A -- EFFECTS-BASED OPERATIONS (EBO) ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION (ATD)

Points of Contact: Joetta A. Bernhard, Contracting Officer, +1 (555) 000-0000, email: contact@example.gov; Mr. Daniel F. Fayette, Program Manager, +1 (555) 000-0000, email: contact@example.gov. The Information Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is soliciting proposals for new concepts, tactics and tools to support effects-based operations. The scope of this announcement is to acquire necessary technologies and their integration to support an Effects-Based Operations (EBO) Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD). The specific goals are to: a) develop an operationally oriented framework for EBO which includes EBO term definitions, indicators of effects, differences and similarities between EBO approaches and others, and application examples of EBO, b) provide tools and techniques to support the warfighter in planning, executing and assessing effects-based campaigns, c) integrate the effects-based tools and techniques into an EBO dynamic tasking toolkit and d) assess the effectiveness of the toolkit through a series of measured experiments and exercises. The scope of this ATD covers a broad range of technology disciplines, including but not limited to collaborative planning & assessment, modeling & simulation, knowledge-based representation and problem solving, targeting, and infrastructure support which includes agent, database, middleware and visualization technologies. Specific capabilities of interest to the EBO ATD include: a) efficiently determining effects-based campaign strategy, b) improved planning leading to more accurate specification of logistics requirements both physically and temporally, c) developing synchronized campaign and combat assessment requests for information (RFIs), d) enabling "what if" analysis of strategy/task options to optimize use of joint assets, e) integrating lethal/non-lethal Information Operations (IO) methods in a common framework, f) focusing/leveraging Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets in campaign assessment (e.g. are we accomplishing objectives), g) supporting rapid development of high quality target sets, h) developing indicators of battle damage, i) supporting re-targeting in light of battle damage, j) providing automation support for building both strategy and assessment plans, k) supporting generation of tasks to drive the Master Air Attack Plan (MAAT)/Air Tasking Order (ATO) process, l) providing a continuous monitoring capability with links to operational databases, m) providing a drill-down feature that allows rapid response to General Officer/decision maker questions, n) providing critical information for development of support plans, o) supporting the rapid collection/display of accurate, relevant information for decision making, p) integrating analysis tools into C2 systems and the decision making process, q) enabling predictive C2, r) providing realistic "train as you fight" environment. AFRL requires innovative, yet demonstrable and usable software solutions to meet the need of the EBO ATD. Technical solutions should emphasize the use of open systems that accommodate distributed, modular, and extensible approaches. Deliverables will be technical reports, robust software prototypes and demonstrations. Additional information concerning this Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) Program, including a Concepts of Operations (CONOPS) for Effects- Based Operations, can be found at: http://www.if.afrl.af.mil/div/IFK/prda/prda-main.html. It is intended that multiple awards be made under this PRDA. The subject PRDA is soliciting two types of proposals: Type 1 - Technology Proposals and Type 2 - Integration & Assessment Proposals. Type 1 proposals are to address the EBO operational framework and/or technology in support of EBO (items a and b stated as specific goals above). Type 2 proposals are to address: a) the development of a technical architecture framework for tool integration, b)the integration of the EBO technology tools, c) the development of EBO experiments/exercises and d) the measurement of the EBO toolkit in the context of the experiments/exercises. Offerors submitting Type 2 proposals are prohibited from submitting Type 1 proposals. Offerors may submit multiple Type 1 proposals. Only one Type 2 award will be made under this PRDA. Principal funding of the PRDA and the anticipated award of contracts will start in FY01. Individual awards will not normally exceed 36 months in duration with dollar amounts normally ranging between $250K to $3.5M. Total funding for the PRDA is $20M. