The Department of Defense (DoD) is seeking rapid acquisition of innovative solutions to solve pressing operational requirements in areas including counter-terrorism situational awareness, Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) mitigation, and other critical functions.
The Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF) aims to rapidly transition technologies that resolve operational challenges or save costs into acquisition programs. The DoD seeks mature prototypes for final development, testing, evaluation, and integration.
The DoD Components participating in the RIF Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) may include, but is not limited to the Military Services; Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO); Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA); Defense Logistics Agency (DLA); Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA); Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Office (JIDO); Joint Science and Technology Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JSTO-CBD).
Highlighted topic areas under the RIF BAA include:
DTRA-17-BAA-RIF-0003 – Protection Planning for Drone Carried Improvised Explosive Devices (DCIEDs)
The DoD’s current force/mission protection planning tool, DTRA’s VAPO, contains physics-based response models for buildings and equipment subjected to explosive threats at some distance, usually many meters away. Models exist for only a very few components for explosive response from bombs placed directly or very near-contact, and ever fewer models exist for the hazard created from the debris of those components. The models that do exist were built for threats such as briefcase bombs and suicide bombers, where traditional security should be able to limit the threat to 1st floor lobby threats. UAV’s can potentially bring contact charges to upper floors, against windows, exterior walls, roofs and utilities. This effort will generate additional data sets, via test measurement and / or synthetic means (i.e. results from high fidelity models validated for this application), and perform required model development and characterization to assess confidence in model performance across the applicable parameter space. The scope of the effort will include testing, model development, and integration with a planning tool (e.g., VAPO).
ARMY-FY17-18-PEOSOLD05 – Advanced Materials for Soldier Environmental Protection
Environmentally protective materials/systems are needed which provide improved comfort and dexterity for mission execution across a wide spectrum of environments. Thermally protective materials are desired with improved durability, strength, and moisture vapor transport. Alternative spatial vector protection technologies are needed with increased deterrence, functional time, and low toxicity. Breakthrough alternative concealment technologies are needed. Advanced and innovative ways to improve weight distribution of load carriage equipment are needed.
ARMY-FY17-32-CSCSS01 – Underbody (Explosively Formed Penetrators) EFP and Blast Protection
Provide tactical wheeled vehicles with a single, lightweight, underbody armor solution capable of countering both IED (Improvised Explosive Devices) and EFP (Explosively Formed Penetrators) threats. At present, solutions exist to counter each of these threats separately. These solutions are heavy, difficult to install and it is not feasible to change from IED to EFP armor on the battlefield. Therefore a single solution is highly desirable and will benefit the Warfighter in asymmetric, counter insurgency warfare.
ARMY-FY17-44-CSCSS06 – Active Blast Mitigation System (ABMS) Integration to Tactical or Combat Vehicles
An Active Blast Mitigation System (ABMS) automatically detects an underbody/IED threat as it occurs and rapidly reacts by signaling countermeasures to autonomously protect vehicle occupants and other sensitive equipment. This new technology attempts to neutralize the impulse introduced from a threat by initiating a counter impulse that will minimize impulse experienced. In order to advance the TRL to 8/9 further verifications are required including safety, integration feasibility to the existing fleet, and durability. This effort will require those verifications to be executed on a fielded tactical or combat vehicles (such as Stryker, JLTV, or MATV). The objective of this effort is to provide individual platform PMs with a ready solution to mitigate underbelly IED and mine blast events for future Force Protection.
ARMY-FY17-14-PEOSOLD01 – Advanced Technologies for Lighter Weight Soldier Protective Equipment
Novel fiber-based, film, or other advanced materials with improved tenacity, durability and ballistic performance are desired for application in hard armor, soft armor, and helmets. Technology is needed for improved hard armor inserts such as ultra-hard ceramics, advanced alternative materials, or novel integration methods. Advanced manufacturing methods are needed for hard armor and combat helmets to improve ballistic performance and reduce weight.
ARMY-FY17-09-PEOIEWS06 – Criminal/Terrorist Intent Determination Technology that Provides Real-Time Alerting
A need exists for Criminal/Terrorist Intent Determination at stand-off distances during Base Defense and Installation Access Control Operations. Predictive analytics solutions would apply sophisticated statistical, data exploration and machine-learning techniques to available information in order to help uncover hidden patterns. This includes automated, self-synchronous, cross cueing of sensor and surveillance systems allowing for recognition of Criminal/Terrorist Intent based on various biometric and behavior phenomenology.
CTTSO-17-BAA-RIF-0001 – Mobile Blue Force Protection using Publicly Available Information (PAI) and Open Source Signals
Mobile operators need a hands-free, portable method for obtaining real-time situational awareness of threats in their immediate tactical area of operations. CTTSO is seeking a mobile application that persistently detects and ingests PAI within an operator’s vicinity. Proposals should focus on ingesting open source signals, as well as other PAI (i.e., not solely social media and open source textual or visual media). Upon completion, this app will notify its users of threats in their area by providing distinct alerts (audio and/or tactile) based on key phrases, filters, and other parameters. This app should include a reach-back capability, which will provide managers/leadership/watch personnel with real-time situational awareness of all device agents’ location and status.
