Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory CSO
The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory is looking to obtain innovative solutions or potential new capabilities in the following categories: Building Cold Region Domain Awareness, Enhancing Mobility and Maneuver in Cold Region Environments, Integrated Ice Operations, Advanced Materials Development and Applications in Extreme Cold Environments, and Resilient Cold Region Energy Systems.
Engaging the Manufacturing Industrial Base in Support of DLA’s Critical Supply Chains
Competitive applicants will have reviewed the parts list provided on DLA Small Business Innovation Program (SBIP) website, (Reference 4) as well as the technical data in the cFolders of DLA DiBBs, (Reference 3). Proposals can evolve in one of four ways depending on the availability of technical data and NSNs for reverse engineering as follows. Information on competitive status, RPPOB, and tech data availability will be provided on the DLA SBIP website, (Reference 4). a. Fully Competitive (AMC/AMSC-1G) NSNs where a full technical data package is available in cFolders are not eligible for this program. b. Other than (AMC/AMSC-1G) NSNs where a full Technical Data Package (TDP) is available in cFolders. These items may also require a qualification of a Representative Article. The SBM proposal should reflect timeline, statement of work, and costs associated with producing a Source Approval Request (SAR) and (if applicable) qualification of a Representative Article. Contact the TPOC if necessary. The scope and procedures associated with development of a SAR package are provided in Reference 1. c. Repair Parts Purchase or Borrow (RPPOB) or Surplus may be an option for other than 1G NSNs where partial or no technical data is available in cFolders. NSNs, if available, may be procured or borrowed through this program for the purposes of reverse engineering. The instructions for RPPOB can be found on the websites, Reference 5. The SBM proposal should reflect timeline, statement of work and costs associated with the procuring the part and reverse engineering of the NSN. Depending on complexity, producing both the TDP and SAR package may be included in Phase I.
Naval Special Warfare Command CSO
Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC) seeks to accelerate the development, procurement and integration of unique capabilities into deployable warfighting capabilities in support of the Joint Force and our allied Special Operations Forces (SOF).
Novel Materials & Material Configurations
As one of the fundamental building blocks of military systems, materials or material configurations represent a set of unique opportunities for innovation in military systems and mission applications. The Department of Defense seeks to tap into the innovation and industrial capacity of the small business sector to generate novel materials or material configurations, demonstrate their scalability and manufacturability, and apply them to relevant challenges and use cases.
Phase I Open Call for Small Business Closing Supply Chain Gaps for Aging Weapon Systems
DLA SBIR Program has a legacy of success in the advancement of critical manufacturing technologies that support our national security, along with a growing small business manufacturing network that fortify DLA supply chains. These efforts together with our Service partners are helping the DLA to build a resilient SBM base to reduce the acquisition and supportability costs of defense weapons systems, reduce manufacturing and repair cycle times across the life cycles of such systems, and transition manufacturing research and development processes into production. Competitive proposals should originate from small business manufacturing firms and include their capability to manufacture a National Stock Number (NSN) or component for specific weapon platform. Proposals with software or integrated manufacturing solutions will not be evaluated. Projects of this open topic can develop in several ways: a) SBMs can identify NSNs on the DLA Internet Bid Board System (DIBBS). More details are available at Ref. 2. JCP Certification required as described in Ref. 3. b) SBMs can identify NSNs through partnerships with the Air Force, Navy, Army or Marine Corps or Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Service partner needs to be specifically identified with contact information for verification purposes. c) SBMs can propose advanced manufacturing methods for existing NSNs to improve cost, reduce lead time and/or improve quality. None of these projects can proceed without appropriate sponsorship from the DLA or one of the military Services. Identify specific partnerships and points of contact to strengthen your proposal. A specific NSN must be identified to participate in the open topic through independent SBM research. NSN’s will not be provided. The Offeror must fully understand the path to becoming an approved source for the proposed NSN and describe it in their proposal. PROJECT DURATION and COST: : Proposals exceeding these limits will not be evaluated.
Request for Information (RFI) - Strategic Technology Office (STO)
This RFI is to provide a mechanism to inform the office of new capabilities and concepts and the potential performers who will provide them. DARPA will use this information to determine the companies and individuals that STO would invite to have further substantive discussions to inform future projects and programs in appropriately classified settings when necessary.
TurboFCL
The Department of Defense (DOD) aims to increase small business participation within the industrial base and has boosted its involvement in providing goods, services, and research and technology to support national defense. However, significant obstacles persist that dissuade non-traditional vendors from entering the defense ecosystem of contracting and acquisition. Prominent among them is the complex industrial facility security clearance (FCL) process. The FCL process is instrumental in vetting businesses for their capability to handle classified information and bid on classified contracts. However, this process can be daunting for small businesses and non-traditional vendors due to fragmented information, heavy reliance on “government speak”, and the significant time and resources required to complete the process.DARPA’s Bringing classified Innovation to Defense and Government Systems (BRIDGES) has sought to connect innovation from small and nontraditional companies to classified Department of Defense (DoD) research and development (R&D) efforts, specifically by sponsoring innovative companies for facility clearances so that they can directly interact with DoD customers at classified levels. During execution of the BRIDGES program, DARPA observed firsthand the challenges that these small companies faced while going through the FCL process, most notably:• Misunderstanding what information was required on the required forms• Filling out forms incorrectly• Not fully understanding submission timelinesThis resulted in additional workload on DARPA security to answer questions and provide guidance, delays in processing for FCLs, and some FCL packages being rejected by DCSA.To address these challenges, DARPA is looking to develop a software application, leveraging recent advancements in language model technology, that can assist small and nontraditional companies apply for their FCLs, as well as their associated personnel clearances (PCLs). Information on the FCL and PCL processes, while disaggregated, is publicly available. A targeted language model can be trained on the processes, forms, and other related information, and distill this information into more easily understandable wording. Then, just like the popular and commercially available TurboTax software, this model can provide appropriate prompts to users to gather the required information, and then autocomplete the required forms. Additionally, it could provide insights into the deadlines and timelines, and provide a “chat bot” feature to answer questions about the processes.In this SBIR, the proposer will develop a prototype system ready to be tested by representatives from the target audience (small businesses and nontraditional contractors who are not familiar with the FCL and/or PCL processes) during the base effort. If successful, they will then oversee test and evaluation of the prototype by end users, ideally performers on DARPA’s BRIDGES program. During this test and evaluation period, the proposer will verify both the inputs and outputs of the application, collect feedback from users, and incorporate appropriate updates. The end goal will be a system that removes errors from FCL packages, improves processing timelines by removing delays/extension requests, while also improving the user experience and reducing the time and effort required by the end user.
