Funding opportunity to develop USAF electronic intelligence capabilities

By Loren Blinde January 1, 2015

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On December 30, the US Air Force issued a broad agency announcement (BAA) for a funding opportunity (BAA- RIK-14-04):

The overall technical objectives of this BAA are to employ existing and emerging technologies to develop and demonstrate automated, real-time signal detection, processing, exploitation, and reporting capabilities of existing and emerging Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) signals in support of ground and airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms.

Technology applications include, but are not limited to:

(1) the enhancement of ELINT signal processing software and hardware to address the increased complexity and volume of the ELINT battlespace

(2) the enhancement of collection system efficiency for single and multi-platform collection optimization and management

(3) the development of technology for the detection and exploitation of emerging ELINT signals and systems

(4) the enhancement of effectiveness of databases that use existing multi-source, multi-platform, real-time collection systems.

Detailed scope and definition of problems are as follows:

(1) ELINT emitter detection, identification, geolocation, and tracking

(2) Automated signal collection, identification and first level processing

(3) Enhanced digital ELINT processing

(4) Multi-sensor/multi-processor collection management

AWARD INFORMATION

Total funding for this BAA is approximately $49.9M. The anticipated funding to be obligated under this BAA is broken out by fiscal year as follows: FY14 – $10.2M; FY15 – $10.2M; FY16 – $10.1M; FY17- $9.8M; and FY18- $9.6M. Individual awards will not normally exceed 36 months with dollar amounts ranging from between $100K to $5M per fiscal year.There is also the potential to make awards up to any dollar value. Awards of efforts as a result of this announcement will be in the form of contracts, grants or cooperative agreements depending on the nature of the work proposed. 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.

APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

APPLICATION PACKAGE: THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION. WE ARE SOLICITING WHITE PAPERS ONLY. DO NOT SUBMIT A FORMAL PROPOSAL AT THIS TIME. 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.

CONTENT AND FORM OF SUBMISSION: Offerors are required to submit three (3) copies of a 3 to 5 page white paper summarizing their proposed approach/solution. The purpose of the white paper is to preclude unwarranted effort on the part of an offeror whose proposed work is not of interest to the Government. The white paper will be formatted as follows: Section A: Title, Period of Performance, Estimated Cost, Name/Address of Company, Technical and Contracting Points of Contact (phone, fax and email)(this section is NOT included in the page count); Section B: Task Objective; and Section C: Technical Summary and Proposed Deliverables. Multiple white papers within the purview of this announcement may be submitted by each offeror. If the offeror wishes to restrict its white papers/proposals, they must be marked with the restrictive language stated in FAR 15.609(a) and (b). All white papers/proposals shall be double spaced with a font no smaller than 12 pitch. In addition, respondents are requested to provide their Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) number, their Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, a fax number, an e-mail address, and reference BAA-RIK-14-04 with their submission. All responses to this announcement must be addressed to the technical POC, as discussed in paragraph seven of this section.

SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES: It is recommended that white papers be received by the following dates to maximize the possibility of award: FY 14 should be submitted by 30 January 2014; FY 15 should be submitted by 15 December 2014; FY 16 should be submitted by 15 December 2015; FY 17 should be submitted by 15 December 2016, FY 18 should be submitted by 15 December 2017. White papers will be accepted until 2pm Eastern time on 28 Sep 2018, but it is less likely that funding will be available in each respective fiscal year after the dates cited. The closing date of this BAA is 2pm Eastern time on 28 Sep 2018. FORMAL PROPOSALS ARE NOT BEING REQUESTED AT THIS TIME.

AWARD NOTICES: Those white papers found to be consistent with the intent of this BAA may be invited to submit a technical and cost proposal. Notification by email or letter will be sent by the technical POC. Such invitation does not assure that the submitting organization will be awarded a contract. Those white papers not selected to submit a proposal will be notified in the same manner. Prospective offerors are advised that only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government.