NAICS CODE: 541715

FEDERAL AGENCY NAME: Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL - Rome Research Site, AFRL/Information Directorate, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY, 13441-4514

BAA ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Initial announcement

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) TITLE: Networking the Fight

BAA NUMBER: FA8750-24-S-7002

PART I – OVERVIEW INFORMATION

This announcement is for an Open, 2 Step BAA, with a partial Closed-Staggered, 2 Step BAA for Technical Area 1 (TA 1), Technical Area 2 (TA 2), and Technical Area 3 (TA 3), which is open and effective until 14 Feb 2029. Only white papers will be accepted as initial submissions; formal proposals will be accepted by invitation only. While white papers will be considered if received prior to 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time, 28 February 2024, the following submission dates are suggested to best align with projected funding:

Technical Area 1 (TA 1), Technical Area 2 (TA 2), and Technical Area 3 (TA 3) are structured as a Closed-Staggered, 2 Step BAA. Therefore, for TA 1, TA 2, and TA 3 ONLY:

The Government anticipates awarding three awards for Technical Area 1, and three awards for Technical Area 2, and one award for Technical Area 3. Therefore, white papers for TA 1, TA 2, and TA 3 are due on 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time, 28 February 2024 and if requested, proposals are due on 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time, 8 April 2024. Please note that white papers will still be accepted for TA 1, TA 2, and TA 3 after the 28 February 2024 date, however, the likelihood of funding being available is substantially reduced.

For all other Technical Areas:

The Government anticipates adding technical areas via BAA amendment in the future. All potential Offerors are requested to wait to submit white papers for all other Technical Areas (other than TA 1,TA 2 and TA 3) until the BAA announcement is amended with specific technology requirements and dates.

Offerors should monitor the Contract Opportunities on the System for Award Management (SAM) website at https://sam.gov/ in the event this announcement is amended.

CONCISE SUMMARY OF TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENT:  The Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, New York, seeks innovative research proposals aimed at enhancing information sharing flexibility at the tactical edge. The focus of this research is to enable secure movement of information across security domains, and across "red-black" boundaries, spanning heterogeneous networks. This research will develop a capability to transmit and manage information flows seamlessly across various physical domains, including air, space, and ground. By integrating these technologies, the goal is to strengthen information sharing and collaboration in tactical environments, ultimately enhancing mission success.

The over-arching strategy of this 5-year open BAA is to quickly and efficiently execute research and development to deliver practical solutions to urgent problems. These efforts are anticipated to entail rapidly integrating a mission-focused modeling and simulation (M&S) framework, maturing that framework with existing and new capabilities to provide field testable, functional prototypes of solutions to military problems in three major Focus Areas:

Technical Area 1 (TA 1): Next Generation Cross Domain Solution Broker

Technical Area 2 (TA 2): Highly Dynamic Red/Black Networking

Technical Area 3 (TA 3): Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis (MS&A)

This strategy provides AFRL/RI Rome, NY a solicitation tool with the flexibility to solicit white papers and proposals for Contract or agreements to perform rapid prototyping of technical solutions to meet compelling Air Force needs.

BAA ESTIMATED FUNDING:

Funds are not presently available for this effort. No award will be made under this solicitation until

funds are available. The Government reserves the right to cancel this solicitation. In the event the

Government cancels the solicitation; the Government has no obligation to reimburse an Offeror for

any costs.

Total funding for this BAA is approximately $70M. Individual awards will not normally exceed 36 months with dollar amounts normally ranging from $1M to $24M. There is also the potential to make awards up to any dollar value if the value does not exceed the available BAA ceiling amount. Any anticipated funding listed reflects estimated program funding only.  This estimate is not a promise of funding.  Funding is uncertain and is subject to change.  Changes in availability may occur as a result of the exercise of Government discretion.

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ANTICIPATED INDIVIDUAL AWARDS: Multiple awards are anticipated.  However, the Air Force reserves the right to award zero, one, or more Procurement Contracts or Other Transactions for all, some, or none of the solicited effort based on the offeror’s ability to perform desired work and funding fluctuations. There is no limit on the number of OTs that may be awarded to an individual offeror.

TYPE OF INSTRUMENTS THAT MAY BE AWARDED: FAR based Procurement contracts, CFR based grants and cooperative agreements or other transactions (OT) under 10 USC 4021, 10 USC 4022 and 10 USC 4023(previously 10 USC 4002, 2371, 10 USC 4003, 2371b and 4004, 2373) depending upon the nature of the work proposed.

In the event that an Other Transaction for Prototype agreement is awarded as a result of this competitive BAA, and the prototype project is successfully completed, there is the potential for a prototype project to transition to award of a follow-on production contract or transaction. The Other Transaction for Prototype agreement itself will also contain a similar notice of a potential follow-on production contract or agreement.

AGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION: All white paper submissions and any questions of a technical nature shall be directed to the cognizant Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) as specified below (unless otherwise specified in the technical area):

BAA PROGRAM MANAGER:                                                                 

Capt Niko Petrocelli                                                   

AFRL/RIGD                                                                                

525 Brooks Rd

Rome, NY 13441-4505                                                            

Telephone: (315)330-2223                                                     

Email: [email protected]

Questions of a contractual/business nature shall be directed to the cognizant contracting officer, as specified below (email requests are preferred):

  Amber Buckley

  Email: [email protected]

Emails must reference the solicitation (BAA) number and title of the acquisition.

Pre-Proposal Communication between Prospective Offerors and Government Representatives: Dialogue between prospective offerors and Government representatives is encouraged. Technical and contracting questions can be resolved in writing or through open discussions. Discussions with any of the points of contact shall not constitute a commitment by the Government to subsequently fund or award any proposed effort. Only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government.

Offerors are cautioned that evaluation ratings may be lowered and/or proposal rejected if proposal preparation (Proposal format, content, etc.) and/or submittal instructions are not followed.

SEE ATTACHMENT FOR FULL ANNOUNCEMENT DETAILS.

                                    AMENDMENT 1 TO BAA FA8750-24-S-7002

The purpose of this modification is to add the anticipated funding breakdown for each TA per FY:

1. Part II, Section I, paragraph 3 is updated as follows:

              3. Program Phased Effort

This program will span three phases across three years. Phase 0 will focus on Mission Information Exchange Requirements (IERs) and Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis (MS&A). Phase 1 will be Testbed Maturation and Demonstration. Lastly, Phase 2 will provide an Operational Mission Capability Demonstration.

The NtF Program will be executed via a phased approach, having three (3) Phases (0,1,2) with decision gates between Phases 0-1, and 1-2. Successful advancement to each successive next Phase will require written authorization from the Contracting Officer, and the decision to proceed to each next Phase will be based upon Performance Metrics (to be specified in SOW), Programmatic Metrics (specified in SOW), and available funding. In order to enable a down-select of performers, the Government may request that proposals include separately priced options for Phase 1 (12 months) and Phase 2 (15 months).

All awards (for Technical Areas 1, 2, and 3) are intended to execute with concurrent Periods of Performance (PoPs) having synchronized start and end dates to the greatest extent possible. The overall PoP for the Program is 36 months, with Phase 0 (9 months), Phase 1 (12 months), and Phase 2 (15 months).

Anticipated funding breakdown per phase, per TA:

TA 1 efforts (~$M/per award)

TA 2 efforts (~$M/per award)

TA 3 effort (~$M/single award)

Phase 0

1

0.5

3.5

Phase 1

2

2

11

Phase 2

2.5

2.5

13

No other changes are made.

SEE ATTACHMENT FOR FULL AMENDMENT DETAILS.