Open Innovation and Collaboration Opportunity

The Air Force Research Laboratory is announcing to business and academia its intent to solicit proposals under this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). This announcement does not request any proposals at this time. Solicitations for proposals will be accomplished via calls or amendments to this BAA. The over-arching strategy of the BAA involves the use of this 2-year open-ended BAA to quickly and efficiently execute research and development to deliver practical solutions to urgent problems. While some of these efforts may entail rapidly (in less than one year) integrating existing technology into field testable, functional prototypes several efforts may be of longer term to demonstrate the feasibility of an innovative technology approach. The calls will be in the following three (3) major Technical Areas: 1) Deliver Precision Effects: Our tactics and strategies have changed over the past two generations, from one of airborne delivery of massive quantities of weapons - to one of precision engagement of specific adversaries. It will become even more critical in the future as tensions rise or conflicts ensue, that our Air Force be able to provide a broader range of effects to meet specific needs of the conflict and respond to National leadership. 2) Universal Situational Awareness: The difference between now and the Cold War era is that we no longer know who the enemies are. In this context, Universal Situational Awareness is defined as the ability to understand the capabilities, intents, locations and the ability to cause harm to the national interest - of any entity, big or small, no matter where it is, what its nature is, or how it is organized. Such entities might be individuals, organizations, nations, natural disasters (such as hurricanes or asteroids approaching Earth), or social, political, environmental, or economic events (such as global warming, revolution, or recession). 3) Access and Survive the Battlespace: All of the military capabilities that might be brought to bear in conflict are of little value if forces cannot gain access to the battlespace - whether it is air, space, or cyberspace. Each domain has its unique challenges and there is a need to continue to pursue technologies across the spectrum to counter emerging anti-access capabilities around the globe. This strategy will provide AFRL an acquisition tool with the flexibility to solicit proposals and make awards to deliver innovative technical solutions to meet present and future compelling Air Force needs as ever-changing operational issues are identified. The BAA will remain "open" for 2 years; however, proposals will only be solicited and accepted during calls. Each call will identify solicitation topics and contain a common cut-off date for proposal submission. Proposal receipt after the specified due date and time shall be governed by the provisions of FAR 52.215-1(c)(3). Calls for proposals (made by amendments to this BAA) will occur periodically throughout the life of this over-arching BAA. Each call will: (1) identify specific technical challenges for which an innovative solution is needed; (2) identify any changes to the standard evaluation criteria or proposal preparation instructions, and; (3) contain common cutoff dates for proposal submissions. It is anticipated that solicitations issued under this BAA will be unrestricted. Small businesses are encouraged to propose on all of the solicitations. The NAICS code, unless otherwise stated in the BAA calls, shall be 541712 (i.e., Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences except Biotechnology), and the size standard is 500 employees. Proposals submitted shall be in accordance with this BAA and its appropriate amendment(s). Interested offerors should be alert for any BAA amendments that call for proposals, permit extensions to the proposal submission dates, or otherwise change the requirements of this BAA or its subsequent amendments.