A -- HIGH POWER FIBER LASERS

Notice Date

October 17, 2001

Contracting Office

Other Defense Agencies, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Contracts Management Office, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA, 22203-1714

ZIP Code

22203-1714

Solicitation Number

BAA02-02

Response Due

October 15, 2002

Point of Contact

L.N. Durvasula, DARPA Program Manager, Phone 000-000-0000, Fax 703-696-2204, Email ldurvasula@darpa.mil

Description

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT DARPA BAA#02-02: High Power Fiber Lasers. POCs: Dr. L. N. Durvasula (DARPA/TTO), FAX 703/696-2204; Ms. Algeria Tate (DARPA/CMD), FAX: 703/696-2208. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative proposals for the research and development of high power fiber lasers. This program has two separate tasks. In Task 1, single mode fiber lasers with output powers of one kilowatt or greater from a single aperture shall be developed and demonstrated. In Task 2, tens of kilowatts output power and capability to scale to greater than 100's of kilowatts output power and beyond shall be demonstrated through coherent combining of the output power from multiple single mode fiber lasers. BACKGROUND: The single mode output power, large surface to volume ratio of the fiber lasers enable efficient thermal management and robust architectures for packaging. The very large signal to noise ratio of the output power allows coherent combining of the output power of many single mode fiber lasers. Coherently combined high power fiber lasers with output powers beyond 100 kilowatts will provide a quantum leap in defense capabilities by simplifying the logistic train and providing a deep magazine, limited only by electric power, in a compact footprint. OBJECTIVES: In order to accomplish the goals of the high power fiber lasers program, radical innovations that are quantifiable shall be pursued for the two tasks. The two tasks of this program require distinct core competencies. Task 1 requires an understanding and expertise in the control of the effects of nonlinearities and multi-mode output from large mode area fibers, polarization preservation and launching of high power diode array pump power in to the fiber laser. Task 2 requires an understanding and expertise in phase control for coherent combining of multiple single mode fiber lasers and system integration issues associated with developing a reliable and affordable system. Task 1 objectives are to develop polarization preserving fiber lasers to provide one kilowatt or greater single mode output power from a single aperture. Task 2 objectives are to develop scalable architectures for coherent combining of the output power of multiple fiber lasers. Designs shall be capable of robust operations in harsh environments, i.e., resistant to vibrations and changes in the ambient pressure and temperature. Tens of kilowatts of output power and a capability of scaling to greater than 100 kilowatts shall be demonstrated.=20 TECHNICAL APPROACH: The two tasks described in the objectives section of the solicitation for the high power fiber lasers program will be executed in two eighteen-month phased efforts. In Phase I, Task 1, technology such as large mode-field area (LMA) fiber designs, pre-form fabrication techniques, and coupling of high brightness laser diode pumps shall be developed to demonstrate greater than 100 watt single mode output power from a fiber laser. For Task 2, designs for coherent combining of 100's of fiber lasers for greater than 100 kilowatt output power shall be developed and design concepts shall be validated through a demonstration of greater than 1 kilowatt output power. In Phase II, for Task 1, design concepts and technologies developed in Phase I efforts will be extended to demonstrate 1 kilowatt or greater single mode output power from a LMA fiber and establish limitations. For Task 2, greater than 10's of kilowatts output power and capability to scale to greater than 100's of kilowatts will be demonstrated through coherent combining of many single mode fiber lasers. Proposals shall address Tasks 1 or 2, for Phase I and II. High risk/high pay-off approaches or radical innovations to achieve or exceed the objectives of the program are encouraged. Clear and unambiguous milestones and Go/No-Go decision points to define the metrics of performance and determine that the effort is progressing towards achieving or exceeding the objectives of the program shall be defined. For Phase I, DARPA may fund up to two eighteen-month efforts for each of the two tasks. The results of Phase I effort will provide the basis for Go/No-Go decision for Phase II effort. Successful Phase I development efforts and available funding may lead to Phase II of the program. Technologies developed in this program will be evaluated and tested in the Government's facilities. GENERAL INFORMATION: Further information on the technical approach can be found in the Proposer Information Pamphlet (PIP) at the web site http://www.darpa.mil/TTO under solicitations. The PIP provides detailed information on program objectives, proposal submission format, evaluation and funding information. To facilitate further information exchange between potential bidders and program objectives, an Industry Day will be held on Thursday, November 8, 2001, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Strategic Analysis, Inc., One Virginia Square, 3601 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 600, Arlington, Virginia 22201. Briefings will be provided on Government requirements including potential customers. The point of contact for Industry Day is Ms. Julie Brandom, Booz Allen Hamilton. Tel: 703/465-8244, Fax: 703/525-3754 and e-mail: brandom_julie@bah.com. Interested organizations should submit expressions of interest to Booz Allen Hamilton, Attention: BAA 02-02 (Ms. Julie Brandom), 4001 N Fairfax Drive, Suite 650, Arlington, VA 22203-1714, to attend the Industry Day prior to COB Friday, October 26, 2001. In order to insure that all technically relevant aspects of high power fiber lasers to meet the DoD requirements are fully addressed, teaming of companies and academic institutions with complementary areas of expertise or core competence will be encouraged. The deadline for receipt of full proposals for the initial round of evaluations will be COB Thursday, January 10, 2002. This BAA will remain open until COB October 15, 2002. All proposals received by the appropriate due date will be fully evaluated. All bidders are required to submit one original and ten copies of their unclassified proposal. All proposals must be in the following page format: single-spaced, not greater than 8.5 by 11 inches, typed single-sided with 1.25 inch minimum margins, with a font, preferably New Times Roman, size not smaller than 12 point. The proposal shall be two volumes: 1) Technical and Management