A -- AIRBASE TECHNOLOGIES

AIRBASE TECHNOLOGIES Sol. TYN 06-001. Contact Wanda Cutchin, Contract Specialist at (850) 283-8665. This is a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) identifiable as number BAA TYN 06-001, Airbase Technologies Division. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/MLQ), Tyndall AFB, FL, is interested in receiving proposals (technical and cost/price) on the research efforts described below. Proposals submitted in response to this announcement shall reference the BAA number identified above. Responders will ensure that the amounts proposed will be valid for a minimum of 180 days from the date of the proposal. Proposals may be submitted until 30 Sep 06. White papers will be accepted. There will be no formal request for proposals or other solicitations regarding this announcement. Proposals shall be submitted with an original, not exceeding 40 double-spaced pages plus three (3) copies. Proposals shall be mailed to 325 CONS/LGCBA, ATTN: Wanda Cutchin, 501 Illinois Avenue Suite 5, Tyndall AFB FL 32403-5526, marked for BAA TYN 06-001 or e-mailed to [email protected]. Requirements: The Air Force requires advanced technologies that facilitate the conduct of contingency base operations, combat support functions, and force protection in both homeland security and Air Expeditionary Forces (AEF) operations. In addition, provide opportunities for reduction of weight, volume, and costs of base emergency response, infrastructure support, and combat support systems. AFRL/MLQ solicits cutting edge proposals in the following general technology areas: Atmospheric Threat Protection - Identify characteristic emissions or patterns that enable detection, identification, and/or modeling of anthropogenic chemicals in or transported through the atmosphere. Develop and/or evaluate methods or technologies enabling localization and/or identification of these emission sources, for example storage, use, or accidental/deliberate release of toxic chemicals. Develop, evaluate, modify, and/or integrate technologies and/or materials that may provide protection from atmospheric threats, either inside or adjacent to forward operating bases, and that may contribute to reducing or eliminating threats to personnel and equipment. Protective Technologies - Develop chemical processes and passive or self-decontaminating materials that will reduce recovery time and provide a significant improvement in decontamination capabilities. Develop sensing, active and passive protection, and decontamination technologies for improved force protection at fixed and forward bare airbases. Develop systems for detecting and quantifying toxic materials or hazards (chemical, biological, radiological, and energetic). Provide technology for automated hazard warning/avoidance, neutralization or decontamination, and decontamination validation in operational areas and industrial sites. Develop technologies to technician operable/maintainable, affordable, deployable and modular, allowing rapid mobilization and demobilization. Hazard avoidance during operations will allow sustained operations tempo; assurance of effective decontamination of equipment and operational areas; and ability to continue operations in an shirtsleeve environment. Explosive Effects Mitigation - Identify explosive characteristic effects or patterns that enable detection, evaluation, and/or modeling of the explosive and resulting effects. Develop, evaluate, modify, and/or integrate protective technologies and/or materials that may provide protection from blast, ballistic, and fragmentation effects. Develop new materials, technologies, and/or methodologies to mitigate blast effects resulting in reduced injuries and deaths to building/shelter occupants. Shelters - Develop new and advanced shelters that are lightweight and low volume, easy to erect, and requires low maintenance. The new shelter will be used for housing personnel and aircraft maintenance and storage for long term and under harsh environments. Specific areas of interest include: airbeam technology based on lightweight and high strength fibers integrated solar power and corporation of chem/bio and directed energy protection into shelter. Air Base Operating Surfaces - Develop lightweight portable airfield evaluation technologies for surface and subsurface material characterization, expedient repair materials and techniques, lightweight high-strength materials, and measurement and prediction in response to traffic and environmental loads. Protection of Deployed Forces and Assets - Develop lightweight rapidly deployable personnel and aircraft shelters, and protection systems for facilities and aircraft parking areas. Specific areas of interest include ultra-lightweight, high-strength materials, exploitation of in situ materials, and post-construction reinforcement of facilities, simulation and modeling of effects of air-blast and fragmentation, and chemical/biological protection systems. Combat Utility Systems - Develop new energy and utility systems technologies that increase mobility, reliability, and efficiency on all deployable utilities required for AEF operations. Specific areas of interest include: fuel reforming to produce hydrogen, active and passive power generation, power conditioning and distribution systems, environmental control units and water production/purification systems. Force Protection Robotics - Develop automation and intelligent system technologies for use in high threat areas, expeditionary and fixed airbase support, and homeland security. The general areas of interest include novel unmanned technologies for force protection including civil engineering, explosive ordnance disposal, security forces, and airbase support operations. Specific areas include: UXO detection, characterization, handling, and disposal; advanced ground vehicle navigation and guidance; obstacle detection systems; non-line of sight, high bandwidth communication systems; and innovative robotic vehicle systems including: perception, power, weapons, computing, manipulation, and mobility systems. Fire Fighting - Develop agents, systems, equipment and hardware for use in aircraft firefighting and rescue operations, airbase structural firefighting, weapons systems firefighting, hazardous materials incidents, and improved firefighter training. Develop DoD firefighting systems such as munitions protection and explosion mitigation. Specific areas of interest include the development of