The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Advanced Technology Office (ATO) will host a Proposers’ Day in support of the Underwater Express program on December 16, 2005 at the Executive Conference Center, 3601 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 600, Arlington, VA 22201. The event will begin at 8:00 am and continue until 3:00 pm. The purpose of this conference is to provide information on the program, promote additional discussion on associated topics, and address questions from potential proposers. The objective of the Underwater Express program is to demonstrate stable and controllable high-speed underwater transport through supercavitation. The intent is to determine the feasibility for supercavitation technology to enable a new class of high-speed underwater craft for future littoral missions that could involve the transport of high-value cargo and/or small units of personnel. The Underwater Express program is a technology development and demonstration program: It will require the investigation and resolution of critical technological issues associated with the physics of supercavitation and must culminate in a credible demonstration at a significant scale to prove that a supercavitating underwater craft is controllable at speeds up to 100 knots. It is anticipated that DARPA will release a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Underwater Express program prior to the Proposers’ Day. The BAA will encourage proposals that advance the understanding and use of supercavitation technology through research and development, small-scale experimentation, and a final at-sea demonstration. The program will include (but is not limited to) the following technology areas: cavitation and supercavitation, cavity ventilation, vehicle control, underwater propulsion, computational modeling, and vehicle system integration. Additionally, potential proposers are invited to use the Proposers' Day to discuss their organization's capabilities and explore teaming arrangements with other attendees. REGISTRATION INFORMATION The Proposers’ Day will be unclassified NOFORN and include a classified session at the SECRET level. Those who wish to attend this conference must register NLT December 9, 2005 at the following website: https://enstg.com/Signup/default.cfm?ThisCode=UND63154. No registration fee is required for this event. Directions to the facility and additional important information are available at the registration website. Registrants must provide proof of US citizenship and, if wishing to attend the classified session, submit an active SECRET (Collateral) clearance NLT December 9, 2005 to the DARPA Visitor Control Center (VCC) at (703) 528-3655. It is the registrant's responsibility to ensure that clearance information has been received and approved by the DARPA/VCC. A cover sheet must be used that clearly identifies the registrant's name and Underwater Express Proposers’ Day Conference Registration and Clearance Information. Individuals without proof of US citizenship will not be admitted. Individuals without approved clearances will not be admitted to the classified session. The Underwater Express program may be subject to US Export Controls (International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)) and National Security regulations; all participants must meet the requirements set forth in those regulations. Attendance of the Proposers’ Day is voluntary, and is not required to propose to any associated BAA. Due to space limitations of the conference facility, attendance will be limited to the first 100 registrants. DARPA reserves the right to limit the number of representatives per organization at any time. In order to facilitate the teaming that is encouraged for proposal development, attendees are granted the opportunity to present an overview of their organizations, and discuss their technology expertise, via an unclassified presentation at the conference subject to availability of time. Presentations are limited to four (4) slides and five (5) minutes (including setup time) per organization. A softcopy of all material to be presented must be submitted in MS PowerPoint format to Mrs. Laura Watts at
[email protected] NLT December 9, 2005. All material to be displayed at the conference must be approved in advance by both the organization that funded the research and DARPA. It is the presenter's responsibility to ensure that all material they plan to present at the conference has been approved by the funding organization in advance. The DARPA Underwater Express Program Manager, Ms. Khine Latt, will then review and approve the proposed material. NOTE: DO NOT CONTACT THE CONTRACTING OFFICER IDENTIFIED BELOW WITH RESPECT TO THIS NOTICE. ALL QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS ANNOUNCEMENT SHOULD BE SENT TO
[email protected].