Department of the navy (don) 17. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions introduction

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 DoD 5220.22-M, National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor and/or subcontractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances, in order to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DSS and NAVAIR 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 IAW DoD 5220.22-M during the advanced phases of this contract.

The hardware and software must meet the system DoD accreditation and certification requirements as cited in DoDI 8510.01, Risk Management Framework (RMF) for DoD Information Technology (IT), and DoDI 8500.01, Cybersecurity.

PHASE I: Develop and prove feasibility of a Concept of Operation (CONOP) for the use of cyber threat emulations during exercises. Develop a preliminary design to implement the CONOP. Describe to what degree the solutions will enable the training audience to detect and react to the threats and restore operations and the range of cyber threats the solution will be able to represent.

PHASE II: Update the CONOP and develop the detailed design and prototype for a cyber-threat emulation system. Demonstrate all major prototype features in a representative environment. Detail to what degree the solutions enabled the training audience to detect and react to the threats and restore operations.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Mature and assist with appropriate certifications dealing with RMF and IA as well as any additional Cyber security certification. Transition the developed technology to field use via PMA-205. Ensure the technical solutions address the full scope of the concept and all required documentation and training material is finalized. Private Sector Commercial Potential: Leverage solutions to educate and train the non-DoD workforce on CONOPS and procedures for mitigating cyber threats. Explore the potential to integrate DoD solutions with commercial solutions to increase the number and variety of threat representations.

REFERENCES:

1. Carter, A. (April 2015). “The Department of Defense Cyber Strategy.” http://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/features/2015/0415_cyber-strategy/Final_2015_DoD_CYBER_STRATEGY_for_web.pdf

2. Damodaram, S. & Couretas, J. (2015). “Cyber Modeling & Simulation for Cyber-Range Events.” SummerSim 2015, Proceedings of the Conference on Summer Computer Simulation. http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2874983

3. Navy Cyber Power 2020, November 2012. http://www.public.navy.mil/fcc-c10f/Strategies/Navy_Cyber_Power_2020.pdf-

KEYWORDS: Cyber; emulation; M&S, training; HBSS; network

Questions may also be submitted through DoD SBIR/STTR SITIS website.

N171-024

TITLE: Processing and Fabrication Method to Enhance the Mechanical Performance and Extend the Overall Service Life of Arresting Gear Purchase Cable Wire

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform, Battlespace, Materials/Processes

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA-251, Aircraft Launch & Recovery Equipment (ALRE)

OBJECTIVE: Develop a processing and fabrication method to enhance the mechanical performance and extend the overall service life of arresting gear purchase cable wire through incorporation by homogeneous dispersion of reinforcing micro- and nano-particles in the base steel material.

DESCRIPTION: Service life under repeated mechanical loading and degradation-inducing environmental conditions is crucial for consideration for Naval Aircraft Launch and Recovery (ALRE) arresting gear purchase cables within aircraft arrestment systems. Service use cycles, as well as corrosion and bend-over-sheave wear and fatigue, are critical performance factors for such cables. As an alternative to modifying or replacing cable arrestment systems to mitigate cable stresses, enhancement of the base metallic material used in the cable may prove to be more advantageous and economical.

The Navy is seeking micro- and nano-particle-reinforced metal matrix composite materials for use in ALRE systems. Reinforcement particulates in metal matrices have been utilized to enhance the properties of bulk polymers and non-ferrous metals such as aluminum and magnesium; however, studies on reinforcement of steel matrices remain scarce. Particulate-reinforced plow steel composite cables may be tailored for enhanced performance that could result in extending service life and reducing total ownership cost. Improvement of cable performance is to be defined as the following: increase in tensile fatigue life at 40% of yield stress, retention or increase of material tensile strength, increase in bulk composite cable breaking strength, retention of or decrease in material density or cable weight, retention or decrease in corrosion rate, in addition to bulk cable bending stiffness decrease.

