NETWORKING THE FIGHT BAA INDUSTRY DAY ANNOUNCEMENT | FA875024S7002

Opportunity Information: Apply for FA875024S7002

The "NETWORKING THE FIGHT BAA INDUSTRY DAY ANNOUNCEMENT" (Funding Opportunity Number FA875024S7002) is a discretionary research and development opportunity issued by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) under CFDA 12.800. It is framed as an Industry Day announcement connected to a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) effort, which typically means the government is using a flexible, science-and-technology-focused acquisition pathway to discover, evaluate, and potentially fund novel ideas rather than buying a finished commercial product off the shelf. In practical terms, this kind of notice is usually aimed at pulling together government, industry, and academia to share context on mission needs, describe the technical problem set, and explain how AFRL intends to structure future BAA submissions and evaluations. The title signals a focus on networking as an operational advantage, often implying interest in resilient communications, data transport, distributed sensing, tactical networking, interoperability, and approaches that keep forces connected in contested or degraded environments.

The listing identifies the opportunity category as "Discretionary" and the funding instrument type as "Other," which commonly indicates AFRL may use assistance-style instruments or other nontraditional mechanisms depending on the specific BAA structure and the nature of the work proposed. Because it is categorized under "Science and Technology and other Research and Development," the expected outcomes are typically prototypes, demonstrations, experiments, modeling and simulation results, system concepts, or enabling technologies that can transition into programs of record or operational capability later. Unlike a conventional procurement solicitation with fixed requirements and a defined deliverable list, BAA-related opportunities generally emphasize technical merit, innovation, feasibility, and relevance to government needs, with performers proposing their own technical approach and work plan.

Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others," which usually reflects that AFRL is willing to engage a wide range of organizations depending on the rules described in the full posting and any associated BAA documentation. In similar AFRL contexts, that can include traditional defense contractors, small businesses, non-profits, universities, federally funded research and development centers where applicable, and sometimes consortia or teams. Industry Day announcements often encourage teaming and early engagement, since many of these technical problems benefit from combining communications/network engineering, cyber assurance, RF expertise, embedded systems, autonomy, and operational analysis.

The public record fields show the notice was created on 2024-01-30 and carried an original closing date of 2024-03-30. No award ceiling and no expected number of awards are specified in the summary data provided, which is common for Industry Day announcements and many BAAs. That absence generally means the government is not committing to a specific funding level in the announcement itself, or that funding quantities and award counts may depend on the quality of submissions, availability of funds, and evolving priorities. In many BAA-driven programs, AFRL may make multiple awards across a range of dollar values, or may choose to fund only a small subset of the most promising concepts.

As an "Industry Day" notice, the core purpose is typically informational and preparatory: to announce an event (virtual, in-person, or hybrid), outline the technical areas of interest, provide instructions for registration and participation, and describe how AFRL plans to accept questions and follow-on white papers or full proposals under the associated BAA process. These announcements frequently include guidance on how to submit capability statements or short concept papers, how the government will handle one-on-one meetings (if offered), what security or controlled information rules apply, and what the anticipated timeline looks like for later proposal submissions. They may also clarify evaluation criteria at a high level, such as technical approach, innovation, qualifications of the team, transition potential, cost realism, and relevance to the mission problem.

Overall, this opportunity should be read as a gateway into an AFRL R and D pipeline focused on maintaining and improving tactical and operational networking advantages for the Air Force and joint force. Organizations that would be a strong fit are those with credible technical capabilities in advanced networking and communications (including resilient and adaptive networking, spectrum-aware systems, anti-jam and low probability of intercept/detection techniques, secure routing and data dissemination, edge compute integration, and network management in dynamic environments), and those that can articulate a believable path from research results to a fieldable capability. For anyone considering participation, the most important next step is to review the full SAM.gov notice content for the event logistics and any instructions tied to submitting materials, then align a concise technical concept to the stated problem areas and be ready to demonstrate both innovation and a realistic transition story.

• The Air Force -- Research Lab in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NETWORKING THE FIGHT BAA INDUSTRY DAY ANNOUNCEMENT" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.800.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-01-30.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-03-30. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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