Neutron Strategic Technology Advanced Research (Neutron-STAR) Advanced Research Announcement (ARA) FA9453-23-R-A004 PROPOSAL SOLICITATION 001

NO SUBMISSION DATE EXTENSIONS WILL BE GRANTED APPLICABILITY OF BASELINE ARA: All requirements of Neutron STAR ARA - FA9453-23-R-A004 apply unless specifically amended and addressed in this solicitation. For complete information regarding FA9453-23-R-A004, refer to the initial FULL TEXT Open ARA. It contains information applicable to all solicitations issued under the ARA and provides information on the overall program, proposal preparation and submission requirements, proposal review and evaluation criteria, award administration, agency contacts, etc. For any discrepancies, please contact the contracting officer's attention immediately. Initial FULL TEXT ARA link: https://sam.gov/opp/90c2da6980c04fdcbe3ce22b48e51b1c/view I. REQUIREMENT INFORMATION: A. BACKGROUND: The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Space Vehicle directorate (RV), Atomic Long-Range System branch (ATLS); AFRL/RVBN, supports nuclear-related S&T and Nuclear Deterrence Operations (NDO) including Strategic Deterrence Ground (SDG); Strategic Deterrence Air (SDA); Nuclear Command, Control and Communication (NC3); and Nuclear Explosion Monitoring (NEM). AFRL is interested in continuing research and development efforts supporting the NDO mission, a posture that aligns with the 2022 National Defense Strategy (NDS). The NDO mission encompasses an array of efforts that includes both modernization of current systems and components as well the development of novel technologies. Enabling future capabilities to thwart emerging threats requires investments ranging from basic research to advanced technology demonstrations across a variety of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs). Future technology development is envisioned to deliver platform-agnostic, transition-able solutions to sea-, air- and ground-based systems. B. DESCRIPTION: This SOLICITATION is specifically requesting potential Offeror(s) to provide interdisciplinary, integrated proposals addressing 4 Topics from the Neutron Strategic Technology Advanced Research (Neutron-STAR) Advanced Research Announcement (ARA). C. OBJECTIVE: The effort outlined by this SOLICITATION does not represent separate, discipline scientific and engineering activities. Provide professional engineering and technical advisory services for research and development activities supporting Nuclear Deterrence Operations (NDO). These services shall encompass scientific and technical strategic planning expertise focusing primarily on system design, engineering & integration, test & evaluation, concept development & requirements analysis, and program and acquisition planning & support. 1. System Design, Engineering, and Integration a. 2.1.1 The Contractor shall assist Government management personnel in system design, engineering, and integration activities for nuclear strategic systems. The technological areas include missile system launchers, guidance & navigation, reentry vehicle design and control, strategic grade electronics, jam resistant receivers & antennas, frequency standards, target sensors, high-speed accelerometers, and suborbital sounding rockets. 2. Test and Evaluation a. The Contractor shall apply systems engineering principles to the test an evaluation of strategic systems and subsystems to support Government personnel in the review of test plans and procedures and the execution of field and flight testing. The contractor shall make recommendations regarding test procedures, integration testing, quality assurance tests, environmental tests, and operational test and evaluation. 3. Concept Development and Requirements Analysis a. The contractor shall support Government management personnel in the requirements analysis of system, component, and/or program level requirements and the development, maturation, review, and analysis of strategic technical concepts and/or design challenges to ensure mission level requirements, goals and objectives are being met, identified, and the associated technology requirements appropriately documented. 4. Program Planning and Acquisition Planning & Support a. The Contractor shall provide expertise required to support all aspects of research and development acquisitions for the DOD nuclear enterprise. The contractor shall support Government management personnel in the drafting and review of acquisition documentation to include Requests for Information (RFIs), technical evaluation of contract proposals, and support the development of Statements of Work (SOW), Performance Work Statements (PWS), and Contract Data Requirements Lists (CDRLs). II. AWARD INFORMATION: A. ANTICIPATED FUNDING: This funding profile is an estimate only and will not be a contractual obligation for funding. All funding is subject to change due to Government discretion and availability of funds and the technical work to be accomplished. Anticipated funding for this Solicitation (not per contract or award) is: FY 24 FY 25 FY 26 FY 27 FY28 Total anticipated funding: $ 774,000.00 $ 797,000.00 $ 821,000.00 $ 846,000.00 $ 871,000.00 $ 4,109,000 B. