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Category |
Opportunity |
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DoD Communities of Interest |
R&D Research and Development |
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Subject |
RCCTO Innovation Day #3: Army Strategic Rapid Acquisition (AStRA) Competition |
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Due Date |
25 May 2021 |
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Government Organization |
Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) |
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Description The Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO), with support from (ASA)ALT DASA-RT, has coordinated and identified critical technology and operational gaps with Army Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier and PEO Intelligence Electronic Warfare & Sensors (IEW&S) and is pleased to announce the kick-off of the first Army Strategic Rapid Acquisition (AStRA) Competition! AStRA is an opportunity for eligible businesses to pitch their novel technology solutions and prototypes directly to the U.S. Army. The competition is being held to quickly identify, evaluate and prototype promising innovative solutions to high-priority Army technology requirements. For the first competition, the RCCTO has coordinated with both PEO Soldier and PEO IEW&S to define technology areas to target for rapid prototyping in each of their respective areas of responsibility. This inaugural AStRA Competition is a successor to previously held Army RCCTO Innovation Days and is modeled after commercial investor "pitch" days. The RCCTO has funding ready and available for this competition, and the RCCTO expects to award a series of prototype development contracts to the competition winners. In addition to development contracts, winners of the white paper phase of the competition who also present their technology during the pitch phase of the competition will also receive a $5,000 cash prize. The AStRA competition began on 28 April. Pitch days will be held in-person at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) Headquarters in downtown Atlanta, GA, during the week of 28 June. Virtual pitches will be offered as an option. The culmination of the AStRA competition will be prototype/demonstration contract awards beginning in July. For more detailed information, including the problem statements, please refer to the Request for Information (RFI) at one of the following locations: https://beta.sam.gov/opp/c7cd1e4480124f8292b4ccfc77b222de/view https://www.xtechsearch.army.mil/ The RCCTO's mission is to rapidly and efficiently research, develop, prototype, test, evaluate, procure, transition, and/or field critical enabling technologies and capabilities that address near-term and mid-term threats. AStRA is an opportunity for eligible businesses to pitch their novel technology solutions and prototypes directly to the U.S. Army. Prototyping the Overmatch! I. Background The U.S. Army would like to invite interested business entities and academic institutions to participate in the xTech|RCCTO Army Strategic Rapid Acquisition (AStRA) competition (RCCTO Innovation Day 3) being conducted between April and July 2021. AStRA aims to engage with eligible large and small U.S. based companies and organizations and will provide a forum to collaborate with the Army, earn prize money, and provide potential funding opportunities to tackle Army technology gaps for both Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Intelligence Electronic Warfare & Sensors (PEO IEW&S) and PEO Soldier RCCTO. The U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) has partnered with the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology) (ASA(ALT)) to deliver this competition to quickly target, acquire, demonstrate, test, and ultimately field promising new technology. This acquisition is modeled after commercial investor “pitch” days and commercial solution openings, and it will be conducted using the Valid Eval tool. RCCTO’s AStRA will provide an opportunity for both traditional and nontraditional large and small business entities to submit their innovative technology solutions and prototypes that meet Army’s needs. AStRA will also provide Army experts with an opportunity to evaluate these disruptive, innovative approaches and technologies to address critical capabilities required by the U.S. Army, as described in the Problem Statements described below (see Section III). RCCTO’s mission is to rapidly and efficiently research, develop, prototype, test, evaluate, procure, transition, and/or field critical enabling technologies and capabilities that address near-term and mid-term threats. RCCTO executes this mission consistent with the Army’s modernization priorities that maximize Soldiers’ capabilities to deploy, fight, and win on future battlefields. The U.S. Army faces an ever more lethal and disruptive battlefield requiring quick acquisition of innovative capabilities to prototype and deliver to the warfighter. AStRA is an opportunity for eligible businesses to pitch their novel technology solutions and prototypes directly to the U.S. Army. II. Purpose: The purpose of AStRA is to deliver an innovative approach and prototype to compete for an award to accelerate military technology and fill critical technology and operational gaps for the U.S. Army. This acquisition initiative will enable eligible organizations to respond with