SPACE OPERATIONS INITIATIVE (SOI)
********* 5 to BAA
The purpose of this ********* is to:
(a) Republish the ******** incorporating this and any *********s, pursuant to FAR **********
This includes the ********
1. Update to Contracting Focal Point ***********
2. Section III.2: updated Foreign Participation/Access;
3. Section V.2.b.2.: updated the review and selection process and removed language specific to Adequate Price Competition;
4. Section VI is deleted in its entirety and replaced as updated below;
5. Section VII: updated the Alternate OMBUDSMAN.
No other changes have been made.
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
BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) TITLE: Space Operations Initiative (SOI)
BAA ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: modification
BAA NUMBER: BAA RIK-2015-0001
CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) Number: 12.800
I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION:
1. INTRODUCTION: The objective of the Space Operations Initiative (SOI) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) is to provide Space Operations Centers with the ability to efficiently and effectively command and control (C2) space forces and assess the effectiveness of space capabilities to achieve desired effects within the battle space. This BAA represents the space component of the Autonomy, Command and Control, and Decision Support Core Technical Competency (AC2 CTC) integrated C2 concept.
The scope of this BAA is to develop and demonstrate technologies which will enable Space Superiority. Space Superiority is defined in Joint Publication 3-14 (2013), Space Operations, as "the degree of dominance in space of one force over any others that permits the conduct of its operations at a given time and place without prohibitive interference from space-based threats". This involves both defensive and offensive space control functions, as well as implementing the doctrine of C2 from Air Force Doctrine Document 2-8, Command and Control. Space C2 functions enable commanders to plan, direct, coordinate, synchronize and control operations of assigned forces.
2. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION:
Technologies are needed for improvement of Space Operations at the strategic, operational and tactical levels, in the technology focus areas:
(1) FOCUS AREA 1 - Command and Control (C2),
(2) FOCUS AREA 2 - Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS) Visualization; and
(3) FOCUS AREA 3 - Automated, Real-time Course of Action (COA) Generation
White papers are being sought that provide enhanced event monitoring and task execution, situational assessment, automated decision aids for better course of action analysis and selection, dynamic resource management, and agile C2 enterprise management with the goal of allowing more adaptable, real-time, resilient operations in support of the three technology areas above. Technologies must be compatible with the Joint Space Operation Center (JSpOc) Mission Systems (JMS) Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and clearly demonstrate Measures of Performance (MOP) and Measures of Effectiveness (MOE) of the end product.
Developing innovative technologies necessary to enhance the planning, scheduling and assessing of space C2 capabilities and the ability to provide a seamless path to integrate across the air, space, and cyber domains to achieve desired global effects are desired. Of principal concern are the discovery, development, and generation of near real-time COAs which may be utilized to rapidly adapt to, or avoid, changes to the unique military space operational environment. In addition, planning for continuing and future space operations in an ever-evolving electromagnetic environment are also of concern, specifically the ability to command and control space forces based on the current and expected future status of the EMS.
The is some additional information on the focus areas as it evolves.
FOCUS AREA 1 - COMMAND AND CONTROL (C2): The focus of this technology area is innovative approaches to develop technologies and methodologies necessary to dynamically integrate and access C2 applications in support of course-of-action generation and analysis in an enterprise space battle management command and control (ESBMC2) environment.
Greater efficiency and efficacy is needed within the increasingly complex, time-critical and time-sensitive space operations domain, as present within a space operations center environment effecting assets and multiple operations across multiple domains, i.e., Air, Space, Cyber, Land and Sea. The emphasis of this focus area is on reducing the space threat kill-chain timeline: the time needed from the detection of an "event" of interest, whether it be of Red, Blue, Gray or natural origin; to the identification, selection and prosecution of appropriate responsive actions, and confirmation that the "event" has been mitigated or is no longer of concern. Space operations systems are currently built to respond individually to one of a number of singular events, e.g., space weather, new foreign launch, predicted conjunction, etc. Future operations must be resilient enough to handle multiple, simultaneous events without loss of fidelity or degradation of response times.
Key to achieving this capability, especially in light of other Multi-Domain Command and Control initiatives, is the development of technology to map commander's intent and strategy to space mission planning, and eventually to direct tasking of space assets and their associated ground-based control and sensing systems. Integrated kill-chain management will enable end-to-end closed-loop tasking for operations within the Space domain, as well as proper synchronization with Air Force activities in the Air and Cyber domains.
In addition, the development of Space Target Folders is critical to the generation of a multi-domain Joint Integrated Prioritized Target List (JIPTL), by which candidate actions can be managed and prosecuted, providing structure and linkage between the targeteering processes and the mission planning/tasking of space forces.
Lastly, a Multi-Domain modeling & simulation environment is needed to support course-of-action analysis and to drive hypothesis evaluation experiments. This environment is necessary to properly test and evaluate the aforementioned technology for mapping commander's intent and generating space target folders.
This solicitation is not seeking development of specific testbeds or software architectures, but rather unique technologies and capabilities for achieving and maintaining space superiority in an increasingly congested and contested operational environment, applicable to a variety of testbeds and architectures.
Technical Points of Contact for Focus Area 1:
- Mr. Dale W. Richards, AFRL/RISC,----, ----
- Mr. John Myers, AFRL/RISC,----, ----.