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION. DO NOT SUBMIT A FORMAL PROPOSAL AT THIS TIME. An informational brief will be held at Air Force Research Laboratory on 11 Jul 00 in the auditorium of Building 106, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome NY at 9:00 AM. Please notify Ms Carla Burns if you will be attending at +1 (555) 000-0000 or email: contact@example.gov. Offerors are required to submit (5) copies of a 15 page (or less) white paper with a cover letter. Small Business only should send one (1) copy of the cover letter only (1st Class Mail, Unclassified Only) to ATTN: Ms Janis Norelli, Director of Small Business, AFRL/IFB, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome NY 13441-4514. The white paper will be formatted as follows: Section A: Title. Period of Performance, Cost, Name of Company, White paper Type; Section B: Effort objective; and Section C: Technical Summary. Offerors must mark their white papers/proposals with the restrictive language stated in FAR 15.609. All responses to this announcement must be addressed to ATTN: Daniel F. Fayette, Reference PRDA-00-06-IFKPA, AFRL/IFTB, 525 Brooks Road, Rome NY 13441-4505. Multiple white papers within the purview of this announcement may be submitted by each offeror. 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. Those white papers found to be consistent with the intent of the PRDA may be invited to submit a technical and cost proposal. Such invitation does not assure that the submitting organization will be awarded a contract. Complete instructions for proposal preparation will be forwarded with the invitation for proposal submission. Evaluation of the Type 1 proposals and white papers will be performed using the following criteria, which are listed in descending order of relative importance, 1) Overall scientific and technical merit, including familiarity with effects-based operations, how the proposed technology addresses the needs of the EBO CONOPS, the approach for the development and/or enhancement of the proposed technology and its evaluation, 2) Related Experience - the extent to which the offeror demonstrates technology and domain knowledge 3) The extent to which existing capabilities and standards are leveraged and the relative maturity of the proposed technology in terms of reliability and robustness, and 4) Reasonableness and realism of proposed costs and fees (if any). Evaluation of the Type 2 proposals and white papers will be performed using the following criteria, which are listed in descending order of relative importance, 1) Overall technical and management plan for a) developing a technical architecture framework for tool integration, b) integrating the EBO technology tools, c) developing EBO experiments/exercises, and d) assessing the EBO toolkit in the context of the experiments/exercises, 2) Offeror's demonstrated capability to successfully integrate various technologies (i.e. adaptation, scale-up) and successfully conduct experiments (i.e. evaluation and technology demonstration), 3) Reasonableness and realism of proposed costs and fees (if any). Options are discouraged and unpriced options will not be considered for award. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this announcement is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or any other contract. It is, however, an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost specified in FAR 31.205-18. Foreign-owned offerors are advised that their participation is excluded at the prime contract level. Data subject to export control constraints may be involved and only firms on the Certified Contractor Access List (CCAL) will be allowed access to such data. For further information on CCAL, contact the Defense Logistics Service Center at +1 (555) 000-0000. The work to be performed may require a SECRET/NOFORN facility clearance and safeguarding capability, therefore personnel identified for assignment to a classified effort must be cleared for access to SECRET/NOFORN information at the time of award. The cutoff date for submission of white papers is 3 Aug 00 for FY01, 20 Aug 01 for FY02, 20 Aug 02 for FY03 and 20 Aug 03 for FY04. This PRDA is open and effective until cancelled. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear significant concerns from offerors or potential offerors for this announcement. Routine questions are not considered to be "significant concerns" and should be communicated directly to the Contracting Officer, Joetta A. Bernhard, +1 (555) 000-0000. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the Contracting Officer or Program Manager, but to communicate contractor concerns, issues, disagreement and recommendations to the appropriate Government personnel. The Ombudsman for this acquisition is Vincent Palmiero, Deputy Chief, AFRL/IFK at +1 (555) 000-0000. When requested the Ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The Ombudsman should only be contacted with issues or problems that have been previously brought to the attention of the contracting officer and could not be satisfactorily resolved at that level. To receive a copy of the AFRL/IFK "BAA & PRDA: A Guide for Industry," Sep 1996 (Rev), write ATTN: Debbie Cutler, AFRL/IFK, 26 Electronics Parkway, Rome NY 13441-4515, or fax her at FAX +1 (555) 000-0000, or the guide may be accessed at: http://www.if.afrl.af.mil/div/IFK/bp-guide.html. All responsible firms may submit a white paper which shall be considered. Respondents are asked to provide their Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) number with their submission as well as a fax number, and an e-mail address, and reference PRDA-00-06-IFKPA. Only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government.