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS: The cost of preparing proposals in response to this Solicitation is not considered an allowable direct charge to a resulting or other contract. C. ANTICIPATED NUMBER OF AWARDS: The Air Force anticipates awarding at minimum of one (1) contract. However, the Air Force does reserve the right to make multiple awards or no awards pursuant to this Solicitation. D. ANTICIPATED AWARD DATE: Expected award date is April 1, 2024. E. ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE (POP): The anticipated contract period of performance is 60 months for technical performance. F. ANTICIPATED TYPE OF CONTRACTS/INSTRUMENTS: The Air Force anticipates awarding a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee contract as a result of this Solicitation, but also reserves the right to award the instrument best suited to the nature of research proposed. G. DELIVERABLES ITEMS: The anticipated deliverable items are subject to negotiation: 1. Management Plan 2. Monthly Status Reports 3. Performance and Cost Report 4. Contractor's Personnel Roster 5. Presentation Material 6. Technical Report - Study/Services Data deliverables are subject to negotiations. The following Contract Data Requirements List (CDRLs) is representative of data requirements that may be required. A001: Management Plan A002: Status Report A003: Performance and Cost Report A004: Contractor's Personnel Roster A005: Presentation Material A006: Technical Report - Study/Services The anticipated deliverables include data. The Government may consider all applicable data rights clauses, as necessary, to meet the Government's mission and technical objectives. H. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY: None anticipated. III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION: A. ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST (OCI): All OCI issues and the need for applicable clauses will be resolved prior to award. B. SECURITY REQUIREMENT: This Solicitation is an?cipated to be unclassified. In accordance with FAR 52.204-2 the resulting award will require a DD Form 254. Offerors must have a valid U.S. security clearance of SECRET or higher in order to respond to this Solicitation because this Solicitation may include informa?on classified at the SECRET or higher level which will be released only to offerors possessing the appropriate clearance. All classified material will be handled in accordance with E.O. 13526, National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) DoD 5220.22-M, Industrial Security Regulation (DoD 5220.22-R), DoDM Industrial Security Program 5200.01 Volume 1 through 4, and AFI 16-1406. C. BASE SUPPORT AND ACCESS: Base support is not anticipated. D. FOREIGN NATIONALS: No Foreign Nationals will be considered for this Solicitation. IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION: A. PROPOSAL DUE DATE AND TIME: Proposals must be submitted in response to this Solicitation no later than on 09 February 2024, 1200 hours MDT. Proposals for any other technical area identified in the overall Advanced Research Announcement (ARA) will not be accepted in response to this Solicitation. Proposals received after the due date and time shall be governed by the provisions of FAR 52.215-1(c)(3). Offerors may be ineligible for award if all requirements of this announcement are not met by the due date and time. B. INTENT TO PROPOSE: Potential offerors are requested to advise the contracting point of contacts if they intend to submit a proposal in response to this Solicitation. Such notification is merely a courtesy and is not a commitment by the offeror to submit a proposal. C. SOLICITATION AMENDMENTS: Offerors should monitor SAM.gov for any additional notices to this Solicitation that may permit extensions to the proposal submission date or otherwise modify this announcement. D. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: Proposals must be submitted electronically via Neutron STAR org box AFRL.RVKB.afrlneutronSTARdms@us.af.mil. Proposal submissions must reference the ARA number FA9453-23-R-A004 as well as the Solicitation number i.e., - Solicitation 001, and title. E. FULL PROPOSAL PROCESS: Below are specifics regarding proposal format and content. Proposal submissions must follow all format and content criteria provided in both the overarching ARA and the solicitation. F. GENERAL PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS: Proposals that include data restricted from public disclosure or used by the Government for any purpose should be marked with the proper disclosure and use of data restrictions. Technical and cost/business volumes should be submitted in separate volumes and must be valid for a minimum of 180 days. Proposal submissions must reference the ARA number FA9453-23-R-A004 as well as the Solicitation number i.e., - Solicitation 001, and title. G. PROPOSAL FORMAT: 1. The technical proposal shall be limited to thirty (30) pages unless otherwise stated in the Solicitation and shall be prepared and submitted in Microsoft Word format. The Statement of Work (SOW) and cover page does not count against the page limit. 