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General Information
-
Document Type: |
Sources Sought Notice |
Solicitation Number: |
BAA04-16 |
Posted Date: |
Mar 01, 2004 |
Original Response Date: |
Apr 21, 2004 |
Current Response Date: |
Apr 21, 2004 |
Original Archive Date: |
Mar 01, 2005 |
Current Archive Date: |
Mar 01, 2005 |
Classification Code: |
A -- Research & Development |
Naics Code: |
541710 -- Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering,
and Life Sciences |
Contracting Office Address
- Other Defense Agencies, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,
Contracts Management Office, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA,
22203-1714
Description
- REAL-TIME ADVERSARIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DECISION-MAKING (RAID), SOL BAA
04-16, DUE: 04/21/04; POC: Dr. Alexander Kott,
DARPA/IXO; FAX: (703) 465-1065. The Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Information Exploitation Office (IXO) is
soliciting proposals for the Real-time Adversarial Intelligence and
Decision-making program under this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA).
BACKGROUND: The Real-time Adversarial Intelligence
and Decision-making (RAID) program focuses on the challenge of anticipating
enemy actions in a military operation. In a number of recent publications,
US military leaders call for the development of techniques and tools to
address this critical challenge. In the US Air Force community, the term,
predictive battlespace awareness, refers to capabilities that would help the
commander and staff to characterize and predict likely enemy courses of
action, to relate the history of the enemy's performance to its current and
future actions, and to associate these predictions with opportunities for
friendly actions and effects. A related term,
predictive analysis, is being used in the US Army community to denote a
process and tools for predicting future enemy actions. Today's
practices of military intelligence and decision-making do include a number
of processes specifically aimed at predicting enemy actions. Currently,
these processes are largely manual as well as mental, and do not involve any
significant use of technical means. Even when
computerized wargaming is used (albeit rarely in field conditions), it
relies either on human guidance of the simulated enemy units or on simple
reactive behaviors of such simulated units; in neither case is there a
computerized prediction of intelligent and forward-looking enemy actions.
Thus, the challenge of predicting enemy actions involves the development of
computational means to reason about the future enemy actions in a way that
combines: the enemy's intelligent plans to achieve his objectives by
effective use of his strengths and opportunities; the enemy's perception of
friendly strengths, weaknesses and intents; the enemy's tactics, doctrine,
training, moral, cultural and other biases and preferences; the
impact of terrain, environment (including non-combatant population),
weather, time and space available; the influence of personnel attrition,
ammunition and other consumable supplies, logistics, communications, sensors
and other elements of a military operation; and the complex interplay and
mutual dependency of friendly and enemy actions, reactions and
counteractions that unfold during the execution of the operation. In this
program, we use the term adversarial reasoning to refer to the process of
making inferences over the totality of the above factors. We
also use the term deception reasoning to refer to another important aspect
of predicting enemy actions: the fact that military operations are
historically, crucially dependent on the ability to use various forms of
concealment and deception for friendly purposes while detecting and
counteracting the enemy's concealment and deception. Therefore, adversarial
reasoning must include deception reasoning. PROGRAM
OBJECTIVE: The RAID Program will develop a real-time
adversarial predictive analysis tool that operates as an automated enemy
predictor providing a continuously updated picture of probable enemy actions
in tactical ground operations. The RAID Program will
strive to: prove that adversarial reasoning can be
automated; prove that automated adversarial reasoning can include deception;
prove that automated adversarial reasoning can account for doctrinal and
cultural biases; and integrate these predictive analysis tools into a
warfighter's C2 and intelligence support system. PROGRAM
STRUCTURE: This solicitation requests efforts in four
related areas. Adversarial Reasoning: design and build the Adversarial
Reasoning Module and internal models; continue to develop and enhance this
component as the program progresses through its phases; support the
program's series of increasingly realistic experiments; share the content of
the internal models with the Deception Reasoning Module via the interfaces
constructed by the System Integrator; perform the efforts in close
coordination with the System Integrator and according to the system
specifications developed by the System Integrator.; and provide the
Adversarial Reasoning Module software to the other Adversarial Reasoning
Module performer for the purposes of acting as an automated red commander
for in-house experiments. It is expected that there will be up to two (2)
awards in this area. However, in the event of two awards for this area, only
one will be carried to Phase III. Deception Reasoning: design and build the Deception Reasoning
Module; continue to develop and enhance this component as the program
progresses through its phases; support the program's series of increasingly