CTTSO-17-BAA-RIF-0002 – Real-time Streaming Video Face Tracking/Detection, Extraction
Design an end-to-end, turn-key unconstrained face recognition server-based application to process relevant streaming or multiplexed image and video sources from large numbers of sources. The delivered system shall perform image and video discovery across a media volume, followed by detection and tracking facial identities of interest, retrieval, extraction, analysis of relevant images and video streams in real-time, clustering of facial biometrics, matching facial identities against a watch-list database, and archiving any observed facial identities for future re-identification tasks; the application shall also permit searches of clustered face templates (facial biometrics) against watch-list galleries (“lights-out”), with user feedback available to edit/update clusters.
CTTSO-17-BAA-RIF-0003 – Improved Quality Metrics and Modeling of Next Generation Identification (NGI) Lower Limits and Thresholds for Latent Prints
Develop a multi-faceted system that automates latent print quality; provides objective, reproducible metrics to streamline casework; and optimizes Next Generation Identification (NGI) lower limits and thresholds for latent prints. The developer shall create more precise and better metrics for examiners to determine the value of evidence and establish standards, and describe and discriminate between latent prints for the potential application of “lights out” latent print examination for selected casework. Any resulting development shall provide the capability to systematically determine suitability for assignment of verification levels, (e.g. one-person, two-person, blind, non-blind, etc.). Factors to be studied and considered include latent print size, resolution, clarity, minutia specificity and number, and distortion. The deliverable shall leverage the increased technological capabilities of NGI by redefining lower limits and identification thresholds for field collected latent friction ridge (finger and palm) prints. The developer shall use resulting data from NGI lower limit studies to more accurately specify thresholds for NGI, revise sufficiency standards to be measurable, quantify the level of risk of false identification, and perform statistical modeling.
FY17-DoN-RIF-MCSC-03 – MCSC: Portable Ruggedized Energy Efficient Medical Sterilizer
Sterilization of medical and surgical tools is a critical step in minimizing the risk of infection to combat casualties during far-forward medical interventions. Current field sterilizers are large, power-intensive systems that require large amounts of clean water to operate and present a logistical burden to forward-deployed resuscitative surgical facilities. There is a need for a low-cost, person-transportable medical sterilizer capable of sterilizing small surgical tools and trays in far-forward deployed military medical facilities in austere environments.
AF PEO Fighter/Bomber – Nuclear Flash Blindness Mitigation
The requirement for nuclear flash blindness mitigation is to protect aircrew members from an extremely intense thermal flash that can result in temporary flash blindness or retinal burn, either of which can lead to incapacitation of the aircrew and loss of aircraft. The current goggle based systems used for nuclear flash blindness mitigation are obsolete, have reliability issues, and are increasingly hard to maintain. Effects of nuclear flash blindness could be minimized by the development and procurement of a more technologically sophisticated and reliable system which should have the added benefit of lowered life-cycle costs.
CIO_DISA-17-BAA-RIF-0002 – Enterprise Insider Threat User Activity Monitoring (UAM) Capability
DoD Component missions are at an increased risk of insider threats without a robust UAM detection capability. The requirement for each DoD Component to deploy, operate, and maintain their own UAM solution may not be the most effective nor the most cost efficient way to satisfy the intent of the Executive Order 13587 and the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Department will benefit from the efficiency of a unified insider threat solution that promotes enterprise visibility, human engagement with DoD networks and analyzes potential threats based on predictable machine interactions. This requirement must demonstrate cost savings provided by an enterprise implementation using machine learning and Artificial Intelligence solutions.
JIDO-17-BAA-RIF-0001 – Automated Small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) Detection, Identification and Tracking of Non-RF-Emitting sUAS Systems
Design and prototype an automated Counter – sUAS (C-sUAS) system for non-radio frequency (RF) emitting sUAS that can operate without constant user supervision or input. The system operation approach must complete three phases (detect, identify, track). It will first detect (using any combination or design technique of non-RF sensors, such as acoustic, optical, thermal, radar or other sensors) and convey to an operator’s station the location of a sUAS, such as a DJI Phantom 3/4 or Skywalker X-8, from a distance of at least 2 km and differentiate it from other relevant clutter such as birds, other moving objects, acoustic noise, etc.
CBD-17-BAA-RIF-0001 – Munitions Access System for Chemical-Biological (CB) Tactical Disablement (separate article on CBRNE Central).
White Paper Submission
There are two phases in the source selection process: White Paper submission and full proposal submission. Full proposal submissions are by invitation only.
Those selected for award may receive up to $3 million in Rapid Innovation Funding and will have up to two years to perform the work. There is a source selection preference for technologies from small businesses.
Solicitation Number: HQ0034-17-BAA-RIF-0001B. The current deadline for white paper submission is May 19, 2017 3:00 pm Eastern.