2. Cost/Business proposals have no page limitations; however, offerors are requested to keep cost proposals under 20 pages as a goal (Cost break-outs should be submitted in Microsoft Excel with the formulas). 3. The same formatting rules apply to the C-SOW, which is limited to ten (10) pages in a Microsoft Word format. 4. Paper Size - 8.5 inch x 11 inch 5. Margins - one-inch on each side 6. Font - Calibri 11+ point font or equivalent, to include tables, diagrams, and charts. Any other information (e.g. captions, restrictive markings) shall not be smaller than Calibri 10 point font or equivalent. H. PROPOSAL CONTENT: 1. Cover Letter: A cover letter shall accompany each proposal with a Proposal Number that Identifies the Offeror. The cover letter should identify the ARA number, Solicitation number, and technology area under which the proposal is submitted, a statement that the proposal is valid for 180 days from the due date specified in the Solicitation, provide technical and contracting points of contact, CAGE code, and include statement indicating if the firm is a small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUB Zone small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a), or women-owned small business concern. The proposal must be signed and dated by an authorized official of the organization. 2. Technical Volume: The proposal shall include a discussion of the following information: creative or innovative and technically sound approach to accomplish the Solicitation's objective(s) and/or advances in knowledge, understanding, technology, state-of-the-art, and rationale of the offeror's technical approach and the relevance to the Space Vehicle Directorate mission area(s). The Offeror shall provide any informaon on prior work in the topic areas, descriptions of available equipment, data and facilities as attachments to the technical proposal. This information will be used in the proposal evaluation to help determine the soundness of the technical approach. This volume shall include a Contractor Statement of Work (CSOW) detailing the technical tasks proposed to be accomplished under the proposed effort. The CSOW shall not have any company proprietary information contained within the document. If Government Furnished Property is requested, please submit the following information with your offer: a) A list or description of all Government property that the offeror or its subcontractors propose to use. The list shall identify the accountable contract under which the property is held and the authoriza?on for its use (from the contracting officer having cognizance of the property). b) The dates during which the property will be required for use (including the first, last, and all intervening months), and for any property that will be used concurrently in performing two or more contracts, the amounts of the respective uses in sufficient detail to support prorating the rent. c) The amount of rent that would otherwise be charged in accordance with FAR 52.245-9, Use and Charges, and be used in the management of Government property, or existing property management plans, methods, practices, or procedures for accounting for property. d) The voluntary consensus standard or industry leading practices and standards to be used in the management of Government property or exis?ng property management plans, methods, practices, or procedures for accounting for property. Any questions concerning the technical volume or SOW preparation shall be referred to the Technical POC cited in the Solicitation. 3. Cost/Business Volume: a) Separate the proposal into a cost section and business section. The business section should contain all business aspects to the proposed contract such as: resumes of personnel who will be participating in this effort, contractual instrument type, and any exceptions to terms and condi?ons of the announcement, any information not technically related, etc. Provide rationale for exceptions. Identify any technical data that will be delivered with less than unlimited rights. Cost proposals have no page limitations; however, offerors are requested to keep cost proposals under 100 pages as a goal. The proposal shall be furnished with supporting schedules and shall contain a labor hour breakdown per task. b) Subcontracting plans for efforts anticipated to exceed $750,000 shall be submitted along with the technical and cost proposals. Reference FAR 19.704, DFARS 219.704, for subcontrac?ng plan requirements. Small businesses are exempt from this requirement. c) All direct costs (labor, material, travel, computer, etc.) as well as labor and overhead rates should be provided by contractor fiscal year (CFY). A separate breakout by Government Fiscal Year (GFY) is not required. d) Submit fully-disclosed electronic cost spreadsheets with formulas. Include rate table for all direct and indirect rates that feed into the cost element summaries. 