United States Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL -- Rome Research Site, AFRL/Information Directorate, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY, 13441-4514

A -- THROUGH THE WALL SURVEILLANCE AND CONCEALED WEAPONS DETECTION SOL BAA-99-04-IFKPA POC Joetta Bernhard, Contracting Officer, Phone (315) 330-2308, Fax (315) 330-7790, Email bernhard@rl.af.mil WEB: Visit this URL for the latest information about this, http://www.eps.gov/cgi-bin/WebObjects/EPS?ACode=P&;ProjID=BAA-99-04-IFK PA&LocID=1142. E-MAIL: Joetta Bernhard, bernhard@rl.af.mil. Points of Contact: Mr. David D. Ferris, AFRL Program Manager, 315-330-4408, ferrisd@rl.af.mil; Joetta A. Bernhard, Contracting Officer (315) 330-2308, bernhard@rl.af.mil. DESCRIPTION: The Air Force Research Laboratory's Information Directorate (AFRL/IF) and the National Institute of Justice's Office of Science and Technology (NIJ/OST) are soliciting proposals for the development and demonstration of innovative technology to better detect concealed weapons (CW) in the hands of criminals -- the number one technology priority of the state and local law enforcement community -- and to provide law enforcement officers and military personnel engaged in peace keeping the ability to conduct surveillance through exterior and interior building walls in hostage rescue situations. Technology that lends itself to school-security/school- safety is also of interest. AFRL/IF and NIJ/OST will entertain responses to this solicitation that propose either development of new technology or demonstration and evaluationof existing technology. Of particular interest are technologies that: (1) are low cost in production; (2) are portable, optimally handheld or as small as possible; (3) provide the ability to detect weapons or survey individuals through walls at a distance; (4) can be used to enhance school safety; and, in regard to weapons detection, (5) can detect weapons with little or no metal content, and explosive materials. One area of interest is the detection of living humans through walls at ranges of up to 100 feet (30 meters). An awareness of where living people are located within a building is necessary when dealing with hostage situations, terrorism, counter terrorism, etc. AFRL/IF and NIJ/OST have also been developing technology to detect both metallic and non-metallic weapons (guns and edged weapons) that are concealed beneath a persons clothing. This CWD technology development program has been ongoing since 1995 and has the goal of standoff detection of these concealed weapons at a range of 10 meters. Finally, approaches are sought for the purpose of enabling the transition of sensor collection technology to the resource allocation and information management process that logically occurs further down stream in the CONOPs for special operations and law enforcement. PROGRAM SCOPE: Technical areas of interest include phenomenological issues associated with TWS and CWD, TWS and CWD breadboard/brassboard/prototype development, enabling technology development, enhancing technologies, and technologies for the purpose of enabling the transition of sensor collection technology to the resource allocation and information management process that must occur for the purpose of information dissemination and utilization. TWS phenomenological issues include the reflective, transmissive, and absorptive effects of the atmosphere and various wall materials and their effect on TWS performance. Of particular interest are technologies that are capable of "seeing through" or penetrating metallic walls. Phenomenological issues associatedwith living humans such as movement, heart beat, respiration, sounds, etc. are also of great interest to the TWS program. Phenomenological issues associated with both metallic and nonmetallic weapons, attenuation and reflective characteristics of various types of clothing (i.e. winter vs. summer clothing, heavy leather etc.) is of interest to the CWD program. Applicable TWS and CWD breadboards/brassboards/prototypes include but are not limited to imaging and non-imaging radar systems, acoustic technology, radiometers, low dose backscatter systems, etc. The proposal must clearly explain how the technology developed is compatible with or is capable of exploiting the appropriate phenomenology. Enabling technologies are those technologies that are not currently mature enough to integrate into a TWS or CWD system but whose development is necessary to meet the long term cost, performance, size, and/or implementation goals. These enabling technologies include unique antenna designs, low cost/producible MMIC designs, scanning improvements, etc. The proposal must explain how these enabling technologies will improve the performance of the TWS or CWD system. Enhancing technologies are those technologies that are not directly part of the TWS or CWD system but the integration of such technology could enhance the overall system performance. An example of an enhancing TWS technology is a tag that could be worn by a person that positively identifies the "tagged" person. The tag could also be used to alleviate some of the detrimental phenomenological issues associated with various wall types by reflecting or transmitting a much stronger signal than would be otherwise be reflected or emitted from the person being surveyed. In the case of CWD an enhancing technology might be a unique approach to processing that would interpret the sensor data and automatically decide whether the person had a concealed weapon. Sensor technology transition, resource allocation and information management technology includes proposals that deal with infrastructure backbone including information processing/exploitation/dissemination and the necessary telecommunications to enable successful interoperability between special operations units or law enforcement agencies. The proposals will be broken into four categories; TWS, CWD, sensor technology transition and interoperability. The offeror must also state whether the technology proposed is near-term or long-term. Near-term proposals are those that propose technology that can at least be demonstrated in a brassboard form within 2 years. Long-term proposals must propose technology that can be demonstrated in a breadboard form within 2 years and brassboard form within 5 or 6 years. