A -- LOGISTICS MODELING AND SIMULATION

Notice Date

December 29, 2000

Contracting Office

Office of Naval Research, 800 North Quincy St., Arlington, VA 22217-5660

ZIP Code

22217-5660

Solicitation Number

01-006

Response Due

January 31, 2001

Point of Contact

Contract Negotiator: Vera M. Duberry, ONR 253, (703)696-2610, duberrv@onr.navy.mil , Technical Point of Contact: MS.Lynn Torres,ONR Code 353, (703) 588-0070

Description

The Office of Naval Research, as executive agent for the Expeditionary Logistics, Future Naval Capabilities, is seeking technical and cost proposals describing innovative technology concepts to improve logistics modeling and simulation capabilities. Proposals are sought from all available sources to include Industry, Institutions of Higher Education (IHE), private industry, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) and Government Laboratories. Teaming/partnering is highly encouraged. Innovative technology concepts must support the future of naval warfare, specifically, power projection, Operational Maneuver From the Sea, Ship to Objective Maneuver and Seabased Logistics. Emphasis is placed upon the Naval requirements to conduct logistics wargaming, training and course of action development. Innovative technology concepts should be able to integrate with current and future modeling and simulation systems as well as command and control systems as part of a deliberate transition effort. Technology surveys conducted by this office indicate the feasibility of developing a tool suite that can meet both the High Level Architecture of the modeling and simulation community and the DII/COE environment of the command and control community. It is the objective of this effort to proceed with a deliberate investment in improving the technology base and then applying said technology to logistics specific problem sets. Logistics wargaming, command and control, and training tools, due to their complexity, have been conspicuously absent from the Naval Service's suite of legacy systems. A top-level solution using highly aggregated logistics data often lacks enough specificity to provide a high level of detail. However, a solution providing greater granularity and addressing the full spectrum of logistics concerns (for example: distribution platforms, supply levels, availability and reliability of equipment, personnel availability, and external battlefield factors such as weather/terrain/enemy activity, scaling to the supported force, etc.) becomes so burdened with inputs and scenario dependencies it is no longer a practical tool for use by the component commanders, operational forces, and training commands. This effort will be conducted in three (3) phases, each consisting of a two-year period of performance. The total for Phase I (FY 01 and FY 02), Phase II (FY 03 and FY 04), and Phase III (FY 05 and FY 06) are expected to be funded at approximately $2M annually (subject to the future availability of funds) for a total of $12M. It is anticipated that there will be multiple performers in each of the phases, but the government reserves the right to downselect to a single performer or to re-compete to seek out new performers during the later phases. Phase I is 6.1 category funding or basic research. The intent of the Phase I (FY 01 and FY 02) investment is to address methodologies that balance and resolve the depth and breath and speed of data required in logistics modeling and simulation. During Phase I, the emphasis of the program is to demonstrate the computing capability to handle the rigor of an extensive modeling effort on a PC platform. Although the performer(s) should keep in mind that any technology demonstrated must be capable of transitioning to DII/COE compliant platforms. The performer(s), through their technology approach, should demonstrate the ability to rapidly solve complex problems involving extensive and complex variables. The technology shall address scaling issues associated with the depth and breath of logistics operations and shall have a methodology for addressing missing or unspecified data sets. Phase I shall be conducted with consideration for the different operating environments, i.e., wargaming, training, and command and control. The selected technology architecture shall facilitate multiple user(s) input(s) with the ability to stop and restart runs after interaction. The technology shall have the ability to optimize solution sets and the capability of addressing the components of an equation impacted by the variable changes, rather than conducting a complete end-to-end computation with each run. The program office will provide the successful offerer(s) with a single logistics scenario and Concept of Employment (COE) for Phase I during the third quarter of FY 2001. The performer(s) will have to demonstrate in future years that other scenario modules can be added to the model. Phase II is category 6.2 category funding or applied technology. All Phase I efforts should be conducted with the Phase II applications in mind. The intent of Phase II (FY 03 and FY 04) is to apply the products of Phase I into actual systems. During Phase II, applications will be integrated with the improved technical capabilities based on potential transition to acquisition opportunities. Computing technologies will be applied to wargaming, training and command and control. Wargaming may involve many participants and an external control as the source of data input. Characteristics of wargaming are the requirement to stop and restart the model after inputs and changes, and the ability to incorporate new advanced warfighting concepts, doctrine and/or business processes easily. Training tools may imply some learning technologies, different levels/capabilities of operators, and the need to archive and retrieve model activity throughout a run. Command and control is driven by time constraints, corrupt or incomplete data sets, and when used for course of action development, the ability to provide future projections. Phase III is 6.3 category funding or technology demonstration. The intent of Phase III (FY 05 and FY 06) is to demonstrate the novel technology under the Phase II effort. During Phase III, the technology will be verified and validated