realistic experiments; utilize the content of the internal models via the
interfaces constructed by the System Integrator; and perform the efforts in
close coordination with the System Integrator and according to the system
specifications developed by the System Integrator. It is expected that there
will be up to two (2) awards in this area. In the event of two awards for
this area, only one will be carried to Phase III. System
Integration: design and build the overall architecture, interfaces,
representations and formats of the RAID system, components and testbed;
enable sharing of data and models between the Adversarial Reasoning Module
and Deception Reasoning Module; modify, as necessary, the interfaces and
entity behaviors of a combat simulation system; replace notional parameters
and models with validated and realistic ones in connection with system-wide
experiments; implement elements of the experimental scenario and terrain as
designed by the Experimentation and evaluation performer; provide hardware,
software (a combat simulation system) and facilities for experiments; design
and build interfaces required for integration of the RAID capability into
the target transition environment; and act as if the prime contractor and
manage the efforts of the Adversarial Reasoning and the Deception Reasoning
area performers. It is expected that there will be
only one (1) award in this area. Experimentation
and evaluation: design experiments, design wargame scenarios, define system-
and component-level metrics, design instrumentation to obtain data, provide
and train human players, manage and execute experiments, collect and analyze
data; provide subject matter expertise to the RAID technology developers;
liaison with potential users of RAID and transition partners; and maintain
organizational and contractual independence from performers in other areas
of the program in order to provide objective experimental evaluation of RAID
performance but coordinate closely with the System Integrator. It
is expected that there will be only one (1) award in this area. Teaming
is encouraged. An organization can propose to more
than one area, with a separate proposal for each area. However,
no individual should be named in more than one proposal. PROGRAM
PHASES: The RAID program will be conducted in three
12-month phases. Phase I - Anticipation: develop
mechanisms to compute adversarial, anticipative, move-countermove actions. Phase
II - Detection: develop the ability to see through
the fog of war and recognize deceptions. Phase III -
Transition: develop fieldable products which can
integrate with existing C2 and ISR systems. The
development of RAID will be driven by a rigorous program of increasingly
difficult and realistic experiments. Each phase of the program will include
two series of experiments. Outcomes of the experiments will have a decisive
influence on continuing funding of the program or its individual efforts.
For planning purposes, assume the following schedule of experiments: Phase I
- 8 and 11 months after contract; Phase II - 18 and 23 months after
contract, Phase II - 30 and 35 months after contract. To assess RAID
progress at the end of each phase DARPA will use quantitative metrics and
experimental conditions as discussed in the Proposer Information Package
(PIP). In addition to these program-wide experiments,
RAID contractors will design and perform in-house experiments to assess the
progress made toward the program goals in development of the contractor's
respective component. RAID contractors will propose
specific component-level assessment metrics to be used in such
component-specific experiments. AWARDS: Up
to two (2) awards are anticipated in each of the two technical areas:
Adversarial Reasoning and Deception Reasoning. Up to
one (1) award is contemplated in the areas of: system
integration and experimentation and evaluation. Non-critical
path tasks that can be cleanly separated as individual modules should be
proposed and costed as options. The contract will be
incrementally funded by fiscal year, assuming identified milestones have
been satisfactorily met. Funding in the out years is
subject to satisfactory evaluation of the DARPA Go/No go criteria as well as
availability of funds. Contract Mechanisms: Awards
are anticipated to be in the form of Procurement Contracts or Other
Transactions. Grants or Cooperative Agreements are
also possible. SELECTION CRITERIA: Proposals
will be selected through a technical/scientific/business decision process
with technical and scientific considerations being most important. Evaluations
will be performed using the following criteria listed in descending order of
relative importance: (1) Technical Depth and
Feasibility, (2) Consistency with RAID Program Concepts, (3) Cost Realism
and Value of Proposed Work to the Government, and (4) Personnel and
Corporate Capabilities and Experience. Further details may be found in the
PIP which can be accessed at http://www.darpa.mil/ixo/solicitations/raid/index.htm. Proposed
research should investigate innovative approaches and techniques that lead
to or enable revolutionary advances in the state-of-the-art. Proposals
are not limited to the specific strategies listed above, and alternative
visions will be considered. However, proposals should
be for research that substantially contributes towards the goals stated. Research
should result in prototype hardware and/or software demonstrating integrated
concepts and approaches. Specifically excluded is
research that primarily results in evolutionary improvement to the existing
state of practice or focuses on a specific system or solution. Integrated
