Undersea Technologies for Autonomous Detection and Communications | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What agency is offering this funding opportunity?

This opportunity is offered by the Department of Defense, Office of Naval Research (DOD-ONR).

What type of solicitation is this?

It is a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) seeking white papers and full proposals.

What is the overall focus of the BAA?

The BAA focuses on undersea technologies that improve maritime surveillance and response, specifically through autonomous undersea detection and the ability to communicate information through seawater and across the air-sea interface.

What is ONR trying to build or demonstrate through this effort?

The core objective is an undersea system that can operate with a high degree of autonomy: it should detect targets on its own and then move the resulting information to other nodes and/or to remote users, including in situations where communications are tactically constrained.

What mission outcomes does ONR emphasize?

Two outcomes are emphasized: (1) reliable detection and classification of objects of interest with high confidence, and (2) effective transmission or movement of that information when communications are limited, intermittent, contested, long-range, low-bandwidth, or must be low probability of detection.

What technology maturity range is this program aiming for?

The effort targets work spanning roughly TRL 2 through TRL 6, moving ideas from early concepts toward working prototypes.

What kind of research and development categories fund this work?

Funding is associated with Department of Defense Budget Activity 2 (applied research) and Budget Activity 3 (advanced technology development).

What are the main technology thrust areas?

The BAA is organized around two thrusts: (1) Autonomous Detection, Tracking, Localization, and Identification; and (2) Command, Control, and Communications (C3).

What is included in the Autonomous Detection, Tracking, Localization, and Identification thrust?

This thrust covers sensing and autonomy, including hardware and software that can detect, discriminate among, and classify objects or sources of interest in ways optimized for autonomous use. It also includes approaches that improve accuracy and confidence, increase speed of results, and perform well without continuous human oversight, including solutions designed for limited undersea power and compute.

What kinds of solutions might fit under the autonomy and sensing thrust?

Examples described include sensor concepts, processing pipelines, machine-assisted classification, tracking and localization methods, and integrated systems suitable for real undersea constraints (such as limited power and limited compute).

What is included in the Command, Control, and Communications (C3) thrust?

This thrust addresses how undersea systems collect, store, and share data between nodes and deliver information to remote users or command elements. It includes both real-time communications and store-and-forward approaches, reflecting intermittent or low-rate underwater links.

What kinds of communications approaches are explicitly of interest?

ONR notes interest in real-time communications as well as store-and-forward methods, and in techniques for moving data across the air-sea boundary so it can be relayed onward.

Does the C3 thrust include networking and hardware components?

Yes. The thrust is framed broadly to include enabling components such as protocols, networking approaches, modems or interface hardware, data handling and storage strategies, and system concepts that support practical operational use.

Do proposed topics have to match a specific list of examples to be considered?

No. ONR indicates it will consider proposals within the general area even if they do not match a narrow set of example topics, as long as they clearly contribute to the goals of autonomous undersea detection and effective communications.

What deliverables does ONR expect?

Expected deliverables are development-oriented and may include hardware prototypes, supporting firmware (where needed), software prototypes, algorithm descriptions, and study results.

How important are data rights in this solicitation?

Data rights are highlighted as important. Offerors are expected to clearly state the data rights associated with technologies developed or used under the effort.

What data rights posture should proposals generally assume?

Proposals should generally assume Government Purpose Rights (GPR) or Unlimited Rights.

Are more restrictive data rights allowed?

More restrictive rights are not automatically disallowed, but they must be justified and will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

What award instruments might ONR use?

The opportunity allows awards via grants and/or procurement contracts.

Is this opportunity competitive or discretionary?

It is listed as discretionary.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning it is broadly open to different types of applicants, subject to any additional eligibility clarifications in the full announcement.

What is the CFDA number associated with this opportunity?

The listing is associated with CFDA 12.300.

When was the opportunity posted, and what is the closing date?

The posting date is November 13, 2015, and the closing date is March 22, 2016.

Where can applicants find the complete requirements and submission instructions?

The complete requirements, submission instructions, and any detailed topic breakdown are provided in the full announcement on Grants.gov.

Does the BAA emphasize operation in difficult or contested communications environments?

Yes. The communications goal explicitly includes operating when links are tactically constrained, such as when bandwidth is limited, connectivity is intermittent, distances are long, environments are contested, or communications must reduce the chance of being detected.

Does the program require continuous human oversight of the undersea system?

The autonomy thrust emphasizes achieving high performance without continuous human oversight, indicating interest in solutions that can operate independently under real undersea constraints.