Research and Development (RAD) Directed Energy (RD) University Assistance Instruments
Funding Agency:
- Department of Defense
This is a five-year open Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) accepting Letters of Intent from the date of publication for award of grants and cooperative agreement assistance instruments, with a ceiling of $49M. Once the announcement has reached the end of the 5-year period, or ceiling has been met prior to the 5-year period, the announcement will be closed.
This FOA has a two-part application process starting with a MANDATORY Letter of Intent, and then a full application if letter of intent is selected. Only invited applicants will be eligible to submit a full application. Letters of intent may be submitted at any time during this 5-year period and are evaluated as they are received. Prior to submitting a full application, Recipients are required to submit a Letter of Intent through the Valid Eval Portal at https://usg.valideval.com/teams/afrl_rad/signup. DO NOT submit a full application at the same time of submitting the mandatory Letter of Intent, prematurely submitting applications before being notified that your letter of intent was selected will result in the application not being evaluated. Should a full application be requested, the interested party must submit electronically through the Valid Eval portal at https://usg.valideval.com/teams/afrl_rad/signup. No hard copy submissions will be accepted.
The Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate (RD) is the Department of the Air Force's Center of Expertise for directed energy and optical technologies. The Directorate develops and transitions technologies in four core technical competencies: Laser Systems, Directed Energy and Electro-Optics for Space Superiority, High Power Electromagnetics, and Weapons Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis. This five-year, open FOA is for soliciting research applications for Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in the Core Technical Competencies (CTCs) described above. Multiple awards of assistance instruments are anticipated with periods of performance ranging from one to five years. All funding is subject to change due to Government discretion and availability. Potential offerors should be aware that, due to unanticipated budget fluctuations, funding may change with little or no notice. There are no limits to the number of Letters of Intent an applicant may submit for this FOA. The Government reserves the right to make multiple awards or no awards pursuant to this announcement.
AFRL RD is seeking unclassified applications that do not contain proprietary information. Proprietary information is defined as information that is not public knowledge and that is viewed as the property of the holder. Proposed research should be fundamental research. As defined in the National Security Decision Directive 89, “Fundamental Research means basic and applied research in science and engineering, the results of which ordinarily are published and shared broadly within the scientific community, as distinguished from proprietary research and from industrial development, design, production, and product utilization, the results of which ordinarily are restricted for proprietary or national security reasons.”
Applications shall be in accordance with Department of Defense (DoD) Directive 5230.24 and DoD Instruction 5230.27 and 32 CFR § 22.105 that further defines Basic, Applied and Advance Research as follows:
a) Basic Research. Efforts directed toward increasing knowledge and understanding in science and engineering, rather than the practical application of that knowledge and understanding. It is funded within Basic Research (Budget Activity 1 and Research Category 6.1) programs within Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E). For the purposes of this part, basic research includes:
Research-related, science and engineering education including graduate fellowships and research traineeships. Research instrumentation and other activities designed to enhance the infrastructure for science and engineering research.
b) Applied Research. Efforts that attempt to determine and exploit the potential of scientific discoveries or improvements in technology such as new materials, devices, methods, and processes. It is funded in Applied Research (Budget Activity 2 and Research Category 6.2) programs within Research, Development, Test and Evaluations (RDT&E). Applied research normally follows basic research but may not be fully distinguishable from the related basic research. The term does not include efforts whose principal aim is the design, development, or testing of specific products, systems, or processes to be considered for sale or acquisition; these efforts are within the definition of “development.”
Advanced Research. Advanced technology development that creates new technology or demonstrates the viability of applying existing technology to new products and processes in a general way. Advanced research is most closely analogous to precompetitive technology development in the commercial sector (i.e., early phases of research and development on which commercial competitors are willing to collaborate, because the work is not so coupled to specific products and development of military systems and hardware where specific requirements have been defined. It is typically funded in Advanced Technology Development (Budget Activity 3 and Research Category 6.3) programs within Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E).
Research-related, science and engineering education including graduate fellowships and research traineeships. Research instrumentation and other activities designed to enhance the infrastructure for science and engineering research.
Multiple
$49,000,000
By invitation only - Jul 18, 2029 See FOA
Mariah Salazar
Contracting and Grants Officer Phone 5056108624