through a series of demonstrations involving functional configuration audits, command post exercises, war games and field test(s) with operational forces. Priority will be given to those concepts exhibiting strong evidence of being demonstrable by 2005. The total for Phase I awards is estimated at approximately $4.0M with a ceiling of $500K per team or organization placed on funding in the first year (FY 01). Anticipated FY 02 funding will be distributed to those awardees showing successful progress toward a system with depth, breadth, and speed. One or multiple awards based on this announcement are anticipated and will be in the form of contracts, except for awards to governmental agencies. However, the Government reserves the right to select all, some, or none of the proposals received in response to this announcement. To assist in informing successful offerors regarding current doctrine, concepts of employment, and other relevant information, ONR will establish a web site which will contain links to several relevant documents. Proposals shall only address the proposed R&D work to be performed during the remainder of FY 01 and shall include a detailed cost estimate and resumes of the principal performer(s). A summary of the efforts in the 2nd year of Phase I, with a rough order of magnitude cost estimate is requested in a single paragraph. Proposals shall include the following items: (1) Cover page, clearly labeled "Proposal", including the BAA title and date, title of proposal, administrative and technical points of contact along with telephone and fax numbers; (2) Technical description, limited to 10 pages, to consist of clear discussions on the concept and associated technologies being proposed, development objectives of the proposed effort, major technical issues to be resolved to accomplish objectives, and approaches to resolving these issues; (3) Managerial description, to include partnering arrangements if any, list of key personnel and resumes', specific prior experience of offeror in the technology areas addressed, facilities, and a plan of action and milestones; and (4) Cost description, limited to 1 page, to consist of the cost estimate on the first year partitioned by major tasks, the second year effort shall be a rough order of magnitude estimate. Phase I proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria. The primary evaluation criteria (of equal importance) are: (1) Overall technical merits; (2) Technical innovation, feasibility and risk to successfully demonstrate the technologies by 2004; (3) Potential to enhance logistics command and control, wargaming and training; and (4) Potential for transition to the fleet. Other evaluation criteria (of less importance than that of (1), (2), (3) and (4), but of equal importance to each other) are: (5) Offeror's capabilities evidenced by (a) synergistic industry-academic-government partnering arrangements as appropriate, (b) past performance and related experience, (c) facilities, and (d) techniques or unique combinations thereof that are integral factors for achieving the proposed objectives; (6) Qualifications, capabilities, and experience of the proposed principal investigator, project manager, and other key personnel; and (7) Budgetary cost. A detailed FY 02 proposal of 10 pages will be submitted in late August with a program review briefing. At the end of Phase I, there will be a downselect competition for Phase II. However, the government reserves the right, in its discretion, to open up the competition for Phase II awards to other potential performers who did not receive Phase I awards. In addition to the criteria stated above, Phase II efforts (or their equivalent in the event the competition is expanded) will be evaluated based on the degree to which they meet the following criteria: (1) robustness and adaptability; (2) enhanced usability and reusability; (3) realistic unpredictability; (4) ease of manipulation; (5) realistic modeling of battlefield awareness; (6) support for rapid validation and accreditation; (7) reusable modules; (8) robust link between simulations for training, acquisition, and ops support; and (9) simultaneously achieving sufficient fidelity and resolution, sufficient run speed and ease of use, HLA, DII COE compliance, and a low cost platform. The same criteria will be used if a downselect competition is held for Phase III. Proposals will be protected from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR 15.413, applicable law, and DoD/DoN regulations. The evaluation of proposals will be performed by government personnel. However, they may utilize some non-governmental subject matter experts in developing their evaluation of proposals. Any non-governmental experts will be required to sign a non-disclosure statement prior to gaining access to the submitted proposals. This BAA provides no funding for direct reimbursement of proposal development costs. All proposals will be acknowledged. Proposals will not be returned after evaluation. This notice constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement as contemplated in FAR 6:102(d)(2)(i). The socio-economic merits of each contract award proposal will be reviewed based on the commitment to provide meaningful subcontracting opportunities for Small Businesses, HUBZone small businesses, Small Disadvantaged Business, Woman-Owned Small Business Concerns, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this solicitation is 541511 (which corresponds with the standard industrial classification code of 7371) with the small business size standard of 500 employees. In addition, contract proposals that exceed $500,000, submitted by all but small business concerns, must be accompanied by a Small Business Subcontracting Plan in accordance with FAR 52.219-9. The DoD will not issue paper copies of this program announcement. Six paper copies and one electronic copy of the proposals are due no later than 4:00PM on 31 January 2001 and should be addressed to the Office of Naval Research, 800 North Quincy Street, Arlington, VA 22217-5660, Attention: Ms. Vera M. Duberry, Code 353 Room 720 no later than 2:00PM or 1400 hours on 31 January 2001.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010103/ASOL001.HTM (W-364 SN5098S3)