A -- NAVAL BATTLEFORCE NETWORK

Notice Date

May 1, 2001

Contracting Office

Office of Naval Research, 800 North Quincy St., Arlington, VA 22217-5660

ZIP Code

22217-5660

Solicitation Number

01-015

Response Due

June 15, 2001

Point of Contact

Dr. Donald F. Gingras ONR Code 313, (703) 588-2393, gingrad@onr.navy.mil

Description

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) seeks White Papers that propose the development and demonstration of technologies that can support distribution of information for expeditionary naval forces, among the platforms within a battlegroup (BG) and from BGs and amphibious ready groups (ARG) to disembarked forces ashore. This development is entitled Naval Battleforce Network (NBN). Areas of interest include technologies to provide: (1) communications and networking packages suitable for a variety of naval aerial platforms to provide over-the-horizon connectivity; (2) communications networking for internet protocol (IP) traffic over wireless line-of-sight links within BGs and ARGs and to deployed Marine Corps units; and (3) networks supporting automatic configuration, as units join or leave the network, and automatic dynamic bandwidth management. A total system capability based on the integration of the technologies identified above is sought. Selected projects will be funded under the Information Distribution Future Naval Capability (ID FNC) NBN program, starting in December 2001. The NBN program will focus on technologies that can support the requirements of Naval Systems Acquisition Programs by investing in maturing technologies that have a high likelihood of meeting these requirements, and by ensuring that the capabilities are ready for insertion into acquisition programs through rigorous demonstration and experimentation. The goals of the ID FNC are to enable Naval warfighters to achieve rapid, accurate, secure, and consistent exchange of all data among combat systems, naval fires, command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance applications. The technology products from the ID FNC will provide Naval warfighters significantly improved ability to share knowledge through a dynamic, distributed planning and battle management network. Proposers must review the detailed information on the NBN that can be found in the Proposal Information Package (PIP), which is available on the FNC web page at (http://www-code44.spawar.navy.mil/dssfnc/nbn) before submitting a proposal. The NBN Program will be funded with a combination of Applied Research and Advanced Technology Development funds (Budget Categories 6.2 and 6.3). Subject to official fiscal appropriation, it is anticipated that the NBN program will be funded at a level of $3M-$5M/year for the period FY02-FY06. Awards will typically be in the range from $500,000 to $1,000,000, although lower and higher cost proposals will be considered. Awards will primarily be in the form of contracts. However, the Government reserves the right to award grants, cooperative agreements, or other transaction agreements to appropriate parties, should the situation warrant use of a non-procurement instrument. Proposed work should be structured to have a base period of performance of 24 months or less, but may include multiple-year, phased options that extend beyond the initial period. This BAA provides no funds for white paper or proposal development costs. Bidders Briefing The NBN program will conduct a briefing for potential bidders on May 15, 2001. The briefing will be held at George Mason University, Arlington Campus, 3401 Fairfax Drive, Arlington VA, Room 329. Directions can be found at (http://coyote.gmu.edu/map/arling.html). The purpose of the meeting will be to provide potential bidders with a better understanding of the NBN program. The briefing will be held 9:00 -11:30 A.M., with registration beginning at 8:00 A.M. Please provide notification of planned attendance to the NBN Bidders Briefing via e-mail message to Mr. Robert Kusuda at rak@1bigred.com by May 11, 2001. The message must include the following information: name of attendee(s), title, organization, department or company division, phone, fax, and e-mail address. If requested attendance exceeds capacity, it may be necessary to limit attendance, and organizations will be so notified. Because unforeseen circumstances may cause changes to the Bidders Briefing schedule or venue, potential bidders are advised to check the FNC web page (http://www-code44.spawar.navy.mil/dssfnc/nbn) during the week of May 7, 2001 for possible updates. Those not able to attend this briefing should also consult this web page to see answers to written questions submitted during the briefing. White Papers -- White Papers are due by 1600 EST, June 15, 2001. Notice to Foreign Owned Firms: Foreign entities may submit proposals under this BAA for unclassified/publicly releasable work if the proposed technology can be developed and demonstrated within that classification level. Proposals by foreign entities for confidential or classified work are subject to country to country agreements for the given technology. Proposal Submissions: Offerors may send multiple proposals under this BAA. Initial Navy evaluations of technologies proposed in the submitted White Papers will be issued on or about July 6, 2001. Offerors, especially those proposing products or technologies identified as being of "particular value" to the Navy, will be asked to make an oral presentation of their White Papers at the NBN Gathering held July 24 -- 25, 2001 in the Washington, D.C. area. Detailed technical and cost proposals will be subsequently encouraged from those presenters whose proposals are identified as being of "particular value" to the Navy. Full Proposals are due by 1600 EST, August 22, 2001. The decision to submit or not submit a full proposal is the responsibility of the party submitting the proposal. However, the Navy's initial evaluation of the White Papers should give proposers some indication of whether a later full proposal would likely result in an award. Final selections should be made by September 2001. Proposals received after the published due dates may not be considered for funding under the Fiscal Year 2002 program, but may be considered for funding at a later time, including Fiscal Year 2003. Offerors must state in their White Paper and full proposal that it is submitted in response to BAA 01-015. White Papers and full proposal submissions will be protected from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR 15.207, applicable law, and DoD/DoN regulations. Offerors are expected to appropriately mark each page of their submission that contains proprietary information. This BAA provides no funding for White Paper or subsequent proposal development purposes. All white papers will be acknowledged. White papers and full proposals will not be returned after evaluation. This CBD notice and referenced PIP constitutes a BAA as contemplated by FAR 6.102(d)(2). Unless otherwise stated herein, no additional written information is available, nor will a formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. Requests for the same will be disregarded. For awards made as contracts, the socio-economic merits of each proposal will be evaluated based on the extent of commitment in providing meaningful subcontracting opportunities for small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, woman-owned small business concerns, veteran-owned small businesses, historically black colleges and universities, and minority institutions. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this solicitation is 541710 (which corresponds with the standard industrial classification code of 8731) with the small business size standard of 500 employees. In addition, a Small Business Subcontracting Plan in accordance with FAR 52.219-9 must accompany contract proposals that exceed $500,000 submitted by all but small businesses. Entities that must submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan for contract proposals that exceed $500,000 include universities/colleges, nonprofits, and large businesses. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Minority Institutions (MI) are encouraged to submit abstracts and/or join others in submitting white papers and proposals. However, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCU and MI participation due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of naval battleforce networking technology for exclusive competition among these entities. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals received in response to this announcement. Questions of a business nature shall be directed to the Contract Specialist, Wade Wargo, Telephone Number (703) 696-2574, and E-mail: wargow@onr.navy.mil. Questions of a technical nature shall be directed to the Technical Point of Contact, Dr. Donald F. Gingras, (703) 588-2393, E-mail: gingrad@onr.navy.mil. Interested parties are invited to respond to this synopsis. No hard copy version of this will be available. The evaluation criteria are contained in Section 9.4 of the PIP.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010503/ASOL006.HTM (W-121 SN50K7H9)