The Department of Defense, specifically the Navy, is seeking proposals from small businesses for the Catapult Challenge: Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Multi-Platform Product Family Architecture under the SBIR program. The objective is to develop a multi-platform architecture that integrates key warfighting capabilities, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms, across various Navy platforms to enhance the effectiveness and reduce costs associated with ASW operations. This initiative is crucial for improving the Navy's undersea warfare capabilities, ensuring interoperability among different systems, and addressing the challenges posed by divergent system architectures. Proposals are due by November 20, 2024, with the opportunity currently open for submissions starting October 23, 2024. Interested parties can find more information and submit proposals through the official SBIR website at https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/topics-app/.

## Description

The Navy is seeking additional Phase II research and development on previous Phase I and Phase II efforts. The proposing small business concern must detail the previous SBIR/STTR efforts and how they will extend the previous SBIR/STTR effort to meet the requirements of this topic. The Navy desires a multi-platform architecture for Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) that can enable integration of key warfighting capabilities, to include Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms, across multiple US Navy Platforms. Multiple Navy enterprises and directorates contribute to undersea warfare. Over the decades, this has led to divergent system architectures. These divergent system architectures degrade the Navy&rsquo;s ability to leverage developments in support of a combined lethal network of capabilities. The combined Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Multi-Platform Product Family Architecture will enable key architectures across constituent ASW acquisition offices to be aligned to enable capability reuse, increasing warfighting capability at reduced acquisition cost and with reduced sailor burden.Hardware required for the architecture shall comply with Modular Open System Architecture (MOSA) and follow open standards for compute, storage, input/output (I/O) and memory. Software contributing to the architecture shall enable integration of key warfighting capabilities, including various AI algorithms, across different combat systems. These combat systems are developed by each of the three Navy enterprises that contribute to Anti-submarine Warfare: The Undersea Enterprise (USE), the Surface Warfare Enterprise (SWE), and the Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE). In addition, the architecture shall enable integration of capabilities with other DoD entities with a need for Anti-Submarine capabilities, for example the Coast Guard and Homeland Defense to defend against commodities and threats conveyed via submarines or Marine Corps for detecting submarine threats to advanced bases established to defend national interests across the world.The ASW Multi-Platform Product Family Architecture shall both 1) demonstrate connectivity with at least one of the Navy systems with an Anti-submarine warfare mission (MPRA, SSN, DDG, FFG, or Seabed defense) and 2) be able to demonstrate the feasibility of connectivity with the other ASW systems. The architecture shall enable cyber compliance and support environmental qualification on air, surface, and undersea systems. The architecture shall incorporate standardized interfaces that enable integration of capabilities such as AI, sensor, and unmanned underwater systems modules across platforms with an ASW mission, with the P-8 representing a key system that possesses extended range at speed but with extremely limiting space, weight, power, cost, and cooling (SWAP-C2) constraints.The small business concern shall demonstrate the ability to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) Algorithms developed by Project Harbinger to the P-8 and demonstrate that integration with other platforms with an ASW mission is feasible. In Phase II, the small business concern will define and standardize interfaces to enable affordable and effective integration of ASW capabilities and sensors aboard platforms with an ASW mission. Among the systems of interest, a key focus shall be integration of AI, sensor processing, and unmanned underwater systems modules with systems with a limited computational infrastructure, such as the P-8 Maritime Patrol Reconnaissance Aircraft.Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. owned and operated with no foreign influence as defined by 32 U.S.C. &sect; 2004.20 et seq., National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) formerly Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances. This will allow contractor personnel to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DCSA and NAVSEA in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material during the advanced phases of this contract IAW the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), which can be found at Title 32, Part 2004.20 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

## Objective

Develop an architecture that facilitates capabilities to be fielded across Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) systems fielded across Maritime Patrol Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA), submarines, surface combatants, and seabed protection systems.

## Phase I

Catapult leverages prior SBIR/STTR investment to accelerate technology development to meet Naval priorities. Small business concerns should have accomplished the following in their previously funded SBIR/STTR Phase I effort:<ol><li> Demonstrated their architecture derives from efforts that achieved connectivity with at least one of the Navy systems with an Anti-submarine warfare mission (MPRA, SSN, DDG, FFG, or Seabed defense)</li><li> Demonstrated their architecture supports the feasibility of connectivity with ASW systems from each of the Navy Enterprises (USE, SWE, NAE)</li><li> Demonstrated that their architecture can specifically support integration of key capabilities, to include AI and unmanned underwater system modules, aboard P-8 Maritime Reconnaissance Patrol Aircraft (MPRA).</li></ol>

## Phase II

The Phase II effort shall develop a standardized interfaces to enable affordable and effective integration of ASW capabilities and sensors aboard platforms with an ASW mission. Building on these standardized interfaces, the awardee shall develop a prototype that enables the P-8 to integrate ASW capabilities, to include a) AI developed under Project Harbinger, b) processing of distributed sensors, and c) unmanned underwater systems modules with systems.Demonstrate the interfaces are standardized across the family of platforms with an ASW mission, develop a prototype that could be used to field important capability across each major platform with an ASW mission, to include SSNs, SQQ-89 sonars aboard DDGs and FFGs, and Seabed systems.For each major platform, execute a land-based demonstration of the loose integration of a ASW capability that the platform&rsquo;s organic ASW suite currently lacks. Negotiation of which capability will be demonstrate for each major platform shall be suggested in the Phase II proposal. If the capability the Navy desires integrated for each major platform exceeds the bounds of the Phase II funding, the Navy has the option to add their desired capability for each major platform with mission funds.The government will evaluate the prototype to determine its capability in meeting the performance goals defined in the Phase II SOW and the current cybersecurity requirements for achieving authority to operate (ATO). The ASW Multi-Platform Product Family Architecture prototype will be delivered at the end of Phase II.It is probable that the work under this effort will be classified under Phase II (see Description section for details).

## Phase III: Dual Use Applications

The awardee will be expected to support the Navy in transitioning the ASW Multi-Platform Product Family Architecture to support major platforms with ASW missions as well as the need of Homeland Defense and Marine Corps to perform ASW as part of their missions. The technology will have private sector commercial potential for any family of infrastructure-critical systems where stove-piped development has prohibited capability sharing that is desired but previously not affordable, as may occur for organizations performing disaster response.

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