solution sets embodying significant technological advances are strongly
encouraged over narrowly defined research endeavors. Proposals
may involve other research groups or industrial cooperation and cost
sharing. This BAA shall remain open and proposals
received up to one year following this BAA's release. GENERAL
INFORMATION: A Briefing to Industry (BTI) is
scheduled for 17 March 2004 to be held at the Executive Conference Center,
3601 Wilson Blvd, Suite 600, Arlington VA. Information
on the RAID BTI may be found at: http://www.darpa.mil/ixo/solicitations/raid/index.htm. Pre-registration
for the RAID BTI is encouraged. The deadline for
pre-registration is 15 March 2004 via the WWW at https://www.tfims.darpa.mil/bti/. All
pertinent information and materials presented at the RAID BTI will be made
available at http://www.darpa.mil/ixo/solicitations/raid/index.htm. Proposal
abstracts ARE NOT requested in advance of full proposals. DARPA
will employ an electronic upload process for proposal submissions. Proposers
may find submission guidance at: http://www.darpa.mil/ixo/solicitations/raid/index.htm. Organizations
must register at: http://www.tfims.darpa.mil/baa to
propose. One registration per proposal should be
submitted. Organizations wishing to submit multiple
proposals should complete a single registration for each proposal. The
deadline for registration is 14 April 2004 at the URL listed above. By
registering, the Proposer has made no commitment to submit. Proposal
Submissions must be unclassified. Proposers must be
willing to cooperate and exchange software, data, and other information with
other contractors if it contributes to the success of the program. This
includes coordination with a contractor, chosen by DARPA, if appropriate. A
statement of cooperation must be included in the final proposal. REQUIREMENTS/PROCEDURES: The
Award Document for each proposal selected and funded will contain a
mandatory requirement for submission of DARPA/IXO Quarterly Status Reports
and an Annual Project Summary Report. These reports
will be electronically submitted via the DARPA/IXO Technical - Financial
Information Management System (T-FIMS), utilizing the government furnished
Uniform Resource Locator (URL) on the World Wide Web (WWW). Further
details may be found in the PIP. PROPOSAL DELIVERY: Proposals
must be uploaded no later than 1500 (EST), 21 April 2004 to be considered
for the first round of funding. BAA 04-16 will be
open until 1 March 2005. Proposals submitted under
this BAA after the above referenced date will be accepted, but will not be
considered for the first round of funding. Please
reference http://www.darpa.mil/ixo/solicitations/raid/index.htm for complete
submission instructions. PROTECTION OF INFORMATION: It
is the policy of DARPA to treat all proposals as competitive information and
to disclose contents only for the purposes of evaluation and assessment. The
Government may use selected support contractor personnel from Solers,
Schafer Corporation, CACI International, and McNeil Technologies to assist
in administrative functions only. Those contractors
sign binding, non-disclosure agreements with DARPA. TECHNICAL
AND ADMINISTRATIVE INQUIRIES: DARPA intends to use
electronic mail for correspondence regarding BAA 04-16. Technical,
contractual, or administrative questions must be received at
BAA04-16@darpa.mil by 12:00 NOON (ET) 13 April 2004. Answers to all
questions generally relevant to the technical, contractual, and
administrative aspects of the solicitation will be posted at
http://www.darpa.mil/IXO/Solicitations/raid/index.htm under Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQs) for public access. OTHER IMPORTANT
INFORMATION: The Government reserves the right to
select for award all, some, or none of the proposals received in response to
this announcement and to award without discussions. All
responsible sources may submit a proposal that shall be considered by DARPA. Small
Disadvantaged Businesses and Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCUs)/Minority Institutions (MIs) are encouraged to submit proposals and
join others in submitting proposals. However, no
portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCUs and MIs participation, due
to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of technology
for exclusive competition among these entities. Government
contractors are required to register at the Government's Central Contractor
Registration site in order to negotiate contracts with most government
agencies. This URL is provided as a reference: http://www.ccr.gov. Since
this FedBizOpps Announcement, along with the PIP, constitutes a Broad Agency
Announcement as contemplated in the FAR 6.102 (d)(2)(i), all prospective
Proposers MUST also refer to the PIP before submitting a proposal. DARPA
anticipates that initial contractor selections will be made during the third
quarter of fiscal year 2004. Proposals MUST NOT be submitted by fax or
e-mail; any so sent will be disregarded. The
administrative addresses for this BAA are: Fax: 703-465-1065
Addressed to: DARPA/IXO, BAA 04-16 Electronic Mail: BAA
04-16@darpa.mil.
Electronic File Retrieval: http://www.darpa.mil/IXO/Solicitations/raid/index.htm. Original Point of
Contact: Michael Blackstone, Contracting Officer, Phone (517) 218-4804, Fax
(703) 807-4940, email
mblackstone@darpa.mil.
Original Point of Contact
- Michael Blackstone, Contracting Officer, Phone (571) 218-4804, Fax (703)
696-2208, Email mblackstone@darpa.mil - Michael Blackstone, Contracting
Officer, Phone (571) 218-4804, Fax (703) 696-2208, Email mblackstone@darpa.mil
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