Research and Development (R&D) for Next Generation Aircraft Protection Technologies

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Electronic Warfare Branch is seeking innovative solutions and potential new capabilities to fulfill requirements, close capability gaps, and provide technological advancements for a modular, upgradable Next Generation Aircraft Protection system based on open architecture standards. The agency is trying to rapidly develop, characterize, and prototype novel technologies and system concepts that provide evolutionary, revolutionary, and disruptive capabilities for the United States Air Force. The scope of work covers systems requirements development, prototyping, studies, and demonstrations across four specific areas of interest: system architecture, modeling, and simulation; the detect layer; the decide layer; and the defeat layer. The project requires expertise in advanced sensor technologies including radio frequency, optical, and acoustic sensing, as well as advanced processing hardware, software, and algorithms. The agency also requires experience in advanced kinetic and non-kinetic countermeasures, such as radar, communications, electro-optical countermeasures, high-power microwave, and other directed energy techniques. All system or subsystem submissions must demonstrate compliance with the Agile Mission Suite Government Reference Architecture or include a technical roadmap showing a pathway to compliance. Eligible participants include traditional and nontraditional defense contractors, large and small businesses, and research institutions. To access the controlled unclassified information attachments, bidders must have completed and uploaded a current National Institute of Standards and Technology assessment to the Supplier Performance Risk System within the last three years. The agency is utilizing a two-step closed commercial solutions opening process consisting of a step-one white paper and an optional step-two proposal in response to specific posted calls. This commercial solutions opening announcement will remain posted for a five-year period, during which the agency reserves the right to amend, add, or remove areas of interest at any time.