G-TEAD USAREUR-AF ACE 27-02: Spectrum Enabled Warfare powered by xTech

The Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate (G-TEAD), in partnership with U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF),https://www.usarpac.army.mil/and powered by Army FUZE xTech, is seeking innovative electromagnetic spectrum operations solutions from eligible small and large businesses across the globe through the G-TEAD USAREUR-AF ACE 27-02: Spectrum Enabled Warfare powered by xTech competition. This platform offers participants the opportunity to engage with the U.S. Department of War (DoW), earn prize money and the potential opportunity to submit a proposal for follow on contracts. This initiative supports the U.S. Army’s broader effort to (1) identify and understand the spectrum of ‘world-class’ technologies being developed commercially that benefit the U.S. military; (2) integrate non-traditional innovators into the U.S. DoW Science and Technology (S&T) ecosystem; (3) provide expertise and feedback to accelerate, mature, and transition technologies to support operational forces; and (4) deliver attritable, scalable capabilities. The G-TEAD USAREUR-AF ACE 27-02: Spectrum Enabled Warfare powered by xTech will consist of three phases: Application, including the following:
Four (4)-page white paper; Required five (5)-minute video; Self-certification of minimum requirements; and Information on prior demonstrations with DoW or allied/partner nations
Soldier exercise; and Opportunity to submit follow-on contract proposal. The U.S. Army intends to award up to $1,500,000 in cash prizes throughout the competition. Up to 15 finalists will be selected at the conclusion of the Part 1 evaluation period and will be provided the opportunity to participate in the Part 2 live Soldier exercise, anticipated to occur in February 2027. Finalists who attend the Soldier exercise will receive a cash prize of $25,000 each, following the event. Finalists who also participate and have their technology integrated in the exercise will receive an additional $25,000 each, following the event. Following completion of the exercise, up to five (5) final winners will be selected to receive an additional cash prize of $150,000 each and may be considered for potential follow-on agreements and contracting opportunities. Additional details on prize structure can be found in Section VII of the RFI.  At the Government’s discretion, participants that do not win a prize may also be considered for opportunities to demonstrate their capability. Finalist and final winners addressing capability areas 1) Electromagnetic Support / Tactical Surveillance, 2) Autonomous Network Management, or 3) Electromagnetic Environment Visualization and Battle Damage Assessment Tools that qualify as a U.S. Small Business will have the opportunity to submit a Direct to Phase II (DP2) Army Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) proposal worth up to $2,000,000, not to exceed 18 months in duration. Finalists and final winners selected from the G-TEAD USAREUR-AF ACE 27-02 Spectrum Enabled Warfare Powered by xTech competition that do not meet the U.S. Small Business eligibility requirements, or those entities (small or large businesses) that address capability area 4) Electromagnetic Attack & Active Countermeasures, will not be eligible for the SBIR opportunity but will be eligible to submit proposals for other follow-on opportunities. Eligibility to submit does not guarantee award. Any follow-on agreements are at the Government’s sole discretion and are subject to availability of funds and applicable laws and regulations. Nothing in this solicitation shall be construed as a commitment to issue a request for proposal (RFP) or award any contract or agreement. Finalists and final winners must have a CAGE/NCAGE code to receive a cash prize and contract award. A CAGE/NCAGE code is not required at the time of application; however, applicants that do not possess one (1) are strongly encouraged to initiate the registration process in advance if they intend to participate. The G-TEAD USAREUR-AF ACE 27-02 Spectrum Enabled Warfare Powered by xTech competition is conducted in accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 4025, which authorizes the use of prize competitions to stimulate innovation and identify promising technologies for national security applications. Requirements for competition under 10 U.S.C. § 3201 are satisfied upon completion of the challenge and use of prize authority. As such, this competition serves as a competitive down select mechanism that enables government organizations to engage with finalists and winners through a variety of follow-on acquisition pathways, including but not limited to: 10 U.S.C. § 4114 – Selection of contractors for prototype projects 10 U.S.C. § 4022 – Prototype projects 10 U.S.C. § 4023 – Procurement for experimental purposes 10 U.S.C. § 4001 – Research and development 10 U.S.C. § 4021 – Other Transaction Authority (OTA) 10 U.S.C. § 3458 – Authority to acquire innovative commercial products and commercial services using general solicitation competitive procedures 15 U.S.C. § 3703 – Technology innovation partnerships 15 U.S.C. § 638 – SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs Government organizations may consider leveraging these statutory authorities to pursue follow-on awards with companies identified through the xTech competition process. This approach supports rapid technology maturation, accelerates the transition of innovative capabilities to the field, and promotes collaboration with non-traditional and small business performers. While the authority of this program is 10 U.S.C. § 4025, the G-TEAD USAREUR-AF ACE 27-02 Spectrum Enabled Warfare Powered by xTech competition may generate interest by other U.S. Army, DoW or U.S. Government (USG) organizations for a funding opportunity outside of this event. The interested organization may contact the participant to provide additional information or ask for a request for proposal in a separate solicitation. Finalists of the prize competition may have opportunities to submit a separate proposal for further development of their proposed technology solution based on the needs of the Army. The Army may use a contract mechanism of their choice and will notify the participants accordingly.  