FOCUS AREA 3 - AUTOMATED, REAL-TIME COA GENERATION: This focus area is soliciting innovative approaches to develop a SOA compliant capability for space C2 COA planning and evaluation for use in near real-time real world operations, exercises, and training situations. End-to-end systems to enable this capability as well as standalone components will be considered. The ability to continuously analyze the current state of the relevant electromagnetic spectrum and the effect on the C2 of space forces is desired. The system capability should aid the operator in determining the feasibility of the COA in achieving the commander's intent. The key capability is to enable the planner to apportion low density, high demand resources to meet global needs. Novel approaches and the use of Modeling and Simulation are encouraged that will allow operators to easily interact with the capability and develop credible results while managing uncertainty. Any developed framework will be used to assess, predict and react to changes in a situation by predicting possible futures and recommending optimal options. A ranked, composite score will be provided to assist human planners in deciding which COAs to recommend to the commander. Key metrics are number of credible results, fidelity of analysis, agility to handle different scenarios, use of templates/knowledge bases to speed planning process, and understandable results clearly showing risk/benefits of each COA developed and analyzed. Ability to efficiently include applicable government generated techniques, products, or knowledge is highly desired.
NOTE: While this BAA is seeking white papers in all three technology focus areas listed above and offerors may respond to one or more at any time.
II. AWARD INFORMATION:
1. FUNDING: Total funding for this BAA is approximately $24.95M. The anticipated funding to be obligated under this BAA is broken out by fiscal year as follows:
FY15 - $1.990M
FY16 - $1.990M
FY17 - $6.990M
FY18 - $6.990M
FY19 - $6.990M
Individual awards will not normally exceed 36 months with dollar amounts normally ranging between $200K and $900K per year.
Initial award(s) under the Focus Area 1 - Command and Control will not normally exceed 18 months with dollar amounts normally ranging between $200K and $900K per year.
The Government reserves the right to select all, part, or none of the proposals received, subject to the availability of funds. All potential Offerors should be aware that due to unanticipated budget fluctuations, funding in any or all areas may change with little or no notice.
2. FORM. Awards of efforts as a result of this announcement will be in the form of contracts, grants, cooperative agreements or other transactions (research or prototype) depending upon the nature of the work proposed.
3. BAA TYPE: This is a two-step open broad agency announcement. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation.
As STEP ONE - We are only soliciting white papers at this time. DO NOT SUBMIT A FORMAL PROPOSAL. Those white papers found to be consistent with the intent of this BAA may be invited to submit a technical and cost proposal. See Section VI of this announcement for further details regarding the proposal.
III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION:
1. ELIGIBILITY: All qualified offerors who meet the requirements of this BAA may apply.
2. FOREIGN PARTICIPATION/ACCESS:
a. This BAA is closed to foreign participation. This includes both foreign ownership and foreign nationals as employees or subcontractors.
b. Exceptions.
1. Fundamental Research. If the work to be performed is unclassified, fundamental research, this must be clearly identified in the white paper and/or proposal. See Part II, Section I for more details regarding Fundamental Research. Offerors should still identify any performance by foreign nationals at any level (prime contractor or subcontractor) in their proposals. Please specify the nationals' country of origin, the type of visa or work permit under which they are performing and an explanation of their anticipated level of involvement. You may be asked to provide additional information during negotiations in order to verify the foreign citizen's eligibility to participate on any contract or assistance agreement issued as a result of this announcement
2. Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence (FOCI) companies who have mitigation plans/paperwork in place. Proof of approved mitigation documentation must be provided to the contracting office focal point, Amber Buckley, Contracting Officer, telephone ----, or e-mail ---- prior to submitting a white paper and/or a proposal. For information on FOCI mitigation, contact the Defense Security Service. Additional details can be found at: ----
3. Foreign Nationals as Employees or Subcontractors. Applicable to any effort not considered Fundamental Research. Offerors are responsible for ensuring that all employees and/or subcontractors who will work on a resulting contract are eligible to do so. Any employee who is not a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident will be restricted from working on any resultant contract unless prior approval of the Department of State or the Department of Commerce is obtained via a technical assistance agreement or an export license. Violations of these regulations can result in criminal or civil penalties.
c. Information Regarding Non-US Citizens Assigned to this Project
a. Contractor employees requiring access to USAF bases, AFRL facilities, and/or access to U.S. Government Information Technology (IT) networks in connection with the work on contracts, assistance instruments or other transactions awarded under this BAA must be U.S. citizens. For the purpose of base and network access, possession of a permanent resident card ("Green Card") does not equate to U.S. citizenship. This requirement does not apply to foreign nationals approved by the U.S. Department of Defense or U.S. State Department under international personnel exchange agreements with foreign governments. It also does not apply to dual citizens who possess US citizenship, to include Naturalized citizens. Any waivers to this requirement must be granted in writing by the Contracting Officer prior to providing access. Specific format for waiver request will be provided upon request to the Contracting Officer. The above requirements are in addition to any other contract requirements related to obtaining a Common Access Card (CAC).
b. For the purposes of Paragraph 1, it an IT network/system does not require AFRL to endorse a contractor's application to said network/system in order to gain access, the organization operating the IT network/system is responsible for controlling access to its system. If an IT network/system requires a U.S. Government sponsor to endorse the application in order for access to the IT network/system, AFRL will only endorse the types of applications, consistent with the requirements above:
a) Contractor employees who are U.S. citizens performing work und...
