N151-071 TITLE: Offensive Mine Warfare (MIW) Planning and Assessment Software Framework

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Weapons

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: FNC SHD-FY14-04 Advanced Undersea Weapon System (AUWS) Enabling Capability

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 5.4.c.(8) of the solicitation. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

OBJECTIVE: Develop an integrated software framework for offensive Mine Warfare (MIW) mission planning and assessment capabilities which supports both traditional mining as well as future concepts that utilize distributed vehicles, sensors, weapons and other disruptive effects.

DESCRIPTION: Future minefields will use precision emplaced unmanned systems requiring interactions among many functional elements, battle-space environments, and adversarial courses of actions. Performance predictions using stand-alone models will become infeasible and render current minefield planning methods ineffective. Currently, there are a number of gaps within minefield planning, modeling, and simulation capabilities. With the emergence of new mining technologies, new software methodologies are needed to investigate capabilities, drive new requirements and measures of effectiveness, address training needs, and to meet Navy strategic goals.

An integrated set of decision support technologies is required that:
a. Automates data exchange and model execution for MIW planning and analysis using advanced theory
b. Supports supplemental data when available (e.g., environmental, target features, traffic patterns, operational constraints)
c. Provides a robust set of Measure of Effectiveness (MOE) criteria for field planning beyond Simple Initial Threat (SIT)
d. Is consistent with modular, open-architecture standards and interfaces with legacy models and databases
e. Is compatible with higher-level Joint and Naval planning systems/software and Common Operating Picture (COP) such as MEDAL and GCCS which have standard interface requirements.
f. Provides user-interactive display of graphical charts and minefield mapping capabilities
g. Produces a standard set of offensive MIW planning products/folders incorporating the planning and assessment results

PHASE I: Identify framework requirements and what offensive MIW technologies and planning tools are currently available, what information and integrations should be included, and what methodologies best support the objective. Given an initial set of stakeholders and applicable systems, conduct research to identify other stakeholders, users, applicable delivery platforms and effectors that could potentially utilize the new integrated software framework. Identify all supporting data requirements and any existing data gaps which will limit/prohibit minefield planning and assessment. Once the framework requirements are complete, a detailed road map document will be developed describing the high level design and the required development and integration tasks needed to create the offensive MIW planning and simulation software framework. The company will prepare a Phase II development plan to prototype the offensive MIW planning and simulation software framework.

PHASE II: Develop a prototype offensive MIW planning and simulation software framework for evaluation, based on the results of Phase I. The prototype will be evaluated to determine its capability to meet the performance goals defined in the Phase II development plan and Navy requirements. Demonstrate system performance through prototype evaluation and modeling or analytical methods over the required range of parameters. Sample unclassified data sets and interface stubs will be used to represent interfaces to actual databases and Joint/Navy planning systems. Evaluation results will be used to refine the prototype into a design that will meet Navy requirements. The company will prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology to Navy use.

PHASE III: Develop a fully operational offensive MIW planning and simulation software framework including interfaces to all necessary models and databases and support Naval technology demonstration transition. The framework will be demonstrated working with applicable Joint/Navy planning systems and COPs to determine its effectiveness in an operationally relevant environment. The framework will output standard Navy offensive MIW planning products and assessment results/MOEs. The framework will be evaluated to determine its capability in meeting the performance goals defined in the Phase III development plan. The company will support the Navy for test and validation to certify and qualify the system for Navy use.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: This integrated software framework could have applicability for planning passive and actives systems to defend commercial undersea resources and infrastructure.

REFERENCES:
1. Oceanography and Mine Warfare. National Research Council, 2000.

2. F.B. Jensen, W.A. Kuperman, M.B. Porter, and H. Schmidt. Computational Ocean Acoustics. Springer, 2011.

3. Everhart, David and CAPT Pratt, Scott. "Asymmetric and Affordable." USNI Proceedings Vol. 138/6/1,312 June 2012:46-49.

KEYWORDS: Integrated software framework; Minefield planning; Minefield assessment; Precision emplaced effects; Distributed systems optimization; Open architecture

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

DoD Notice:   Between December 12, 2014 and January 14, 2015 you may talk directly with the Topic Authors (TPOC) to ask technical questions about the topics. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting January 15, 2015 , when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

However, proposers may still submit written questions about solicitation topics through the DoD's SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS), in which the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing until the solicitation closes. All proposers are advised to monitor SITIS (15.1 Q&A) during the solicitation period for questions and answers, and other significant information, relevant to the SBIR 15.1 topic under which they are proposing.

If you have general questions about DoD SBIR program, please contact the DoD SBIR Help Desk at (866) 724-7457 or webmail link.