4. Accounting Systems: Federal Acquisition Requirement (FAR) based cost type contracts require a successful Offerors to have an accounting system deemed adequate by Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) for tracking costs under a cost reimbursable contract (DFARS 242.75). If an Offeror does NOT have a DCAA approved accounting system, a cost reimbursable contract cannot be awarded. Delays with award will likely result if an Offeror submits a cost type contract without an approved accounting system. If there is an adequate accounting system, provide the most recent DCAA Approved Audit Report of Contractor's Accounting Systems. 5. Performance Work Statement (PWS): Provide a nonproprietary Performance Work Statement (PWS) in a Microsoft Office Word editable format. If milestones are included, do not use hard dates, use number of days or months. The PWS shall sufficiently detail the research to be accomplished and must be suitable for incorporation into the awarded document. The proposed PWS shall summarize the technical methodology and the task description, but not to the extent to make the awarded instrument inflexible. The Technical proposal page limit does not include the offeror's proposed PWS; however, the same formatting rules apply to the PWS. The government requests PWS response is limited to ten (10) pages. Below is a recommended format for the PWS: SCOPE: This section includes a statement of what the program covers. This should include the technology area to be investigated, objectives/goals, and major milestones for the effort. It defines the breadth and limitations of the work to be done. REQUIREMENTS: This section identifies the specific work to be performed. The work effort should be arranged into major tasks and identified in separately numbered paragraphs. Each numbered major task should delineate by subtask the work to be performed and should follow an outline numbering scheme. The PWS must identify all reviews and when/where (identify by milestone or task) that will be conducted. It must also identify any and all items including hardware, software, and reports to be delivered to the Government as a result of the program. In addition, when proposing, indicate the appropriate CDRLs for your effort per the instructions in paragraph. 6. S&T Protection Plan: Science & Technology (S&T) Program Protection: Submit as a part of the proposal submission 1.) a completed Standard Form (SF) 424, Research and Related Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Form for all Senior/Key Personnel proposed; and 2.) A Completed Security Program Questionnaire. A mitigation plan for any identified S&T Protection risks may be requested. The Government reserves the right to determine if an offer is awardable or not on the grounds of unacceptable S&T Protection risk based on its review of the SF 424 and Security Program Questionnaire. Proposal submission in response to this RFP is certification that the Offeror is in compliance with Section 223(a) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 which requires that: (a) the Principal Investigator (PI) and other key personnel certify that the current and pending support provided on the proposal is current, accurate and complete; (b) agree to update such disclosure at the request of the agency prior to the award of support and at any subsequent time the agency determines appropriate during the term of the award; (c) the PI and other key personnel have been made aware of the requirements under Section 223(a)(1) of this Act; and (d) certification includes the following statement: - I am aware that any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or claims may subject me to criminal, civil, or administra?ve penal?es. (U.S. code, Title 218, Section 1001). V. EVALUATION CRITERIA: Proposals will be evaluated in accordance the Neutron STAR User Guide. Proposals submitted will be conducted by a peer or scientific review process and will use the following criteria: a. Technical Merit: Technical Merit is first in order of priority (more important than Relevance to AFRL Programs or Value/Cost) and shall be evaluated based on the following criteria, which are of equal importance. b. Value/Cost: Value/Cost is subject to funds availability. Once selected for possible award, the price will be evaluated for realism and reasonableness. VI. AWARD NOTICES: Offerors will be notified whether their proposal is recommended for award in writing. The notification of recommendation for award is not to be construed to mean the award of a contract is assured as availability of funds and successful negotiations are prerequisites to any award. VII. TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT: Primary: Leslie Remy, AFRL/RVBN E-mail: leslie.remy@us.af.mil Alternate: Mark Dubois, AFRL/RVBN E-mail: steven.fiedler@spaceforce.mil VIII. CONTRACTING POINTS OF CONTACT: Contracting Officer: Isaac Thorp, AFRL/RVKB Email: isaac.thorp@spaceforce.mil Contract Specialist: Ashley Patterson AFRL/RVKB E-mail: AFRL.RVKB.afrlneutronSTARdms@us.af.mil IX. ATTACHMENTS 1. AFRL/RVK Cost Proposal Instructions 2. Performance Work Statement (PWS) 3. Neutron STAR Cover Page 4. Standard Form 424 (Research and Related Senior Key Person Profile) 5. Draft DD Form 1423-1, Contract Data Requirements List (CDRLs)