[UCI-CalIT2] DARPA BAA05-14 Integrated Battle Command

[Anna Lynn SPITZER]

Subject: DARPA BAA05-14 Integrated Battle Command 

 

Description 

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) 05-14 Integrated Battle Command; CLOSING
DATE: 07 Feb 2006; FULL PROPOSALS FOR FIRST SELECTIONS: 12:00 Noon local
Arlington, VA time on 24 March 2005.  POC:  Dr.  John G. Allen,
DARPA/ATO; Email: BAA05-14 at darpa.mil; Web:
http://www.darpa.mil/ato/solicit/IBC/index.htm 

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION:  The Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency's (DARPA) Advanced Technology Office (ATO) is soliciting
proposals under this BAA for the performance of research, development,
design, and testing that directly supports the Integrated Battle Command
(IBC) program. The IBC program will develop transformational
decision-aid technologies to enhance the capability of commanders and
staffs to plan and conduct joint effects-based operations in future
campaigns. The decision aids will apply over the full continuum of
near-simultaneous missions required in a campaign, to include major
combat operations as well as various security, stability and
reconstruction operations. 

Objectives: The decision aids will assist the commander and staff in
generating, assessing and visualizing the consequences of employing
diplomatic, military, information operations and economic (DIME)
actions, singularly or in combinations, to achieve effects against the
adversary's political, military (air, land and sea), economic, social,
information and infrastructure (PMESII) systems. The decision aids will
also assist the commander and staff in constructing, visualizing and
evaluating campaign plans that exploit the impact of multi-dimensional
effects and the interaction among effects. 

Technical Areas: The program will be conducted sequentially. 

* Phase 1: Basal Capability Development will develop a minimal suite of
tools with the functionality to visualize complex information and to
predict and analyze action/effect relationships.  The resulting
capability will be evaluated by experimentation. 

* Phase 2: Comprehensive Capability Development will expand the
functionality of the Basal Capability to include the capability for
generating effects-based plans; it will also refine and complete
development of the overall capability. The resulting capability will be
evaluated by experimentation. 

Specifically, Phase 1 will produce a basal capability with two tool
kits: an Action/Effects Prediction and Analysis Tool Kit and a
Visualization and Computer Interaction Tool Kit.  The Action/Effects
Prediction and Analysis Tool Kit will aid command center personnel in
investigating the interactions between a nation's PMESII systems and
their susceptibility to DIME actions. The tools set will be
bi-directional (action-to-effects or effect-to-actions) and bi-sided
(model the adversary coalition/partners as well as the US
coalition/partners).  The Visualization and Computer Interaction Tool
Kit will enable command center personnel to develop complex transforms
and displays from existing databases and information/knowledge sources
as well as to visualize the results of using the Action/Effects
Prediction and Analysis Tool Kit by displaying Action/Effect linkages
and their significance. 

Phase 2 will expand the functionality to include an Effects-based
Planning Tool Kit to aid commanders and staffs in generating
effects-based campaign plans. During Phase 2, the capabilities of the
Visualization and Computer Interaction Tool Kit and the Action/Effects
Prediction and Analysis Tool Kit developed in Phase 1, will be expanded
and enhanced based on the experiments performed in Phase 1, and the need
to support and interact with the Effects-based Planning Tool Kit.   

Go/No-Go Criteria: Contractor performance on this program will be
determined by the use of Go/No-Go Criteria. The technologies developed
under this program will be evaluated using human-in-the-loop experiments
to estimate the value of performance metrics. The primary metrics are: 

* Net Number of Favorable Effects Achieved 

* Number of Predicted Unfavorable Actions and Effects. 

Specifically, we are interested in the increase in the value of these
metrics due to employing the tools in contrast to not employing them.
Thus, experiments will be conducted using two teams of players operating
in parallel; one team will be advantaged with the automated decision
support tools.  Multiple teams of command center personnel will be
employed in multiple experiment trials. A panel of government experts,
as well as simulation will be used to evaluate and characterize the
individual actions and effects. 

For Phase 1 and 2 of the program, the Go/No-Go Criteria are achievement
of the following metric goals: 

Program Metrics                              Phase 1 Goal Phase 2 Goal 

Net Number of Favorable Effects Achieved      10:1   100:1 

Number of Predicted Unfavorable Actions and Effects   10:1   100:1 

The goals are defined as the ratio of the values of the metrics,
measured for teams of command center personnel employing the tools,
compared to teams not employing the tools. 

This BAA shall remain open for one (1) year from the date of publication
on www.fedbizopps.gov and www.fedgrants.gov.  Although the Government
may select proposals for award at any time during this period, it is
anticipated that the majority of funding for this program will be
committed during the initial selections.  Proposers may submit a full
proposal in accordance with the instruction provided in the Proposer
Information Pamphlet (PIP) at any time up to the proposal due date.  In
order to be considered during the initial round of funding, full
proposals must be submitted to DARPA on or before 12:00 Noon local
Arlington, VA time on 24 March 2005. 

DARPA will employ an electronic upload process for proposal submissions.
Proposers may find submission guidance at
http://www.darpa.mil/ato/solicitations/IBC/index.htm. Organizations must
register at http://www.tfims.darpa.mil/baa to propose. Each proposal
submitted requires a separate registration, so organizations wishing to
submit multiple proposals should complete a single registration for each
proposal. The deadline for registration is 10 March 2005 (2 weeks before
the proposals are due). By registering, the Proposer has made no
commitment to submit.  Proposal submissions must be unclassified. 

All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may
submit a proposal that shall be considered by DARPA.  Historically Black
Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are
encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals.
However, no portion of this BAA will be set aside due to the
impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of this research
for exclusive competition among these entities.  This BAA affords
proposers the choice of submitting proposals for the award of a Grant,
Cooperative Agreement, Contract, Technology Investment Agreement, and
Other Transaction for Prototype Agreement, or such other appropriate
award instrument.  The type of procurement or assistance vehicle is
subject to negotiations. 

EVALUATION CRITERIA:  Each proposal will be evaluated on its merit as it
relates to the program rather than against other proposals for research
in the same general area, since no common work statement exists.
Proposals will be evaluated on the following factors, in order of
importance:  (a) General Technical Approach; (b) Technical Approach to
Action/Effect Prediction and Analysis Tool Kit; (c) Technical Approach
to Visualization and Computer Interaction Tool Kit; (d) Technical
Approach to Effects-based Planning Tool Kit; (e) Technical Approach to
Experimentation; (f) Management and Program Plan; (g) Potential
Contribution and Relevance to the DARPA Mission; and (h) Cost Realism.
In accordance with FAR 35.016(e), the primary basis for selecting
proposals for award shall be technical, importance to agency programs,
and funds availability.  Cost realism and reasonableness shall also be
considered to the extent appropriate as described herein.  Proposals may
be evaluated as they are received, or they may be collected and
periodically reviewed.   

ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE:  Proposers choosing to respond to this BAA must
read the associated PIP available at www.fedbizopps.gov and
www.fedgrants.gov, which provides specific information about this BAA,
including instructions on how to respond. 

 

Link to Full Announcement 

BAA05-15 - Integrated Battle Command 

 

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