The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Propulsion Sciences Directorate has released a Notice of Contract Action (NOCA) for advanced research in support of the development of the Hypersonic Multi-mission ISR and Strike (Mayhem) air-to-surface weapon system.
The air force is expected to issue a follow-on Mayhem request for proposal (RFP) in January 2022, using a system design agent (SDA) approach, in line with the synopsis outlined in Call 003 ‘Enabling Technologies for High-Speed Operable Systems, Hypersonic Multi-mission ISR and Strike (Mayhem)' Broad Agency Announcement NOCA, issued on 24 November. The service anticipates the award of a basic indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract associated with this announcement, with one task order, with a programme ceiling of USD371 million.
An SDA is significantly different from a traditional systems integrator or a contractor who performs advisory and assistance for the United States government. Unlike those entities, an SDA serves as an independent organisation that manages the designs, prototypes, and tests of a system with the goal of producing designs, architecture, and ultimately a technical data package that could later be provided to an acquisition organisation for rapid prototyping or system development.
According to the AFRL, “An SDA is closely tied to the program office and selects, awards, and manages subcontracts to domain experts at a speed that the government cannot match. The SDA also performs the required component system engineering and programming tasks to ensure the system can transition to an operational system.”
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