DON26BZ01-NV014 TITLE: Non-Radio Frequency, Covert Maritime Transceiver

COMPONENT TECHNOLOGY PRIORITY AREA(S): FutureG;Integrated Network Systems-of-Systems;Microelectronics

PROJECTED CMMC LEVEL REQUIREMENT: Level 2 (Self)

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 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 reliable and covert transceiver for use in contested areas where the use of traditional radio frequencies are not permitted in order to remain concealed. The Navy is looking for new technologies that can transmit and receive wireless communications from distances of at least 5km. The signal medium may be, but not limited to, acoustic, infrared, or ultraviolet. The communications link must be highly resistant to interference, detection, and exploitation.

DESCRIPTION: Covert communications have continuously evolved during the history of warfare. Paradigm shifts in communication (in warfare) have enabled evolutionary tactical advantages that have lasted for finite periods of time until an adversary adjusts technology and tactics to detect, and in some cases monitor, seemingly covert communications. Various modalities are available to attempt to provide secure, covert communications including many Radio Frequency (RF) techniques, free-space optics (laser comm.) and others. Due to the United States’s reliance on RF for communications and sensing (e.g., radar), various peer-adversaries have engineered around many of these modalities putting secure communications at risk. For this reason, it is necessary to go "out-of-band" to provide a modality of communication not commonly used and enabled by technology that is wholly new and therefore restricted by rarity. Another limitation to this application is the need to avoid bulky, power-hungry systems that may require a high degree of attention in order to operate properly.

Therefore, the Navy is looking for a low power, small communications transceiver that offers low probability of intercept (LPI) and low probability of detection (LPD). The new technology must be able to acquire, track, and maintain a secure communications link between rapidly moving vehicles (manned and unmanned). Emerging applications include cognitive operations with other autonomous systems for armed combat, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR), casualty extraction, and field communications. Each of these applications have different objectives but all require uninterrupted, high bandwidth, and secure communications.

Attributes:

- Must be able to communicate between two or more points at least 5km away

- Low Size, Weight, and Power/Cost (SWaP-C)

- Reliable, continuous communication link

- Field Programmable

- LPI/LPD

- Flexible data rate requirement (up to 10MB/s)

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. § 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 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 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.

PHASE I: The evaluation technical merit of Phase I proposals (evaluation criteria defined in the BAA instruction) will be based on design, system functionality, durability and feasibility. In the development of the system, assessment of the performance parameters and identification of the constraints and limitations is required, and a full rationale supporting the advantages and strengths of the design. Justification of the feasibility study will be based on research, part/component availability, sound engineering principles, and market research. Describe maximum transmission distance between points and the reliability of the wireless link.

The Phase I effort will include prototype plans to be developed under Phase II.

PHASE II: The end state goal of the proposed initiative is to develop and test a prototype system that implements the Phase I design. This prototype will have its ability to communicate wirelessly between two points tested in a relevant environment with input and direction from the Government Technical Point of Contact (TPOC. The system should demonstrate that it meets the objective and system attributes in this SBIR topic and will be evaluated based on the reliability and capability of the communications link.

Work in Phase II may become classified. Please see note in the Description section.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Complete final testing and perform necessary integration and transition for use in monitoring operations, remote surveillance and reconnaissance applications with appropriate platforms and agencies, and future combat systems under development.

Commercially, this product could be used to enable remote environmental and security monitoring or point to point secure communications.

REFERENCES:

1. Bekkali, H. Fujita and Hattori, M. "New Generation Free-Space Optical Communication Systems With Advanced Optical Beam Stabilizer." Journal of Lightwave Technology, vol. 40, no. 5, 1 March 2022, pp. 1509-1518. doi: 10.1109/JLT.2022.3146252
2. Ryu, Seunghun et al. "Design and Analysis of a Magnetic Field Communication System Using a Giant Magneto-Impedance Sensor." IEEE Access, vol. 10, 2022, pp. 56961-56973. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9765976
3. Wang, B. et al. "Design and implementation of a new infrared transmitter and receiver." 2012 2nd International Conference on Consumer Electronics, Communications and Networks (CECNet), Yichang, China, 2012, pp. 3171-3173. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6201434
4. "National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual (NISP), 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq. 1993." https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-32/subtitle-B/chapter-XX/part-2004

KEYWORDS: Covert transceiver communications; Field programmable; Wireless communications; interference resistant; Low power consumption; Cognitive applications; Radio Frequency; non-RF

TPOC:
NAVAIR SBIR/STTR POC
navair-sbir@us.navy.mil