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ENTIRE SOLICITATION. DO NOT SUBMIT A FORMAL PROPOSAL AT THIS TIME. EVALUATION CRITERIA: Proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria in descending order of importance: (1) overall scientific and technical merit; (2) potential contributions/relevance to NIJ, Air Force and DoD; (3) capabilities and experience;(4) plans and capabilities to accomplish technology transfer; and (5) total cost and cost realism. (NOTE: Cost realism will be used as an evaluation criterion only in proposals, which have significantly under or over estimated the cost to complete the effort). In addition, the Government will consider other factors, such as past and present performance on recent Government contracts and the capacity to perform the requirements of the effort. GENERAL INFORMATION: Prospective offerors should first submit a 5 -- 10 page white paper that describes their technical approach, an estimate of the cost, a schedule, a description of the deliverables (i.e. final report, breadboard, brassboard, etc.) and whether the proposal is intended to be short-term or long-term technology development. Based on the technical, financial and schedule content of the white paper the government will decide whether to request a proposal. Offerors are required to submit an original and (5) copies of their white paper with a cover letter indicating whether the offeror is a large, small, woman-owned small business, Historically Black College or University, or Minority Institution, to AFRL/IFEM, ATTN: David Ferris, 32 Brooks Road, Rome, NY 13441-4114 by 7 Jul 1999. Also, small business only should send one (1) copy of the cover letter only (1st Class Mail, Unclassified only) to ATTN: Ms Janis Norelli, Director of Small Business, AFRL/IFB, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome NY 13441-4514. Options are discouraged and unpriced options will not be considered. Offerors must mark their white papers with the restrictive language stated in FAR 15.609(a). Multiple white papers may be submitted in different areas of technology. White papers are limited to a total page count of 10 pages and shall be double-spaced with a font no smaller than 12 pitch. NIJ has budgeted approximately $4.0 million in FY99. Additional funding will be available in FY00 and FY01. The total value of all efforts awarded under this BAA will not exceed $15 million. Proposals should be for up to 24-months of effort, and range in value between $500,000 -- $1M. This effort should include those tasks necessary to get to a breadboard system (in the case of long term technology) or a brassboard system (in the case of near term technology). It is anticipated that the effort will be modified via an engineering change proposal for continued technology development with the ultimate goal of a demonstration. The demonstration will depend on the type of technology developed and whether the technology is considered near term or long term. Only government evaluators will make selections under this BAA. Personnel from the Air Force Research Laboratory and the National Institute of Justice, as well as other federal agencies and state and local police agencies will evaluate proposals. Most awards are expected O/A 17 October 99. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this announcement is not an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or any other contract, but may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost in FAR 31.205-18. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear significant concerns from offerors or potential offerors during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. Routine questions are not considered to be "significant concerns" and should be communicated directly to the Contracting Officer, Joetta A. Bernhard, and (315)330-2308. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the Contracting Officer or Program Manager, but to communicate contractor concerns, issues, disagreements and recommendations to the appropriate Government personnel. The Ombudsman for this acquisition is Vincent Palmiero, Deputy Chief, Contracting Division, AFRL/IFK at (315) 330-7746. When requested, the Ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of the proposals or in the source selection process. This BAA is open and effective for twenty-four months from the date of the publication of this notice. To receive a copy of the AFRL "BAA & PRDA: A Guide for Industry," Sep 1996 (Rev), write ATTN: Lucille Argenzia, AFRL/IFK, 26 Electronics Parkway, Rome, NY 13441-4514, or fax her at FAX 315-330-4728, or the guide may be accessed at: http://www.rl.af.mil/div/IFK/bp-guide.html. All responsible firms may submit proposals, which shall be considered. Respondents are asked to provide their Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) number with their proposal(s) and reference BAA 99-04-IFKPA. Only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government. Posted 06/08/99 (D-SN340373). (0159)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0005 19990610\A-0005.SOL)