The arresting gear cable is actually two separate cables: the cross deck pendant and the purchase cable that is connected via a terminal and pin. The cross deck pendant is the portion of the cable that is stretched across the landing area and interfaces with the aircraft tailhook. It is approximately 100 feet long and is replaced after approximately 125 cycles. The purchase cable is the portion of the cable that is reeved through the fairlead system and the arresting engine below the flight deck. It is 2200 feet long, is subject to bending stresses from the many sheaves that it is in contact with, and is replaced after approximately 1500 cycles. The composite cable effort is addressing only the purchase cable at this time. Cable construction is to be modeled after current cable dimensions; base material for a new composite cable is aimed to be extra improved plow steel, where additional reinforcement would provide material property tailorability when compared to current plow steel cables. The nominal breaking strength of the cable is 215,000 lbs, and the current cables are produced at a cost of $38,500 for each reel of extra-improved plow steel (per engine)

The aim of this topic is to improve the service life of the cable through a designed combination of current base materials and novel reinforcing high-strength particulates. Use of particulate-reinforced composites have allowed for strength, thermal stability and fatigue life improvement in structures and materials, while retaining or lowering overall structural weight. Such benefits have the potential to enhance arresting gear functionality and service life, thus decreasing total ownership cost.

PHASE I: Design and determine the feasibility of processing and fabrication of particulate-reinforced extra improved plow steel. Experimentally analyze fundamental mechanical properties (yield strength, elastic modulus, strain to failure) of the bulk material. Conduct a parametric study of mechanical properties through variation of particulate content to optimize composite wire performance. Determine the prominent failure mode of the particulate reinforced plow steel composite. Prepare a Phase I Option that, if awarded, will address a plan for technical risk reduction, provide performance goals, give key technical milestones, and include the initial design specifications and capabilities description to build prototype wire in Phase II.

PHASE II: Determine the design and feasibility of particulate-reinforced extra improved plow steel composite wire under simulated in-service conditions. Fabricate purchase cables using particulate-reinforced composite steel wires. Assess fatigue, bend-over-sheave performance, and corrosion rate, and how such parameters may vary with respect to particulate content. Final demonstration shall be on a composite cable in a test environment representative of the arresting gear aboard ship (either a test bench or arresting gear at NAVAIR Lakehurst, depending on the availability of non-SBIR funding). Ideally, this composite cable will be developed in conjunction with a synthetic cable testing program, and testing data will be available for the development of the Phase II prototype. During a final demonstration, the synthetic cable will be cycled to failure, and the prototype must, as a minimum, adhere to current service life and performance requirements, particularly mechanical strength and cycling pertinent to bend-over-sheave performance. The ability to predict the failure mode of such a composite cable would be additionally desired. Provide a manufacturing analysis that describes a method for manufacturing the reinforced in volume and provide a defendable estimate of production cost. Prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology to Navy and potential commercial use.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Further refine particulate-reinforced extra improved plow steel composite wire for robustness. Test final design prototype in conjunction with synthetic cable qualification testing. Produce units for delivery to carrier fleet and shore sites, or incorporate into synthetic cable production (whichever applies). Determine service life and implications on arresting gear maintenance. Private Sector Commercial Potential: Wire cable has a wide range of applications in industry, including bridges, construction equipment, ship moorings and off-shore oil rigs. Because of performance benefits, multifunctional capabilities, and highly tailorable strength, flexibility, stiffness, and weight characteristics, composite wire and rope will have great commercial potential.

