BAA. The Government reserves the right to select for award, all, some, or none of the parts of a proposal from proposal respondents. Proposals may be selected and/or award decisions made without discussions or negotiations. ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE: There will be no other requests for proposals or other formal solicitations regarding this announcement.