DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM SBIR 21.4 Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Army Applied SBIR Opportunity (ASO) Announcement April 1, 2021: ASO issued for pre-release April 14, 2021: Army begins accepting proposals May 20, 2021: Deadline for receipt of proposals no later than 12:00 p.m. ET IMPORTANT Deadline for Receipt : Proposals must be completely submitted no later than 12:00 p.m. ET, May 20, 2021. Proposals submitted after 12:00 p.m. will not be evaluated. The final proposal submission includes successful completion of all firm level forms, all required volumes, and electronic corporate official certification. Classified proposals will not be accepted under the DoD SBIR Program. This BAA and the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal (DSIP) sites are designed to reduce the time and cost required to prepare a formal proposal. The DSIP is the official portal for DoD SBIR/STTR proposal submission. Proposers are required to submit proposals via DSIP; proposals submitted by any other means will be disregarded. Proposers submitting through this site for the first time will be asked to register. Effective with this announcement, firms are required to register for a login.gov account and link it to their DSIP account. See section 4.14 for more information regarding registration. The Small Business Administration, through its SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, purposely departs from normal Government solicitation formats and requirements and authorizes agencies to simplify the SBIR/STTR award process and minimize the regulatory burden on small business. Therefore, consistent with the SBA SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, the Department of Defense is soliciting proposals as a Broad Agency Announcement. SBIR/STTR Updates and Notices: To be notified of SBIR/STTR opportunities and to receive e-mail updates on the DoD SBIR and STTR Programs, you are invited to subscribe to our Listserv by emailing
[email protected]. Help Desk: If you have questions about the Defense Department's SBIR or STTR Programs, please call the DoD SBIR/STTR Help Desk at 1-703-214-1333, or email to
[email protected]. Topic Q&A : The Topic Q&A for this BAA opens on April 1, 2021 and closes to new questions on May 4, 2021 at 12:00 PM ET. Proposers may submit written questions through Topic Q&A at https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/login or through the SBIR Mailbox at usarmy.pentagon.hqda-asa-alt.mbx.army-applied-sbir-program@mail.mil. In Topic Q&A, the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing. Once the BAA closes to proposal submission, no communication of any kind with the topic author or through Topic Q&A regarding your submitted proposal is allowed. Questions should be limited to specific information related to improving the understanding of a particular topic’s requirements. Proposing firms may not ask for advice or guidance on solution approach and you may not submit additional material to the topic author. If information provided during an exchange with the topic author is deemed necessary for proposal preparation, that information will be made available to all parties through Topic Q&A. Proposing firms are advised to monitor Topic Q&A during the BAA period for questions and answers. Proposing firms should also frequently monitor DSIP for updates and amendments to the topics. This Army Applied SBIR Opportunity (ASO) is issued under the Army Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for SBIR/STTR 21.4. All proposals in response to the technical area(s) described herein will be submitted in accordance with the instructions provided under 21.4, found here: https://beta.sam.gov/opp/b79ded14dcf54451bcfb11bddf5cd259/view?keywords=%22army%20sbir%22&sort=-relevance&index=opp&is_active=true&page=1. a. Eligibility The eligibility requirements for the SBIR/STTR programs are unique and do not correspond to those of other small business programs. Please refer to Section 3.1, Eligible Applicants, of BAA 21.4 for full eligibility requirements. b. Anticipated Structure/Award Information Please refer to Section 1, Funding Opportunity Description, provided in BAA 21.4 for detailed information regarding SBIR/STTR phase structure and flexibility. For this BAA, Department of the Army will accept Phase I proposals for the cost of up to $259,613 for a 6-month period of performance. Proposers should refer to Section 4, Application and Submission information, of BAA 21.4 for detailed proposal preparation instructions. Proposals that do not comply with the requirements detailed in BAA 21.4 and the research objectives of this ASO are considered non-conforming and therefore are not evaluated nor considered for award. Phase I proposals shall