This announcement constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) in accordance with FAR 6.102(d)(2). No request for proposal (RFP), solicitation, or other announcements will be made. Offerors shall respond to this BAA by submitting a proposal electronically to the Contracting Officer,
[email protected], by August 18, 2004 at 3:00 p.m EDT. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION: All potential applicants are eligible. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION: This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. THE BAA SUBJECT AREA is as follows:BACKGROUND: During offshore patrols, a Coast Guard (CG) helicopter or fixed wing aircraft sometimes detects a suspicious 25-40 foot wood or fiberglass vessel (outboard powered), often at night running with no lights. Though the vessel is suspected of illegal activity, the aircraft cannot deploy a boarding party, and is typically fuel limited, so it may be unable to stay on scene until a Coast Guard surface vessel intercepts. We desire to "mark" the suspect boat from the aircraft from a standoff distance of 100’ to 200’ in a way that enhances later relocation by a surface ship and/or another aircraft. (Typically, the relocation takes place within a few hours after the initial contact.) Marker delivery is undefined – possible methods include paintball, water balloon, water cannon, and spray equipment. The markers themselves, and any binder used, shall be non-toxic, eye-safe, non-mutagenic and environmentally benign. Ideally they should also be hard to see by the naked eye, and resistant to being washed off or otherwise removed. The markers shall be capable of being detected by one of the following sensor types that are presently deployed aboard CG ships and aircraft, (but alternate sensor proposals will be considered). Present CG sensors include gen III night vision goggles (near infrared, wavelengths approximately .75 to .90 microns), forward looking infrared cameras (mid-IR, wavelengths approximately 3-5 microns) and marine x-band radar. The proposed markers’ signature shall be as strong as possible to increase present detection ranges significantly. The Coast Guard has already conducted a technology survey, and concluded that promising marker types include retroflective particles and luminescent particles (e.g. dyes, rare-earth materials, quantum dots, and chemical luminescents). Marker concepts that are illuminated by a suitably tuned eye-safe non-visible laser mounted on the search vessel or aircraft appear promising. (No radar reflectors or active radio frequency tags were identified that satisfied the requirements of being covertly deliverable and resistant to removal, but such technologies are still open to consideration.) The purpose of this BAA is specifically to obtain proof-of-concept samples of potential marker types. The marker material shall be applied to a coupon of 4”x 4” rigid unpainted aluminum, and provided to the Coast Guard R&D Center for comparative detection range testing. A Material Safety Data Sheet shall be provided with the sample. PLEASE CONTACT JOYCE P. OVERTON AT
[email protected] FOR PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION: Criteria: Evaluation of Proposals will be performed using the following criteria: (1) Technical Merit: a.) Provide the firm delivery date for the marker sample. b.) Identify the marker material, and discuss its potential toxicity. If toxic, the offeror shall present a plan for encapsulating the marker particles to mitigate these effects. c.) Any available information on visual appearance of the marker, illumination requirements (if any), and emission characteristics (wavelength, spectrum, quantum efficiency, durability) shall be included. d.) Include any available information on detection range, signal processing requirements or special sensors needed for detection. e.) Discuss any previous studies, demonstrations or applications of marking technology. f.) Also, provide an estimate of material costs per square foot of marked area if the proposed marker material were purchased in quantity (1000 square feet coverage). (2) Price: Provide a detailed breakdown of all labor, material and overhead costs associated with preparation of the sample, including profit. Include an estimated cost of any specialized sensors or signal processing needed for marker detection. Criterion (1) is more important. Criterion (2) will become increasingly important if scores under Criterion (1) are comparable. Individual Proposals will be evaluated against the evaluation criteria without regard to other Proposals submitted under this BAA. No further evaluation criteria will be used in selecting Proposals. AWARD INFORMATION: Total funding for this BAA is approximately $50K. Individual awards will not normally exceed a three-month performance period or dollar amounts of $5K to $10 K. Awards as a result of this announcement will be in the form of fixed-price purchase orders. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION: Award Notices: The Government will notify offerors when a submittal has been accepted or rejected. Rejections will normally be because the proposed solution did not fit the needs of the Government, that it was too costly, or that it failed to meet the minimum requirements as specified in the BACKGROUND section of this BAA. The cost of preparing Proposals in response to this announcement is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or any other contract, but may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost specified in FAR 3.1205-18. Any contractor who is awarded a contract as a result of this BAA must first be registered in the Central Contractor Registration Database (CCR). The website for the CCR database is http://www.ccr.gov. AGENCY CONTACTS: Questions prior to the submission of Proposals can be addressed to the Contracting Officer
[email protected] or (860) 441-2886. Prospective offerors are advised that only Contracting Officers are legally authorized to commit the Government.