and 2) Cost. Volume 1 -- Technical and Management: The title page shall include the following information of the principal investigators: names, telephone and fax numbers and e-mail addresses. Pages two and three shall be an executive summary. The remaining proposal shall be divided into two sections. Section I shall be the technical proposal, limited to fifty pages, which describe the requirements, technical approach and the uniqueness of the design and the construction, the statement of work and performance milestones giving details on risk reduction and Go/No-Go decision points, program plan and demonstration plan. Section II shall be a summary of offerors core competence and capabilities, relevant prior work, organizational structure, management plan and resumes of key individuals. Volume II -- Cost: The cost proposal shall contain a complete cost breakdown per task. Use of an activity based cost (ABC) system is preferred, but not required. Activity Based Cost (ABC) is a technique to quantitatively measure the cost and performance of activities, resources and cost objects, including when appropriate, overhead for the technical and management approach offered. Information concerning activity based cost can be found at URL http://www.c3i.osd.mil/bpr/bprcd/0201.htm. The Government will not be liable for costs associated with the preparation of proposals in response to this BAA. The address and point of contact for this response shall be clearly and prominently identified in the proposal. Within approximately seven (7) business days of receipt, DARPA will acknowledge receipt of the submission and assign a control number that shall be used in all further correspondence regarding the proposal. The following criteria will be applied for the evaluation of the proposals: (1) overall scientific and technical merit based on the highest risk/highest pay-off approach with clear and unambiguous milestones and Go/No-Go decision points to define the metrics of performance and determine that the effort is progressing towards achieving or exceeding the objectives of the program, (2) offerors core competence, capabilities, related experience, facilities or unique combinations of these which are integral factors for achieving the proposed objectives the soundness of the proposed management plan; and (3) cost will be evaluated to determine whether the offeror's estimate is reasonable and realistic based on schedule and activity cost. Criteria 1 has the most significance in the evaluation. Criteria 2 has a higher weight than Criteria 3. The anticipated funding level for the two tasks for Phase I is $12 million. The planned funding for the two tasks in Phase I and II is approximately $35 million over a four-year period. The Government plans to make award decisions within approximately 45 days after receipt of full proposals. Final funding determination will be based on best value to the Government. The Government reserves the right to select for award some, none or portions of the proposals received under this solicitation. The Government reserves the right to use grants, contracts or other transactions agreements as instruments for funding the proposals selected for award. Information concerning Other Transactions can be found at URL http://www.darpa.mil/cmo/pages/other_trans.html. All proprietary material submitted should be clearly marked as such and will be held in strict confidence. All proposals must reference DARPA BAA 02-02. Aside from the PIP, no additional information is available. Requests for the same will be disregarded. ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Each cost proposal shall contain a section satisfying the requirements of the following: Awards made under this BAA are subject to the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 9.5, Organizational Conflict of Interest. All offerors and proposed subcontractors must affirmatively state whether they are supporting any DARPA technical office(s) through an active contract or subcontract. All affirmations must state which office(s) the offeror supports and identify the prime contract number. Affirmations shall be furnished at the time of proposal submission, and the existence or potential existence of organizational conflicts of interest, as that term is defined in FAR 9.501, must be disclosed. This disclosure shall include a description of the action the offeror has taken, or proposes to take, to avoid, neutralize or mitigate such conflict. If the offeror believes that no such conflict exists, then it shall so state in this section. It is the policy of DARPA to treat all proposals as competitive information, and to disclose the contents only for the purposes of evaluation. The Government intends to use Booz Allen & Hamilton personnel as special resources to assist with the logistics of administering proposal evaluation, and to provide advice on specific technical areas. Personnel of this contractor are restricted by their contracts from disclosing proposal information for any purpose other than these administrative or advisory tasks. Contractor personnel are required to sign the Conflict of Interest and Non-Disclosure Agreement. By submission of its proposal, each offeror agrees that proposal information may be disclosed to those selected contractors for the limited purpose stated above. Any information not intended for limited release to this contractor must be clearly marked and segregated from other submitted proposal material. This CBD notice itself constitutes the Broad Agency Announcement as contemplated by FAR 6.102(d)(2). No portion of this BAA will be set aside for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Minority Institutions (MI) participation due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable tasks relating to high power fiber lasers, however HBCUs and MIs are encouraged to apply. In cases where evaluation of proposals is substantially equal, preference for award will be given to those proposals which include HBCUs and MIs as participants over those which do not include HBCUs and MIs. No additional information will be made available, nor will a formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. All proposals, including technical and cost, shall be sent to: Dr. L. N. Durvasula, DARPA/TTO, DARPA BAA 02-02, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714; Fax: (703) 696-2204. Telephone inquiries are strongly discouraged; written inquiries may be sent by e-mail to BAA02-02@darpa.mil. Any inquiries by the potential bidders after the initial due date of proposals will be posted on the solicitation web site http://www.darpa.mil/tto/solicitations.html. =20

Web Link

Visit this URL for the latest information about this (http://www.eps.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/BAA02-02/listing.html)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20011019/ASOL004.HTM (D-290 SN5108D4)