Army NVESD looks to non-traditional sources for new Prototype Sensors

Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) under 10 U.S.C. 845 for Advanced - Federal Business Opportunities: Opportunities

Synopsis:

Added: May 19, 2016 3:34 pm

Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) under 10 U.S.C. 845 for Advanced Development Efforts to Support the US Army's CERDEC NVESD Electronics and Sensor Technologies (NEST) Requirements

1.0 NOTICE

The Army Contracting Command - Aberdeen Proving Ground Belvoir Division (ACC-APG-Belvoir), on behalf of the US Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM), Communications-Electronics Research, Development Engineering Center (CERDEC), Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) is releasing this special notice to inform interested parties about the Government's interest to establish an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) under 10 U.S.C. 2371 with an eligible entity or group of entities, to include industry, academic, non-profit, and not-for-profit partners, for advanced development efforts to support the CERDEC NVESD's technology support requirements as related to enhancing the mission effectiveness of military personnel. CERDEC NVESD is responsible for conducting research, development, and acquisition of night vision and electronic sensor and sensor suite technologies that enables United States forces to see, control, and assess the battlefield around the clock and in all battlefield conditions.


CERDEC NVESD desires the ability to explore and collaborate with existing and emerging sensor developers to demonstrate and deliver prototypes to meet pressing Warfighter needs. NVESD desires a vehicle administered by the consortium lead but NVESD shall retain approval authority for funded efforts. This agreement will enable NVESD's ability to perform its mission of research, development and experimentation of Night Vision, Electro-Optical, Electronic Sensors and Countermine and
Counter-Improvised Explosive Device systems.


Technology areas include:

• a. Countersurveillance/Deception
• b. Persistent Surveillance System
• c. Forward/Side Ground Penetrating Radar
• d. Airborne and Ground-based Improvised Explosive Device (IED)/Mine Detection, location and Neutralization
• e. Thermal Imaging
• f. Cooled and Uncooled Focal Plane Arrays
• g. Image and Signal Processing, Image Compression, Image Fusion Boards
• h. Optics (small Adaptive) and Image Intensification
• i. Lasers, Fiber Lasers, Rangefinders, Designators
• j. Radio Frequency/Acoustics
• k. Explosive, Mechanical and Electronic Neutralization of Mines (including LASERs)
• l. Mine Detection
• m. Humanitarian Demining
• n. Unexploded Ordnance
• o. Physical Security Equipment
• p. Aided/Automatic Target Recognition
• q. Sensor Fusion
• r. Display, Helmet Mounted Displays
• s. Unmanned Air/Ground Sensors
• t. Modeling and Simulation
• u. Perception Testing
• v. Computer-Based Trainers
• w. Advanced Gimbals
• x. Imaging and Non-Imaging Systems for Through Foliage Capabilities
• y. Passive Millimeter Wave Cameras
• z. Objective Pilotage for Utility and Lift
• aa. Brownout/Whiteout, Obstacles Detection and Avoidance System
• bb. Ultra-Compact High Definition TV and Ultra-Compact Infrared Imagers
• cc. Unmanned and Manned Platforms System Integration
• dd. Infrared Systems and Technology (Corrugated Quantum Well IR Photo Detectors and Arrays, Strained Layer Super lattice)
• ee. Hyperspectral Infrared (IR)
• ff. Multispectral IR
• gg. Short Wave IR
• hh. Light Detection and Ranging
• ii. Acoustic Mine Detection
• jj. Near IR and Shortwave IR systems and components (tube and solid state)
• kk. Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) Radar
• ll. Augmented Reality
• mm. Sensor Interoperability
• nn. Digital Read-Out Integrated Circuits

The Secretary of the Army (SA) is authorized to carry out prototype projects that are directly relevant to enhancing the mission effectiveness of military personnel and the supporting platforms, systems, components, or materials proposed to be acquired or developed by the DoD, or to improvement of platforms, systems, components, or materials in use by the Armed Forces. See 845(a)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 1994, Public Law (P.L.) 103-160, as amended (Title 10 United States Code (U.S.C.) 2371 note). The Government is required to ensure that no official of an agency enters into an OTA for a prototype project under this authority unless
there is significant non-traditional defense contractor(s) participation in the prototype project; or at least one third of the total cost of the prototype project is to be paid out of funds provided by parties to the transaction other than the Federal Government. More information regarding DoD use of OTA can be found at the following website: www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/Docs/otguide.doc.

Related/Background:

Definition:

  
“Other Transactions or OTs” is the term commonly used to refer to transactions other than contracts, grants or cooperative agreements that are authorized by 10 U.S.C. 2371. The Department of Defense (DoD) currently has temporary authority via Section 845 to 10 U.S.C. 2371, as amended, to award OT for prototype actions that “are directly relevant to enhancing the mission effectiveness of military personnel and the supporting platforms, systems, components, or materials proposed to be acquired or developed by the Department of Defense, or to improvement of platforms, systems, components or materials in use by the Armed Forces.” Such agreements are generally not subject to procurement laws and regulations. The section 845 authority allows the Department to negotiate more flexible business arrangements to attract nontraditional defense contractors.

In accordance with statute, this authority may be used only when:

• (A) there is at least one nontraditional defense contractor participating to a significant extent in the prototype project; or
• (B) no nontraditional defense contractor is participating to a significant extent in the prototype project, but at least one of the following circumstances exists:
• ( i) at least one third of the total cost of the prototype project is to be paid out of funds provided by the parties to the transaction other than the federal government.
• (ii) the senior procurement executive for the agency determines in writing that exceptional circumstances justify the use of a transaction that provides for innovative business arrangements or structures that would not be feasible or appropriate under a procurement contract.

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