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Strategic Technologies (DARPA BAA 12-09) - Frequently Asked Questions

1) What is the Strategic Technologies opportunity (DARPA BAA 12-09)?

It is a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) issued by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through its Strategic Technology Office (STO). It invites innovative research and development proposals that can be translated into tangible defense capabilities, with an emphasis on work that includes research, development, design, and testing.

2) What is DARPA trying to fund through this BAA?

DARPA is looking for high-impact technical ideas that push beyond the current state of the art and directly align with Strategic Technology Office (STO) mission needs. The focus is on proposals that are defensible, testable, and relevant to STO priorities, rather than routine engineering or incremental improvements.

3) Which DARPA office is sponsoring the announcement?

The announcement is sponsored by DARPA's Strategic Technology Office (STO).

4) What kinds of work are expected (research vs. engineering vs. testing)?

The opportunity emphasizes a mix of research, development, design, and testing. The intent is to support R&D efforts that can be translated into tangible defense capabilities, not just theoretical exploration or minor upgrades to existing technology.

5) How broad is the scope of topics under this BAA?

The scope is intentionally broad and spans multiple STO focus areas. It is designed to accommodate a wide range of technical concepts, including early-stage ideas that could become future programs, as long as the concepts are aligned with STO mission needs and can be supported with defensible and testable plans.

6) What are the main theme areas called out in the announcement?

The announcement highlights four theme areas:

• Finding Difficult Targets: technologies for detecting, identifying, tracking, or characterizing hard-to-find or hard-to-classify targets.
• Communications, Networks, and Electronic Warfare: capabilities for resilient communications, advanced networking, spectrum operations, and electronic warfare techniques in contested environments.
• Shaping the Environment: approaches that influence or leverage the operational environment, including sensing-to-effects concepts and other methods to create advantage.
• Foundational Technologies: core enabling technologies that support multiple STO focus areas rather than a single mission area.

7) What does "Finding Difficult Targets" mean in practical terms?

It refers to technology concepts that improve the ability to detect, identify, track, or characterize targets that are difficult to find or difficult to classify using current methods.

8) What types of efforts fall under Communications, Networks, and Electronic Warfare?

This theme includes resilient communications, advanced networking approaches, spectrum operations, and electronic warfare techniques intended to work in contested environments.

9) What does "Shaping the Environment" include?

It includes approaches that influence or leverage the operational environment to create advantage. The summary specifically notes sensing-to-effects concepts and other methods intended to shape conditions in an operational setting.

10) What are "Foundational Technologies" in this context?

Foundational technologies are core enabling technologies that may apply across several STO mission areas rather than being locked to a single use case. These are intended to support multiple focus areas.

11) Are early-stage concepts eligible, or does DARPA only want mature systems?

Early-stage ideas can be appropriate under this BAA, including concepts that could become future programs. The key requirement reflected in the summary is that the ideas should be defensible, testable, and aligned with STO priorities.

12) What types of award instruments might DARPA use?

DARPA may execute awards using several instrument types, depending on what it determines fits the proposed work. The summary lists: cooperative agreements, grants, other transactions, or procurement contracts.

13) Is cost sharing or matching required?

No. The opportunity states that no cost sharing or matching is required.

14) How much funding is available per award?

The listing shows an award floor of 0 and an award ceiling of 0. This typically indicates that DARPA did not publish a single fixed funding range at the presolicitation record level. Actual funding levels are generally determined by the technical scope and the negotiated effort for each selected proposal or technical area.

15) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is described as unrestricted. Based on the summary, it is broadly open to any type of applicant unless the full text of the BAA adds limits or clarifications.

16) What types of organizations commonly apply to DARPA BAAs like this?

In DARPA BAAs generally, proposals may be submitted by industry (small and large businesses), universities, nonprofit research organizations, federally funded research and development centers (where permitted), and other qualified entities. The summary also notes that collaborations are common, although it does not require a specific team structure.

17) Are teams or partnerships required?

The summary record does not impose a specific team structure. Teams and collaborations are described as common, but not required in the information provided.

18) When was this opportunity posted and when did it close?

The opportunity was posted on January 13, 2012. It had an original closing date of January 12, 2013, and a current closing date of May 31, 2013. The record indicates it was archived on June 1, 2013.

19) Is this opportunity still open?

Based on the provided record, it had a current closing date of May 31, 2013 and was archived on June 1, 2013, which indicates it is no longer open under that posting.

20) What is the CFDA number associated with this opportunity?

The program is associated with CFDA number 12.910, labeled as Research and Technology Development.

21) Where are the official proposal instructions and submission requirements?

The full Broad Agency Announcement document (DARPA BAA 12-09) is referenced as an attachment available through FedBizOpps. It contains the specific areas of interest, how to submit, required proposal formats, evaluation and administrative requirements, and any special instructions not shown in the brief listing.

22) Who should applicants contact if they have trouble accessing the BAA attachment?

The notice directs applicants to contact the BAA Coordinator for access issues.

23) What does it mean that this opportunity is "discretionary"?

The opportunity is categorized as discretionary, meaning DARPA has discretion in whether and how it makes awards under the announcement and may choose the appropriate award instrument based on the nature of the proposed work.

24) Does the brief listing include all requirements and evaluation criteria?

No. The summary indicates that the full BAA contains the key operational content, including the specific areas of interest, proposal formats, evaluation and administrative requirements, and special instructions.