Contract Award: Areté Associates (Northridge, California) – $19,854,666

Areté Associates,* Northridge, California, is awarded a $19,854,666 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for maritime remote sensing. This contract provides for the investigation of previously unexplored phenomenology and emerging technology relevant to the mission of the Submarine Ballistic Missile Nuclear Powered (SSBN) Security Technology Program (SSTP). The investigations will be in six research areas: machine learning, remote sensing-systems, remote sensing-tools, remote sensing – data management, non-traditional exploitation and electro-optic analyses. Work will be performed in Northridge, California, and is expected to be completed by April 27, 2027. The maximum dollar value, including a 60-month base period, is $19,854,666. Fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $324; and fiscal 2022 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $900,000 are obligated at time of award. Funds in the amount of $324 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under the Office of Naval Research long range broad agency announcement (BAA) for Navy and Marine Corps science and technology. Since proposals are received throughout the year under the long range BAA, the number of proposals received in response to the solicitation is unknown. The Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00014-22-C-1024).