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The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency published a notice on Sept. 11 looking for “innovative proposals” for its Sync program to counter unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs).
DARPA said this Sync program aims to investigate “orthogonal approaches to counter UUVs that do not rely on the complex detection and localization of the UUV to defeat the adversary.”
It specifically wants to find methods to defeat UUVs entering I.S. harbors and ports.
The notice said DARPA will start investigating approaches via modeling and simulation, but intends to later move to hardware in the loop and pool testing. Breakthrough technologies that are demonstrated in the lab will then lead to follow-on expansion efforts.
Sync has a 15-month base period with potential follow-on expansion periods.
DARPA said it expects multiple performers to receive base period awards but “anticipates multiple performers will receive Base Period awards, and only the most promising approach(es) may be selected to move on to potential Expansion period(s).”
Interested respondents are to submit abstracts by Oct. 15 and if selected they will be asked to give an oral presentation, which if selected again, may result in a base award of an Other Transaction Authority contract and eligibility to participate in future phases of the program.
Proposers also must submit a request for the classified addendum to the solicitation by Oct. 4, for adequate delivery time.
The notice encouraged all responsible sources to participate, including large and small businesses, nontraditional defense contractors and research institutions.