REFERENCES:

1. “Wire Rope User’s Manual (4th edition).” (2005). Wire Rope Technical Board. Available for purchase at http://www.wireropetechnicalboard.org/main_prod.html

2. Sloan, F., Bull, S., & Longerich, R. (2005). “Design Modifications to Increase Fatigue Life of Fiber Ropes.” OCEANS, 2005. Proceedings of MTSS, 1, 829-835. doi:10.1109/OCEANS.2005.1639856. Retrieved from http://www.cortlandcompany.com/sites/default/files/downloads/media/articles-design-modifications-increase-fatigue-life-fiber-ropes.pdf

3. Sloan, F., Nye, R., Liggett, T. (2003). “Improving Bend-over-Sheave Fatigue in Fiber Ropes.” OCEANS 2003. Proceedings, 2, 1054-1057. doi:10.1109/OCEANS.2003.178486. doi:10.1109/OCEANS.2003.178486-

KEYWORDS: Reinforcement; metal matrix composite; micro- and nano-particle; mechanical properties; synthetic material rope; carrier arresting gear

Questions may also be submitted through DoD SBIR/STTR SITIS website.

N171-025

TITLE: Software Tool for Statistical Radar Signature Description of Small Sea Targets

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform, Battlespace, Sensors

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA 299 H-60 Acquisition Program Office

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 Announcement. 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 a software tool capable of performing a rigorous statistical analysis to accurately predict high-resolution radar signatures of small sea targets.

DESCRIPTION: Small boats present a serious threat to the U.S. fleet as well as to commercial navigation. Airborne detection of such boats at a reasonable distance and their quick classification would significantly reduce risk to the fleet. A tool capable of computing the radar cross section (RCS) of small boats and identifying features that enable classifying them accordingly is needed. The developed technology should have the following requirements: it should be able to produce the surface of the sea given a sea state; it should be able to compute the motion of a small boat in a given sea and the mutual interaction between the boat and the sea; and it should be able, at any instant, to take a "picture" of the boat, and a portion of the sea surrounding it, and reduce it to a mesh acceptable to the electromagnetic (EM) codes.

Depending on radar frequency, a small craft may be electrically small or large. Even if it is electrically large, it will certainly have small features that an asymptotic (high-frequency) EM code cannot capture and which may contribute significantly to the radar signature. On the other extreme, even if the frequency is low, the sea surface patch cannot be handled efficiently using an exact-physics EM code, which necessitates the introduction of an asymptotic code. The separate exact-physics and the asymptotic EM codes, should be able to mesh in a seamless fashion to compute the RCS of the boat/sea scenario. Once the RCS has been computed for a sufficient number of values of the parameters, a thorough statistical description of the RCS must follow. Current state of the art techniques use only asymptotic approaches.

Due to the large size of this undertaking, it is suggested that the offeror should have a working version of a hydrodynamics (HD) code as well as the two required EM codes. The concentration could then be in seamlessly integrating the three codes to more quickly deal with the statistical aspects of the effort. Since the project involves significant computation, the resulting software should be capable of running in distributed-memory environments and take advantage of graphics processing units (GPU). A graphical user interface (GUI) should intelligently guide the user through the project. The design of the GUI should take into account per ISO/IEC 25022:2016 usability metrics. The proposers need to show that they have the expertise to address the multi-disciplinary nature of the project.

PHASE I: Develop a software design for the statistical analysis of RCS and demonstrate the feasibility of its capabilities. Demonstrate the stage of development of the proposed HD and EM (exact-physics and asymptotic) codes by running test cases (simple vessel models moving through and interacting with a synthetic ocean surface at low sea state (Douglas SS2)) developed in consultation with the technical point of contact (TPOC). Develop a plan for tight integration of the three into a single entity.

PHASE II: Incorporate the statistical analysis part into the main body of the overall software. Further refine the integration of the HD and EM codes. Optimize overall code for a distributed-memory environment and take advantage of GPUs whenever possible. Initiate the development of a GUI with good pre- and post-processing capabilities and with effective guidance for the user.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Finalize a commercial-grade software tool suitable for use on GPU based clusters that provides an end-to-end modeling capability for this application including a robust GUI and thorough user documentation. Private Sector Commercial Potential: The technology developed under this topic provides significant benefits to a variety of commercial and military radar sensing applications of mixed-scale targets, including aviation, boats and ships, spacecraft, ground vehicles, and fixed installations.

