SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Detection of Surface and Near-Surface Drifting/Oscillating Mines - Full Announcement
- Notice Date
- 5/26/2011
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research, ONR, CODE ONR-02, 875 North Randolph St., Suite 1425, Arlington, Virginia, 22203-1995
- ZIP Code
- 22203-1995
- Solicitation Number
- ONRBAA11-024
- Archive Date
- 10/4/2011
- Point of Contact
- Vanessa Seymour, Phone: 703-696-4591, Brian A Almquist, Phone: (703) 696-3351
- E-Mail Address
-
vanessa.seymour@navy.mil, brian.almquist@navy.mil
(vanessa.seymour@navy.mil, brian.almquist@navy.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Full Announcement 26 May 2011 The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is seeking white papers describing innovative technology solutions leading to wide-area detection, classification, localization and tracking of surface and near-surface drifting / oscillating mines and prediction of mine drift from direct environmental observations and ocean models to support tactical planning. Surface and near-surface drifting mines include: mines designed to drift on the ocean surface; mines designed to drift and oscillate near the ocean surface within a preset depth range; improvised explosive devices intentionally cast adrift to harass maritime traffic; and moored mines intentionally or unintentionally separated from a tether. There are two distinct but strongly connected products that work together to enable effective planning and conduct of mine countermeasures (MCM) operations in drifting mine environments. They are: (1) Compact Modular Sensor / Processing Suite (CMSS), and; (2) Mine Drift Tactical Decision Aid (TDA). It is likely that mature hardware solutions already exist and that the required innovation will come from the optimization of a sensor suite, the development of real-time target recognition algorithms, and techniques to characterize the environment in real-time onboard the platform. 1. Compact Modular Sensor and Processing Suite (CMSS) The Compact Modular Sensor and Processing Suite (CMSS) is a wide-area search, multi-mission, platform-independent sensor package to provide real-time detection, classification, and localization of surface and near-surface drifting / oscillating mines through the fusion of compact sensors, advanced algorithms, and real-time onboard processing technologies. The deliverable will be a sensor package with improved algorithms integrated with data processing for real-time detection, classification, localization, and tracking from a tactical unmanned airborne vehicle (TUAV). The classification must be onboard the TUAV in real-time to allow for immediate neutralization of the target by a separate system (not addressed in this BAA). The sensor suite must also provide in-situ information about the environment to be used with the Mine Drift TDA to predict drift trajectories. Possible sensors include, but are not limited to, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Real Aperture Radar (RAR), and Electro-Optic Sensors. 2. Mine Drift Prediction Tactical Decision Aid (TDA) The Mine Drift Tactical Decision Aid (TDA) will enable MCM planning operations in areas threatened by near-surface drifting mines. It will: (1) predict drift trajectories using real-time environmental and target observations from CMSS, oceanographic model data, and other sources to provide intelligent preparation of the environment before operations commence and situational awareness during operations; (2) provide tools to allow optimal deployment of the CMSS for search and/or environmental information gathering; and (3) provide tools to generate a ship maneuver plan which minimizes risk of engaging drifting threats. The final product will be a set of modular software components integrated into the existing mine warfare command and control environment. Tasks: Offerors can choose to propose solutions that address the entire problem or select aspects of the problem that best match their experience and capabilities. To facilitate this, ONR has broken down the problem into separate tasks. Offerors choosing to propose a solution to the entire problem must provide a separate white paper for each task. (1) Wide-Area Detection, Classification, Localization, and Tracking of Surface Drifting Mines In this task, a test-bed with one or more sensors will be optimally configured and flight tested to demonstrate wide-area detection, classification, localization and tracking of surface drifting mines as well as the collection of data to be used to characterize the ocean environment. The emphasis is on targets that are on or close to the ocean surface but not submerged under the ocean surface enough to require the use of sensors designed to penetrate a substantial amount of water. The data collected will be used for the development and evaluation of target recognition algorithms and characterization of the ocean environment. The data will be delivered in a Government specified format for distribution to performers working on the development of target recognition algorithms (Task 3) or characterization of the ocean environment (Task 4). The contractor(s) will participate in the flight test and data collection. The Government anticipates data collection to occur within 12 to 15 months after contract award. (2) Detection, Classification, Localization, and Tracking of Near-Surface Drifting and/or Oscillating Mines In this task, a test-bed with one or more sensors will be optimally configured and flight tested to demonstrate detection, classification, localization and tracking of near-surface drifting and oscillating mines as well as the collection of data to be used to characterize the ocean environment. The emphasis is on targets that are submerged below the ocean surface enough to require the use of sensors that can penetrate a substantial amount of water. The data collected will be used for the development and evaluation of target recognition algorithms and characterization of the