not exceed 5 pages. Phase I commercialization strategy shall not exceed 2 pages. This should be the last section of the Technical Volume and will not count against the 5-page limit. Please refer to Appendix A of BAA 21.4 for detailed instructions on Phase I proposal preparation. c. Evaluation of Proposals Section 5, Evaluation of Proposals, in BAA 21.4 provides detailed information on proposal evaluation and the selection process for this ASO. d. Due Date/Time Full proposal packages (Proposal Cover Sheet, Technical Volume, Price/Cost Volume, and Company Commercialization Report inclusive of supporting documentation) must be submitted via the DoD SBIR/STTR Proposal Submission website per the instructions outlined in BAA 21.4 Section 4.3 Electronic Submission no later than 12:00 p.m. ET, May 20, 2021. Army SBIR 21.4 Topic Index A214-015 Stationary Target Indicator Waveforms for Theoretical Active Electronically Scanned Array Antenna OBJECTIVE: The Apache Attack Helicopter Project Management Office (PMO) and the Sensors Product Director (PD) is seeking to develop an optimized Stationary Target Indicator (STI) waveforms with a supporting modeling and simulation tool set. The tool set will demonstrate capabilities of a theoretical Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) antenna to detect stationary ground targets while using the STI waveforms. DESCRIPTION: The Apache Attack Helicopter PMO would like to explore the potential benefits of a type of phased array antenna, specifically an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) for the detection of stationary ground targets. An AESA within the Mast Mounted Assembly (located above the rotor) would allow transmission of Stationary Target Indicator (STI) waveforms and beam articulation over a target area. STI waveforms and tools are needed to establish capabilities and limiting factors of a Fire Control Radar (FCR) with a theoretical AESA. Waveforms must address both Pulse Width (PW) and Pulse Repetition Frequencies (PRF) optimizations to accommodate interference caused by the rotary wing when engagement profiles force the beam to pass through the blades. Waveforms employing multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) should be considered for generation of high resolution, low sidelobes and enhanced orthogonality. The tools will be employed to optimize the STI waveforms in the detection of targets within an area of 300 m cross-range (azimuth angular) by 150 m down-range in the following modes: 1. Real-Beam Imaging (RBI) and 2. Synthetic-Aperture Radar (SAR). The Apache will be positioned at theoretical altitudes, flight profiles and slant ranges detailed in the table below. Innovative techniques to distinguish unique target signatures such as variable dwell times (the time an antenna beam spends on a target) to improve detection in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), wide bandwidths for fine range resolution, multiple transmit and/or receive channels, Doppler beam sharpening, radar cross section (RCS) pattern matching and others can be used. The STI waveforms and tools will be used at a minimum to define target area coverage, detectable target size, AESA specifications, Flight Profiles (Altitude, Slant Range, Velocity, Attitude, Look Angle to Target), and Beam Time on Target requirements. The optimized STI waveforms and tools will support development of combat techniques to be used in stationary target engagements in both: 1. RBI and 2. SAR. Fire Control Radar with Theoretical AESA Aperture 8 in H x 22 in W Peak TX Power 400 W Duty Factor Pulse Compressing Allowed 20 % Frequency Ka and Ku Polarization Fully Polarmetric Gain 45 dBi Minimum Detectable Signal -110 dBm Range Resolution 0.3 m Doppler Resolution 0.1 m/sec Azimuth Beamwidth 0.75 deg. Elevation Beamwidth 2 deg. Theoretical Altitude, Slant Range and Detections Altitude 100-5,000 ft. AGL Dismount Detection of 0.75 m2 Target Location Error of 6 m 0.5-15km Slant Range Vehicle Detection at 10 m2 Target Location Error of 0.5 m 0.5-25km Slant Range Theoretical Flight Profiles Heading to Target Hover at 0 deg. at Altitude and Slant Range Pedal Turns are allowed to enhance cross-range returns Head-On at 0 deg. at Altitude and Slant Range S Turns Allowed to enhance cross-range returns Broadside 90 deg. at Altitude and Slant Range Profile Arcs as required PHASE I: Develop an initial concept design for prototype STI waveforms for both RBI and SAR modes and manually demonstrate the expected results from each waveform. After the STI waveforms have been completed, development of supporting modeling and simulation (M&S) tools may be accomplished. The modeling tools can be existing in-house tools or based on commercially available products and will focus at a minimum on the system, battlefield