Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) - Methods of Improving Air Traffic Radar Performance

United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) is seeking non-federal partners ("Collaborators") in industry and/or academia to consider for entry into Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) (described in 15 USC 3710a) to: - Collaboratively explore, develop, and potentially demonstrate innovations in/techniques of mitigating the performance degradations imposed on air traffic radars by various large obstacles and provide an integrated view of the air traffic in the airspace volume above the obstacles which is roughly equivalent to what would be provided if the obstacles were not present. - Potentially conduct field trials of the pertinent techniques, including hardware and software components, supporting equipment and procedures, and user interfaces to assess utility in mitigating performance impacts. The products of the collaborative research will be reports regarding the nature of the techniques and paper studies and/or field trials demonstrating the techniques' feasibility, utility, proposed Concepts of Operations, costs, and risks and descriptions of the technical details of proposed techniques. This is not a solicitation for a procurement contract, nor should this announcement be construed as implying any future solicitation by USTRANSCOM or any other government agency in this area. Small businesses are encouraged to respond to this announcement. Potential Collaborators may team with other qualified non-federal parties. Specific development and demonstration goals will be determined during discussions prior to CRADA signature, and refined if necessary during the life of the CRADA. Multiple federal agencies may participate on behalf of or in partnership with USTRANSCOM, including agencies of Air Mobility Command (AMC, U.S. Air Force), other Federal Laboratories, and other agencies of the U.S. Government, as the U.S. Government deems appropriate. Supporting information, discussions, demonstrations, and other collaborative activities should remain at the UNCLASSIFIED level. If classified information exchange is proposed by the Collaborator, Collaborator personnel must be appropriately cleared at the outset of the CRADA, at no cost to the government. CRADAs are defined in 15 USC 3710a(d), in part, as "any agreement between one or more federal laboratories and one or more non-federal parties under which the Government, through its laboratories, provides personnel, services, facilities, equipment, intellectual property or other resources with or without reimbursement (but not funds to non-Federal parties) and the non-Federal parties provide funds, personnel, services, facilities, equipment, intellectual property, or other resources toward the conduct of specified research or development efforts which are consistent with the missions of the laboratory; except that such term does not include a procurement contract..." CRADAs resulting from this announcement are forecast to be in effect for approximately a 1-year period, although duration can be tailored to suit the parties' needs before or even after work begins, by mutual agreement. USTRANSCOM and other designated government agencies selected by USTRANSCOM will evaluate potential Collaborators' white papers (submittal instructions follow). Based on response to the RFI's requested response elements and Government interest and capacity to enter into such agreements, USTRANSCOM will choose one, multiple, or zero white papers as basis for additional discussion, and so notify the respondents. Initial selection of white papers and subsequent discussions do not guarantee selection of any Collaborator by USTRANSCOM to actually enter into a CRADA. After initial white paper selection, the government will conduct discussions separately with each selected Collaborator, seeking to reach mutual agreement between USTRANSCOM and the Collaborator(s) on objectives, duration, intellectual property, and resources to be applied by the parties in the proposed CRADA(s). The government may choose to visit pertinent facilities for a tour of Collaborator capabilities prior to final selections. No funding is available from the government to cover white paper preparation or submittal costs, or to cover discussions, facility visits or any other Collaborator costs of preparation or participation in a CRADA. The USTRANSCOM template CRADA is available for download at http://www.transcom.mil/about/org/tccs/Model_USTRANSCOM_CRADA.pdf so potential Collaborators may understand its terms. The Collaborator(s) and USTRANSCOM will draft and seek to finalize specific CRADA objectives and language collaboratively via discussions/mutual agreement after white paper selection. Interested parties may respond with white papers by unclassified e-mail to USTCCS-ORTA@ustranscom.mil by submitting an UNCLASSIFIED written white paper in following format. Hardcopy submittal is not allowed. Please use the following format: - Microsoft Word or .pdf format of not more than 8 pages in length, on standard 8 by 11-inch page, with 1-inch margins at top, bottom, left and right, in Times New Roman font of not less than 12-point size, with not more than 6 lines per inch. - Pages numbered sequentially in the bottom footer including company name and identification of proprietary information as appropriate on each page. Proprietary information or trade secrets do not have to be disclosed in this response, if the general technique can be otherwise described. - Clearly marked/identified proprietary information, photos, or diagrams. - Include the following elements (within the 8-page limit): -- Title (no separate title page needed). -- Company name and state/nation of incorporation, and incorporation of any parent entity. Companies with foreign ownership or parentage must identify the nation of incorporation of the non-U.S. entity. -- Company's experience with radar research and development, operation, and maintenance and work in mitigating performance degradation; list DOD or other points of contact with whom work has been performed, and address/phone numbers as references, if available. -- Description of the proposed technique to be explored under the CRADA: --- Description of the technique(s) proposed to be employed; their current maturity (Technology Readiness Level) and examples of successful use in prior applications (or rationale for predicted performance). --- Description of equipment and setup/support requirements. --- Integration needs: what infrastructure, procedures, environment, training, communications, coordination, equipment certifications or other features are required to make use of this technique feasible for actual use? --- Status of FAA certification for use in the United States for the equipment/techniques --- Theoretical reliability and expected reliability/accuracy in use; limitations of the method that will affect performance in use; metrics on expected improvement (or preservation) of radar performance measured in (but not limited to) Probability of Detection and False Target or False Track Rejection). --- Predicted cost/affordability/lifecycle cost (cost for equipment, installation, training, and maintenance costs for use during the system's life cycle) --- Resources to be supplied by the Collaborator during the CRADA (examples: facilities, overall personnel expertise, information systems, proprietary techniques, hardware, software, materials, prototypes, etc.). --- Resources requested from USTRANSCOM (examples: personnel skillsets, data, access to selected environments, test/demo facilities, etc.; no DOD-provided funding is permitted). --- Describe any open source software and any third-party software to be provided by the Collaborator. --- Describe any third-party proprietary information proposed for use in the CRADA and status of agreements to use such information --- Describe your capability to innovate, ability to translate performance needs to system designs, promote understanding of the entire system and its integration requirements; work collaboratively with the government to mitigate risks of development, production, or operations; analyze, simulate, model, author reports and otherwise apply resources and expertise pertinent to collaborative investigation/development --- Points of contact (name, point of contact, address, e-mail, and phone) for notification of selection/non-selection and follow-on discussions/visits (if chosen) USTRANSCOM and other government entities participating in white paper review and actual collaborative work under CRADAs may include in-house support contractors and members of Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). Non-disclosure agreements will be signed as required by the Parties to incorporate these participants. The USTRANSCOM Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) advisor (coordinator of USTRANSCOM Technology Transfer activities) is a member of the MITRE Corporation, an FFRDC. Proposals not selected for further discussion will be archived by the government and appropriately protected.