environment. The data will be delivered in a Government specified format for distribution to selected contractors working on target recognition algorithms (Task 3) or characterization of the environment (Task 4). The contractors will participate in the flight test and data collection. The Government anticipates data collection to occur within 15 to 24 months after contract award. (3) Target Recognition Algorithm Development This task will develop two sets of detection & classification algorithms; one set for surface mines (i.e., with a surface expression) and one for submerged mines (up to the working depths of the sensors). White papers may address only one or both of these algorithm sets. A single algorithm set addressing both surface and submerged mines is also acceptable. The data sets emerging from Task 1 and Task 2 will not be available immediately; therefore contractors are encouraged to use existing data sets containing relevant targets to begin the demonstration of proposed algorithms before newly collected data sets are made available. Offerors must have access to existing data sets or demonstrate the ability to acquire existing data sets. The sensor details will depend on Task 1 & Task 2, but sensing modalities may include synthetic aperture radar, passive electro-optic, and active electro-optic. Additional consideration should be given to exploiting information including but not limited to thermal, polarimetry, and multispectral. Algorithms should accept raw data and produce data products according to a Government specified format. They should be modular such that they can be demonstrated in both post-mission software architecture and deployed in an embedded, real-time, power constrained TUAV. The primary challenge in algorithm design for this application stems from the extreme variability in environmental conditions. Therefore, in order to be considered competitive, the white papers must provide enough information to demonstrate that the proposed algorithms have sufficient ability to adapt to these variations. Further, offerors are encouraged to consider the use of performance estimation models to both estimate/report expected and in situ performance as well as optimally adapt the detection and classification process to the particular environment encountered. The Government anticipates data sets to be available within 2 - 3 months after completion of each data collection flight test as described in Task 1, Task 2, and Task 4. (4) Characterization of the Ocean Environment In this task, a test-bed with one or more sensors will be optimally configured and flight tested to enable observation of environmental phenomena relevant to the Detection, Classification, Localization, and Tracking of surface drifting mines and near-surface drifting and oscillating mines. The observations should be suitable for determining directional surface gravity wave spectra, surface currents, and indicators of optical properties of the water column, at a minimum. It is expected that sensing approaches to Tasks 1 and Task 2 and data collected during those tasks may also be suitable for environmental characterization; however, additional sensors may be necessary or desired to collect the information needed to characterize the environment. (5) Mine Drift Prediction Tactical Decision Aid (TDA) This task will integrate environmental data generated in Task 1, Task 2, and Task 4 as well as other sources (which may include in situ drifting sensors, output from NAVO models, intelligence products, among others) to produce an optimal forecast of mine drift, dispersion and probability of detection. A hierarchy of oceanographic models should be considered to address data availability, since data available for assimilation into forecasting models may be abundant, sparse or non-existent. Mine drift forecasts will be integrated into a set of planning tools to enable preparation of the battlespace before operations and situational awareness during operations. At a minimum, TDA planning tools should provide the capability to plan efficacious deployment of CMSS, and the capability to plan ship maneuvers. The deliverable is a stand-alone software service compatible with MIW C2 (e.g., MEDAL-EA, EPMA and NSAM). The Government anticipates integrating a final test bed configuration for the purpose of simultaneously collecting data with the sensors demonstrated in Task 1, Task 2, and Task 4. Offerors should submit separate white papers for each task of interest. Offerors addressing two or more tasks may also submit a separate overview document describing synergies between tasks. White papers should propose solutions which are suitable for deployment from a tactical unmanned airborne vehicle (TUAV) flying at a minimum altitude of 3000 feet and at a minimum velocity of 75 knots. Target detection and classification shall be conducted in real-time onboard the TUAV to enable immediate neutralization of the target by a separate system. Proposed solutions must be able to demonstrate: (1) a high probability of detection, low number of false contacts, and classification onboard the platform to a level sufficient to classify the target with a high level of confidence; and (2) characterization of the environment in real-time onboard the platform. The technology solutions must be demonstrated at a technology readiness level (TRL) of 6. After down-selecting white papers, full proposals may be requested from selected candidates. The maturity level of any hardware proposals addressing this BAA should be sufficient to support early Government supported testing. Testing will be over realistic target fields and will provide data sets to Task 3, and Task 5 performers. The ONR will require that all data sets collected be provided to the Government in a format suitable for distribution to additional performers to develop data handling and processing techniques, real-time algorithms and onboard classification techniques, and data fusion techniques.
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