REFERENCES:

1. Knott, E.F., Shaeffer, J.F., & Tully, M. T. (2004). “Radar Cross Section Second Edition.” SciTech Publishing. Available for purchase at https://www.book-info.com/isbn/1-891121-25-1.htm.

2. Skolnik, M. (2008). “Radar Handbook (3rd ed.).” Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill.

3. Jacobus, U. and F. M. Landstorfer. "Improved PO-MM Hybrid Formulation for Scattering from Three-Dimensional Perfectly Conducting Bodies of Arbitrary Shape." IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 162-169, 1995.

4. Jin, J-M, et al. “A hybrid SBR/MoM Technique for Analysis of Scattering from Small Protrusions on a Large Conducting Body.” IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 46, No. 9, pp. 1349-1357, Sep. 1998.

5. Maffett, L.A. (1989). “Topics for a Statistical Description of Radar Cross Section.” New York: Wiley.

KEYWORDS: Computational Electromagnetics; Modeling and Simulation; Radar Cross-Section; Vessel Detection; Vessel Identification; Vessel Classification.

Questions may also be submitted through DoD SBIR/STTR SITIS website.

N171-026

TITLE: Aircrew-Mounted Self-Adjusting Tether System

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform, Human Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA 275 V-22 Osprey

OBJECTIVE: Develop an aircrew-mounted mobile auto-retracting restraint system for use in rotary wing aircraft.

PHASE I: Design and determine the feasibility of the proposed aircrew-mounted self-adjusting tether system. Provide ample details containing projected operations and performance while identifying performance gaps and associated development risks.

PHASE II: Develop an Aircrew-Mounted Self-Adjusting Tether System prototype and demonstrate on multiple rotary wing aircraft during ground test events for functionality and user feedback (either in a NAVAIR lab or directly on the aircraft, if available and will be arranged by the Government). Further develop the prototype design to meet operational needs and performance requirements identified in the Description section. An airworthiness/qualification test plan will be developed and limited safety of flight testing on matured prototype will be conducted.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Conduct Safety of Flight and Qualification Testing on the developed Aircrew-Mounted Self-Adjusting Tether System to verify and validate system performance against identified requirements. Flight testing will be conducted on multiple rotary-wing, tilt-rotor and/or fixed-wing platforms. User feedback will be sought. Modifications driven by flight test results may result in additional qualification testing. Transition developed technology to V-22 and other appropriate platforms. Private Sector Commercial Potential: A self-adjusting tether system for mobile aircrew could be utilized both by commercial users and any other government users that require aircraft crewmembers to be mobile in the aircraft cabin during flight. Potential users could include the U.S Coast Guard, The Department of Homeland Security, and various Law Enforcement agencies. Additionally, the mechanisms developed as part of this effort may have broader application in the fall arrestment field.

REFERENCES:

1. Department of Defense. MIL-STD-810E, Military Standard: Environmental Test Methods and Engineering Guidelines. 14 July 1989. Retrieved from http://everyspec.com/MIL-STD/MIL-STD-0800-0899/MIL-STD-810E_13775

2. Department of Defense. MIL-STD-1472F, Department of Defense Design Criteria: Human Engineering. 23 August 1999. Retrieved from http://everyspec.com/MIL-STD/MIL-STD-1400-1499/MIL-STD-1472F_208

3. Aircrew Endurance Vest Background Information Document will be posted on SITIS-

KEYWORDS: Mobile Aircrew; Restraint; Inertia Reel; Tether; Fall protection; Gunner’s Belt

Questions may also be submitted through DoD SBIR/STTR SITIS website.

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA 261 CH-53K

OBJECTIVE: Develop a test methodology and testing system to conduct structural testing on helicopter airframes that combines low frequency loads (maneuver, inertial or ground) with high frequency vibratory loads (buffet, rotor dynamics) in order to properly assess aircraft structures for durability.