All G-TEAD USAREUR-AF ACE 27-02 Spectrum Enabled Warfare Powered by xTech competition submissions are treated as privileged information and contents may be disclosed to employees of the USG, allied nations, designated support contractors at the USG’s discretion for the purposes including, but not limited to, evaluation, program administration and support, potential inclusion in Army or DoW marketplaces, and consideration for potential follow-on opportunities. The Government will use reasonable efforts to protect proprietary information; however, participants are responsible for clearly identifying any proprietary or restricted information within their submissions. The Army FUZE xTech Program intends to provide feedback from evaluators to participants during each part of the competition. The purpose of providing this feedback is to help accelerate the transition of the technology to a U.S. Army end-user by providing insight into the best applications for the technology, suggestions for product improvement for U.S. Army use and recommended next steps for development. However, the Government will not respond to inquiries regarding this feedback. Problem Statement The operational challenge on the Eastern Flank is the enablement of U.S. Army forces, operating within a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and joint coalition framework, to sense, understand, exploit, attack, and protect across a contested electromagnetic environment and connected cyberspace. To deter peer aggression and preserve freedom of maneuver, V Corps must protect tactical command and control networks while delivering synchronized, nonlethal and lethal effects at depth against adversary command, control, communications, and targeting architectures. Gaining and maintaining spectrum superiority against dense anti-access / area denial systems requires a modular, coalition-interoperable architecture that operates in congested radio frequency (RF) environments, executes multi-echelon precision effects, and hardens friendly formations against persistent electromagnetic and cyber disruption during competition, crisis, and conflict. The Army requires capabilities that are scalable, upgradeable, intuitive for Soldiers across military occupational specialties, and maintainable at the tactical edge without routine reliance on field service representatives for minor repairs or adjustments. The Army is seeking to evaluate capabilities that demonstrate performance in one (1) of five (4) capability areas, and meet the following criteria for its capability area: *Capability 1: Electromagnetic Support / Tactical Surveillance *Capability 2: Autonomous Network Management *Capability 3: Electromagnetic Environment Visualization and Battle Damage Assessment Tools Capability 4: Electromagnetic Attack & Active Countermeasures *Note: SBIR|STTR funding opportunities will be limited to finalists and final winners addressing capability areas 1-3. For detailed topic descriptions, see Appendix A of the RFI. Capabilities submitted for evaluation shall meet the following criteria, as applicable: TRL 6 or higher; Clear linkages to resolving the problem statement and meeting the desired characteristics for the capability gap in which technology will compete; Demonstrate viability to field solutions within 180 days of contract award. The overall system architecture shall minimize proprietary dependencies and enable rapid integration with successor systems without significant redesign or vendor-unique middleware. Systems shall utilize non-proprietary, commercially driven, widely accepted, consensus based open standards where all software-reliant interfaces are exposed as application programming interfaces (APIs), or similar commercial standards applicable to the technology such as remote procedural calls, message queues, or web sockets. The capability shall demonstrate the ability to securely ingest, publish, and exchange operational data—including, but not limited to: situational awareness, system status, mission tasking, system telemetry, operational data streams, and control functions. Systems shall demonstrate compatibility with the EFDI Data Backbone, as detailed in Appendix B, by:
enrolling the system as an authorized peer in the Backbone’s WireGuard mesh overlay via the Government-designated mesh control service (NetBird), and as applicable to the system, publishing and/or subscribing to event-driven data over the Government-designated publish/subscribe protocol (Zenoh), and exchanging control commands as request/response with an explicit reply.
Capable of operating in a denied, degraded, intermittent and limited GPS and communications environment; Demonstrate cyber resilience and compliance; Demonstrate assured control in contested environments; Provide safe, predictable behavior around personnel and other unmanned systems, including failsafe mechanisms, obstacle detection / avoidance, and emergency stop behaviors in all modes of operation (remote, tele-operated, autonomous, etc.); and Provide on-board diagnostics with operator notification of degraded state (software or sensor failure).