environmentally compatible, operationally and cost effective fire extinguishing agents, aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicles/systems, fire detection/suppression systems, specialized rescue and personnel protective equipment, and training technologies. The objective is to enhance airbase and other DoD firefighting safety programs and training capabilities that significantly reduce the amount of time to extinguish fires, extract victims, and minimize damage/casualties. Biocatalytic Materials Synthesis - High-performance space and aerospace materials are often produced by complex sequences of reactions involving toxic solvents and expensive catalysts. Some materials are derived from structures that are difficult to make via traditional synthetic chemical techniques. Successful development of green chemistry approaches to materials synthesis would not only reduce the cost of the material, but also eliminate negative environmental impacts. One successful approach for synthesis of industrial, pharmaceutical, and agricultural chemicals involves biocatalysis; the use of living cells or enzymes as catalysts for chemical reactions. Biocatalysis may yield novel materials or better synthetic pathways to known materials by allowing targeted production of specific structures under mild conditions required to support biological processes. Proposal Preparation: Responses submitted shall include a proposal for technical and cost/price as follows: (a) the technical proposal must include an outline and full discussion of the nature and scope of the research, the method or technical approach, and the expected results of each proposal. This proposal should offer scientific advancement in the state of the art. The technical proposal must identify privately developed items, components, processes or computer software entailed in their proposed approach, if any. Information must be included on prior work/experience in the indicated field of research and the available facilities. Management resources shall include resumes of people who will be participating in the proposed design effort, and identify the principal investigator. (b) The cost/price proposal requires submission of cost or pricing data IAW FAR 15.403-5 with a supporting detailed cost schedule and shall contain a per person/hour breakdown per task. FAR 15.403-5 may be located at http//www.arnet.gov.far/ .The cost of preparing proposals in response to this announcement is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or any other contract. It is however, an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost in FAR 31.205-18. Evaluation Criteria: Proposals will compete for contract award based upon their potential value to the government in fulfilling the requirements set forth above. That value will be determined using a complex combination of criteria including the technical promise (originality, feasibility, desirability, etc.), affordability (of development, considering technical alternatives and funding available, and of implementation if otherwise successful), and the government's confidence in the effective pursuit of the effort considering the scope of the effort, the offeror's understanding of it, the competence and availability of experienced engineering, scientific, managerial, or other technical personnel, offeror's overall corporate experience (including past performance), and the availability of, or ability to obtain, necessary facilities to perform this effort. Cost realism and reasonableness shall also be considered to the extent appropriate. The Government reserves the right to select for award any, all, a part thereof or none of the proposals received in response to this announcement. Technical consideration will be given greater weight than cost in the selection decision. No further evaluation criteria will be used in source selection. The technical and cost information will be evaluated at the same time. Deliverable Items: (a) Integrated Master Schedule (IMS), DI-MISC-81183A, (b) Contractors Progress Status and Management Report, DI-MGMT-80227, (c) Still Photographic Records, DI-MISC-81206, (d) Presentation Material, DI-ADMN-81373, (e) Scientific and Technical Reports, DI-MISC-80711 (Draft and reproducible final, AFRL/MLQ format). The contractor shall be required to present a final formal briefing at the end of the effort to be held at Tyndall AFB FL. Any equipment or hardware developed under this BAA shall be delivered to Tyndall AFB, FL or a destination as directed by the government. Size Status: The appropriate NAICS code for this acquisition is 541710 with a size standard of 500 employees. Firms responding should indicate whether or not they are a small business, small disadvantaged business, or a woman-owned business. Award Information: Multiple awards are anticipated. While no parts of this requirement lend themselves to being severed for set-aside to Small Businesses, Small Disadvantaged Businesses, or historically Black Colleges and Universities or Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI), the Air Force reserves the right to consider a small business set-aside based on responses hereto. Preferred Type of Contract: Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF). Period of Performance: As required. Security Requirements: Analysis capability, to include personnel and computer facilities cleared to Secret level, may be required. In such instances responding firms must have, or acquire prior to award of contract, appropriate security clearances. The security guide applicable to this BAA announcement will be provided on a case-by-case basis prior to negotiation. Notice to Foreign and Foreign-Owned Firms: Such firms are asked to notify immediately the Government contact point cited below upon making a decision to respond to this announcement. This action is necessary to begin review and clearance procedures. Foreign firms should be aware that restrictions might apply which could preclude their participation. Contact Points: Technical questions should be addressed to AFRL/MLQ, Attn: Paul Sheppard, 139 Barnes Drive Suite 2, Tyndall AFB FL 32403-5323, (850) 283-6276 or e-mail [email protected]. Only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government. Point of Contact Wanda Cutchin, Contract Specialist, Phone (850)283-8665, Fax (850)283-8941, Email [email protected] - Ginny Garner, Contracting Officer , Phone 850 283-2974, Fax 850 283-8491, Email [email protected]