Electronic Warfare Technology | N00014 17 S B008

Opportunity Information: Apply for N00014 17 S B008

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is seeking grant proposals under its Electronic Warfare (EW) Discovery and Invention program to push forward next-generation technologies that help U.S. naval forces control the electromagnetic spectrum. The basic mission of EW in this solicitation is to exploit, deceive, or deny an adversary's use of the spectrum while protecting and preserving spectrum use for friendly forces. ONR is specifically interested in science and technology work that can improve threat warning and electronic support (ES), enable more effective decoys and countermeasures against weapon tracking and guidance, strengthen electronic attack (EA) options against adversary command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR), and improve electronic protection (EP) for U.S. weapons and C4ISR systems against both intentional jamming and unintentional interference. The opportunity is structured as a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) with an initial white paper step and potential invitation to submit full proposals, and it emphasizes demonstrating real capability rather than only theoretical work.

A central theme across the BAA is the creation of subsystem demonstrators (SSDs), which ONR defines as integrated sets of components, devices, and subsystems that can show an end-to-end EW function, even if the hardware is not packaged in a final tactical form factor. These SSD efforts are expected to culminate in a government-witnessed demonstration in a tactically relevant real or simulated environment. ONR also signals a strong interest in transition-ready engineering choices: proposals are encouraged to use open, modular, and preferably non-proprietary standards (for example, VITA or openVPX) or standards to which the government has full rights, so the resulting technology can move more quickly into Navy, Marine Corps, or joint systems. Size, weight, and power (SWAP) reduction is repeatedly highlighted, and the program allows SWAP improvements to be supported through analysis when direct measurement is not practical at the demonstrator stage. Overall, ONR is looking for technologies that can realistically fit onto constrained platforms and be robust to operational issues like temperature, vibration, and reliability demands.

The BAA lays out five research opportunity areas. Area 1 focuses on an EO/IR beam steering subsystem demonstrator capable of non-mechanical steering of multiple optical/infrared wavelength bands. The target is to steer multiple discrete laser emissions across UV, visible, near-IR, shortwave IR, midwave IR, and longwave IR, ideally covering many or all of these bands with special emphasis on UV, MWIR, and LWIR. The SSD is expected to combine those emissions into a single continuous-wave multispectral beam with good beam quality (M2 less than 3) and deliver at least 10 W per band (with an objective above 20 W per band), operating at room temperature. Beam steering performance should cover at least a 120-degree conical field of regard as a threshold, with a hemisphere as the objective, while maintaining low divergence and minimal or no sidelobes. Importantly, ONR wants to avoid large gimbals and motorized beam directors; "non-mechanical" here means solutions that eliminate heavy, power-hungry mechanical pointing systems and improve service life and mean time between failure. Concepts that are conformal or can be embedded in a platform skin are preferred, and designs should manage performance sensitivity to temperature and vibration.

Area 2 targets an intelligent EW subsystem demonstrator aimed primarily at surface ship EW, built to outperform traditional systems that rely on static emitter databases and pre-programmed countermeasures. ONR is concerned that future RF threats will be too agile in waveform, bandwidth, and tactics for static approaches, so this area calls for an EW system that can adapt autonomously without fixed rules and can act quickly enough to beat adversary decision timelines. The requested capability includes dynamically identifying and tracking emitters, maintaining multiple competing hypotheses about uncertain emitter characteristics with likelihood estimates, generating and managing candidate countermeasures for each threat, assessing countermeasure effectiveness, and refining electronic attack techniques based on results. Demonstrations must at least show the ability to counter radar in a realistic RF environment that includes other common systems (communications, jammers, and timing/navigation signals) for both friendly and adversary forces. Proposers can frame the operational scenario as a single ship with one or multiple antennas/arrays, or as a distributed concept where multiple platforms collaborate over a network, but in either case the system should optimize outcomes like survivability and alignment with commander intent and mission objectives.

Area 3 is about networked EW concepts that go beyond simple coordination or management and instead produce capabilities that are meaningfully better than what individual EW assets could achieve alone. ONR notes the ideal of fully coherent, instantaneous sharing of what every transmitter and receiver is doing is unrealistic due to bandwidth, latency, and processing constraints, but the goal is to define the practical parameters, architectures, and techniques that still unlock major tactical advantage. The key requirement here is that proposals must articulate concrete network-enabled EW advantages with clear mechanisms and expected gains; generic networking frameworks with unclear benefits or benefits deferred to future work are explicitly discouraged.

Area 4 seeks innovative counter-ISR concepts aimed at EO/IR imaging sensor threats, especially approaches that avoid "brute force" high-power optical or infrared methods designed to saturate or damage sensors. ONR is looking for non-traditional deception and denial techniques that use emerging, cutting-edge technology to defeat or confuse imaging sensors in smarter ways. This area is intended for ideas that do not neatly fit under the other research areas, and it is positioned as a place for truly novel concepts rather than incremental demonstrations of known approaches.

Area 5 is a broader call for innovative EW concepts across electronic warfare support, electronic attack, or electronic protection that could fundamentally change how naval and joint forces conduct EW operations. Like Area 4, it is meant for proposals that are not already covered by the other sections. ONR emphasizes that projects should be driven by genuine innovation and emerging technology; proposals that mainly apply existing techniques in a lab or field are discouraged unless the demonstration would deliver a major capability leap.

On eligibility and teaming, the BAA is open to responsible sources from academia and industry, and it encourages participation by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs), though it is not set aside for small business or any other socio-economic category. Both small and large businesses are welcome to compete. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), including DOE national labs, are not eligible to receive awards directly, and Navy labs, military universities, warfare centers, and other government labs are also not eligible to submit white papers or proposals as prime offerors; however, these organizations may participate through teaming arrangements with eligible prime applicants if their sponsoring agreements allow it. University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) may apply unless restricted by their DoD UARC contracts. ONR also flags that offerors should be prepared to collaborate within an integrated program, including exchanging software, data, and other information with other contractors and system integrators selected by ONR.

Finally, proposers are expected to handle export control compliance, including potential ITAR applicability, and to clearly state whether ITAR restrictions apply to their work. Cost sharing is not expected and will not affect merit review, though voluntary cost sharing may be considered if offered. The posted opportunity information identifies it as a discretionary grant under CFDA 12.300, titled "Electronic Warfare Technology" (Funding Opportunity Number N00014-17-S-B008), with an original closing date of June 5, 2017, and an anticipated large number of awards (listed as 99), reflecting that ONR may fund multiple efforts across the five research areas.

• The Office of Naval Research in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Electronic Warfare Technology" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.300.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-12-19.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-06-05. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 99 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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