proposals that clearly articulate their prototype ideas and demonstrations and how they will satisfy the U.S. Army’s technology and operational gaps as identified in the Problem Statements below. A further goal is to incentivize industry participation by paying business innovators, at least partially, for some of their proposal preparation efforts and costs. RCCTO is focused on finding mature solutions that could provide combat prototype capability that can be in the hands of Warfighters within a one-to-three-year timeframe. The expected period of performance (POP) for prototypes and demonstrations that address the Problem Statements is approximately 18 to 24 months. RCCTO has a total budget of up to $25M of Budget Activity (BA) 6.5 funding (i.e., targeting System Development and Demonstration) for this acquisition; therefore, proposed solutions must deliver an expected outcome of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7+ in order to advise capabilities to Warfighters and be able to transition to a Program of Record. Based on the $25M funding limitation, RCCTO expects to award a series of 1 to 8 contracts or Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements but may award more, less, or none based on funding and mission requirements. This competition aims to drive business participation and promote entrepreneurship by awarding prize money for eligible companies or organizations to pitch their novel technology solutions and prototypes. This acquisition follows and complies with all applicable laws and federal/DOD acquisition regulations. Any awards under the AStRA program are considered “competitive” in accordance with (IAW) both 10 USC 127 and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.102 (d) ii. To encourage commercial solutions, the acquisition process and awards will also follow the guidance of Class Deviation 2018-O0016 under the auspices of Public Law (PL) 114-329, Section 879 of the 2017 NDAA. Prize monies are authorized and will be “merit-based” and paid IAW 10 USC 2374a (Prizes for Advanced Technology Achievements) and 10 U.S.C. § 2371b (Prototype Projects). The prize competition executed under the authorities of 10 U.S.C. § 2374a, will consist of multiple steps, or phases, in the selection process, as follows: Phase 1: Five-page Technical White Paper, with an optional 3–5-minute video, and Phase 2: Oral Proposal/Technology Pitch. Phase 1 will be conducted virtually via Valid Eval, which will be used to identify, score, and rate both large and small business concerns that meet the criteria for an award of a prototype project. The highest scored and rated submittals from the Phase 1 White Papers (and optional video) will be invited to participate in the Phase 2 Oral Proposal/Technology Pitch, and they will receive a $5,000 prize upon completion of Phase 2 Oral Proposal/Pitch. Phase 2 pitches must be submitted via Valid Eval. Due to Covid-19, the Phase 2 Oral Proposal may be conducted either in person (limited to 3 people that must follow CDC guidelines) or may be presented remotely via the Valid Eval tool. Winners selected from Phase 2: Oral Proposal/Pitches will be ranked, and the highest-rated proposals will be selected to participate in Phase 3: Prototype Proposal, and notified winners will submit a final detailed project proposal to the RCCTO Contracting Center. III. Problem Statements AStRA aims to accelerate the integration of technology prototypes for crucial Army capability gaps and specific problems into military platforms and will target mature programs/projects with exit TRL of 7+. Submissions will be open to technology solutions that can clearly articulate how the proposal/prototype addresses and solves one of the problem statements outlined below: PEO IEW&S Problem Statements 1. Topic: Multifunction Antenna for Medium Altitude Air Platform. Short Title: Multifunction Antenna 2. Topic: Enhanced Sensor to Shooter Support with Manpackable Edge Device Enabled by Federated Learning. Short Title: Tactical Edge Devices 3. Topic: Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence/Automation for Dynamic Cyber Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) Mission Planning and Execution at the Tactical Edge. Short Title: CEMA Capabilities PEO Soldier Problem Statements 4. Topic: Energy storage, power management, distribution, and generation capabilities - Novel battery chemistries and technologies. Short Title: Novel Batteries 5. Topic: Data and Processing - Edge processor aided target recognition solutions. Short Title: Tactical Edge Processing 6. Topic: Low Size, Weight, and Power Cross Domain Solution device. Short Title: Cross-Domain Solution IV. Program Submission Process: Register now by selecting the xTech|RCCTO AStRA tile at: https://www.xtechsearch.army.mil |
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Website |
https://beta.sam.gov/opp/c7cd1e4480124f8292b4ccfc77b222de/view |
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RCCTO Innovation Day #3: Army Strategic Rapid Acquisition (AStRA) Competition
Suspense Date: 25 May 2021 Description: The Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO), with support from (ASA)ALT DASA-RT, has coordinated and identified critical technology and operational gaps with Army Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier and PEO Intelligence Electronic Warfare & Sensors (IEW&S) and is pleased to announce the kick-off of the first Army Strategic Rapid Acquisition (AStRA) Competition!