Presolicitation
Broad Agency Announcement
Dept of Defense · Dept of the Army · Sol. W56KGU22ROESI
Due in 386 daysSmall business
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The Army's C5ISR Center Engineering and Systems Integration Directorate at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, has an open-ended Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) inviting industry to pitch research and prototype ideas in systems integration, C5I engineering and readiness engineering. Companies first send a short white paper; the Army may then ask for a full proposal. The BAA is open through 1 November 2027 and may lead to contracts or Other Transaction Agreements.
Watch out for
- Research topics are in a controlled attachment. You cannot see what the Army wants until your company is JCP certified and you download the controlled topic list, which adds up-front work.
Attachment 01 is a controlled document.
- Research and prototypes, not services. This is for R&D and prototypes, not support services, and a company without a real technical innovation will not be evaluated.
This BAA is not for the acquisition of technical, engineering, and other types of support
- No promise of any award. The Army can fund all, some or none of the white papers, will not pay for your time writing them, and does not give debriefs.
Government will not reimburse for proposal development costs.
- Security and cybersecurity burden. You must state your NIST SP 800-171 status, disclose foreign ties, and handle export-controlled information, which can be heavy for a small firm.
State in your WP whether your company is National Institute
- Conflict of interest rejection. If you do systems engineering and technical assistance for this directorate, you may not be able to compete, and incomplete disclosures lead to rejection.
WPs that fail to fully disclose existing and/or potential OCIs shall be rejected
- Set-aside label does not match the BAA text. SAM.gov lists a total small business set-aside, but the BAA itself says full and open competition, so confirm eligibility with the acquisition mailbox.
This BAA utilizes full and open competitive procedures in accordance with 10 USC 3012(2))
Read from the notice and 1 attachment. 3 not read in full.
- W56KGU-22-R-0ESI BAA 31 Oct 2022 FINAL.pdf
- 03 Attachment OTA Other Transaction Agreements-Prototype Proposal Preparation Submission and Evaluation 31 Oct 2022.pdf: controlled: request access on SAM.gov
- 02 Attachment Procurement Contract Proposal Preparation Submission and Evaluation 31 Oct 2022.pdf: controlled: request access on SAM.gov
- 01 CUI Attachment Research Topics 31 Oct 2022.pdf: controlled: request access on SAM.gov
Full brief
What they want
- White papers (15 pages max) on one research topic each, from the ESI Directorate's topic list
- Innovative research, prototypes and proofs of concept in Systems Integration, C5I Engineering and Readiness Engineering
- A rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost estimate with each white paper
- A technical approach, schedule, deliverables for about 12 months, and technology readiness level (TRL)
- Disclosure of foreign nationals, foreign investment and organizational conflicts of interest
- Statement of NIST SP 800-171 cybersecurity compliance status
- Full proposals only after the Army requests them
- Contract type
- BAA for FAR-based procurement contracts (cost-reimbursable or fixed-price) or prototype Other Transaction Agreements
- Period of performance
- Set in each award; BAA open through 1 November 2027, with awards possible up to six months after
- Place of performance
- Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD; work may be at contractor facilities, with travel to APG and Ft. Belvoir, VA
- Contract vehicle
- BAA W56KGU-22-R-0ESI; multiple awards anticipated
- How they'll choose
- Two-step peer or scientific review: white papers are judged first, then selected offerors are invited to submit full proposals.
- Offers due
- No single deadline: white papers are accepted any time; SAM.gov lists 2027-10-31 11:59 PM ET and the BAA says it runs through 1 November 2027. Specific Calls may set their own dates.
- How to submit
- Email to the ESI acquisition mailbox usarmy.apg.devcom-c5isr.mbx.esi-bus-ops-acq-baa@army.mil, with a copy to the contracting officer
- Page limits
- White paper: 15 pages (single-sided, single-spaced, 12-point font), not counting the cover sheet and ROM
What they'll judge offers on
- Technical Merits
- Capabilities
- Relevance and Importance to the ESI Directorate Mission
- Schedule
- Affordability
What to include when you submit
- Each white paper covers one topic number and says whether it seeks a procurement contract or a prototype OTA
- Cover sheet with the BAA number, topic, name, CAGE code, business size and point of contact
- Sections: cover sheet, technical description, cost (ROM), contract participants, foreign disclosure, foreign national disclosure, OCI disclosure
- Do not send a full proposal until the Army asks for one
- Mark proprietary data with the proper restrictive legend
- Army says to contact the acquisition mailbox before writing, to check interest and funding
You must have
- Must send a white paper first; a proposal without one is not eligible for award
Offerors that submit a proposal without first submitting a WP will not be eligible
- To see the research topics you must be Joint Certification Program (JCP) certified via DD Form 2345
must be certified by the Joint Certification Program (JCP).
- Contractors and subcontractors on resulting awards must be U.S. citizens; lead PI or PM must hold U.S. citizenship
BAA must be U.S. citizens.
- Meet FAR Part 9 responsibility standards such as adequate accounting systems and past performance
must meet certain minimum standards pertaining to financial resources, adequacy of
- Prototype OTAs: at least one non-traditional defense contractor or nonprofit research institution takes part, or all significant participants are small businesses or non-traditional contractors, or one-third of cost comes from non-federal funds
There is at least one non-traditional defense contractor or nonprofit research
- Current, accurate SAM.gov registration with representations and certifications
The vendor shall complete and submit Certifications and Representations via
Not in the notice text
- The actual research topics and desired capabilities (Attachment 01 is controlled)
- Procurement contract proposal preparation and evaluation details (Attachment 02 is controlled)
- Prototype OTA proposal details (Attachment 03 is controlled)
- Award sizes; budget targets will appear in individual Calls
- Period of performance for any award
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Key facts
- Response due
- Nov 1, 2027, 3:59 AM UTC
- Posted
- Nov 2, 2022
- Notice type
- Presolicitation
- Solicitation
- W56KGU22ROESI
- Agency
- Dept of Defense · Dept of the Army
- Office
- W6QK ACC-Apg
- Set-aside
- Small Business Set Aside - Total
- NAICS
- 541715
- Product/service code
- AJ11
- Business type
- Engineering, architecture & research
- Place of performance
- Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, 21005
- Contracting contact
- ESI BAA MAILBOXusarmy.apg.devcom-c5isr.mbx.esi-bus-ops-acq-baa@army.mil
- Versions
- 2 (amended since first posted)
What similar contracts paid
460 contracts at this agency under the same NAICS code, in the same state, had activity in the last 5 years, according to USAspending.gov. Small businesses won 40% of the dollars in this market over the last 3 fiscal years.
Typical contract$2MMiddle half: $948K to $9.6M
Typical per year$1.1MValue divided by years of performance
Possible incumbent's contract endsJun 2028A similar contract in this state, ending near when this one starts
Before you respond
Full notice text from SAM.gov
The mission of ESI Directorate is to provide support for rapidly integrating and maturing ESI technologies onto ground and air platforms and for rapid prototyping to define, ideate, and test, to “learn by doing” and enable Solider-centric System Design. ESI explores how to manage and securely transmit trustworthy data as it transverses the Army’s network. This BAA invites industry to submit innovative proposals that address the technical portfolio areas of the ESI Directorate: Systems Integration (SI), C5I Engineering and Readiness Engineering.
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