environment and scenario parameters. The simulation tools can be existing in-house tools or based on commercially available products and will at a minimum apply parameters to the waveform under test at the following increments: Altitude 100 ft., Slant Range (Dismount 100 m, and Vehicle 100 m) with a focus on transmit frequency, polarization and bandwidth, number of antenna subarrays and platform movements. FCR radar data may or may not be supplied depending on availability, therefore data sources may be generated, or historical data may be used. The required Phase I deliverables will include a formal report documenting the analysis and designs accomplished, STI waveforms, and the proposed M&S tools. PHASE II: The adapted M&S tools used in Phase I will be optimized into a standalone software tool set to support the enhancement of the prototype STI waveforms with emphasis on the STI in RBI and SAR modes. The tool set will exercise the STI waveforms with input signatures of stationary ground target within clutter using signal simulation, signature databases, or collected data depending on availability. Results will be documented, and adjustments made to the prototype waveforms as signal extractions are accomplished. This process will result in enhanced STI waveforms for the detection of stationary ground target in clutter while in RBI and SAR modes. The desired Phase II result is a demonstration to substantiate the operation and capabilities of the waveforms and tool set. The required Phase II deliverables will include a formal report, enhanced STI waveforms, and the optimized tool set. Classified proposals are not accepted under the DoD SBIR Program. In the event DoD Components identify topics that will involve classified work in Phase II, companies invited to submit a proposal must have or be able to obtain the proper facility and personnel clearances to perform Phase II work. PHASE III: In Phase III the vendor will work with PM Apache and the prime contractors to integrate the STI waveforms into a prototype FCR employing an AESA. The goal is to mature the STI waveforms and tool set to develop real world combat flight profiles and system configurations, which will be used to perform in-flight demonstrations. It is envisioned that an approach of increasing complexity will be used. The initial step is to develop RBI and SAR flight profiles and radar configurations for simplistic target engagements to test the optimized STI waveforms. The next step will be to develop progressively more complex RBI and SAR flight profile and system configurations for more difficult target engagements to completely test the optimized STI waveforms. During each iteration compare flight test results to the results produced by to M&S tool set and evaluate the differences to determine if the waveforms or tool set require modification. Any changes to the STI waveforms or tool set would be documented and presented to the government. In the longer-term, the desire is to potentially integrate this technology onto current and/or future Army rotorcraft radars, such as Future Vertical Lift radars or the AH-64 Apache Fire Control Radar. The waveforms and accompanying tool set can be used in the digital evolution of target extraction techniques from high noise environments in military and civilian for applications (i.e. perimeter security, terrain mapping, advanced nonvisual point to point navigation in denied GPS environments and terrain avoidance). Also, the modeling and simulation tool set is not limited to RF-derived signal strings. Other commercial applications may include detection and processing of any sub-clutter signals as seen medical scanning, atmospheric anomaly, and industrial object detection. KEYWORDS: Active Electronically Scanned Array; Stationary Ground Targets; Radar; Multiple-Input Multiple-Output; Low Signal-To-Noise; Clutter; Target Signatures; Real-Beam Imaging; Synthetic-Aperture Radar; Doppler Beam Sharpening; REFERENCES: Onart and Arikan, "Simulation of Real Beam Ground Mapping Mode of a Pulsed Radar," 2006 IEEE 14th Signal Processing and Communications Applications , Antalya, 2006, pp. 1-4. L. Zhang, Y. Yu, T. Xu and J. Zhang, "Simulation of Airborne Radar Real Beam Ground Map Based on Digital Terrain," 2013 International Conference on Computational and Information Sciences , Shiyang, 2013, pp. 26-29. X. Zhang, M. He, Z. He, H. Su and J. Zhang, "Research on mono-pulse forward-looking imaging airborne radar system," IET International Radar Conference 2013 , Xi'an, 2013, pp. 1-3. Y. Zhang, D. Mao, Q. Zhang, Y. Zhang, Y. Huang and J. Yang, "Airborne Forward-Looking Radar Super-Resolution Imaging Using Iterative Adaptive Approach," in IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing , vol. 12, no. 7, pp. 2044-2054, July 2019.