Commercial Solutions Opening for the Defense Industrial Base

The Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for the Defense Industrial Base (DASN (DIB)), within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition (ASN (RD&A)), is interested in awarding agreements and other appropriate instruments to traditional and nontraditional defense contractors, commercial firms, academic institutions, and other eligible entities to carry out prototype projects that are directly relevant to strengthening, expanding, modernizing, or sustaining the Defense Industrial Base and improving the mission effectiveness, readiness, production capacity, resilience, and supportability of Department of the Navy capabilities, platforms, systems, components, materials, infrastructure, and enabling industrial resources. Accordingly, DASN (DIB) announces a streamlined Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) solicitation procedure seeking proposals for prototypes that can accelerate the delivery of warfighting capability and capacity, improve industrial base performance, and support the Department of the Navy’s industrial base priorities. This CSO is a competitive solicitation procedure used to identify, evaluate, and select prototype projects for potential award under other transaction authority and is intended to provide maximum flexibility to pursue a broad range of prototype efforts. Competitive procedures will be used to the maximum extent practicable when entering into agreements or other arrangements to carry out such projects. Interested parties with current, emerging, or developmental solutions are encouraged to submit solution briefs in response to separately published Areas of Interest (AoIs) addressing opportunities to enhance industrial capacity, supply chain resilience, advanced manufacturing, workforce development, infrastructure, energy, private capital engagement, contested logistics support, data management, analytics, or other related Defense Industrial Base needs. AoIs may be issued, refined, expanded, or updated from time to time, and submissions may be sought for specific topics or for broader capability areas consistent with DASN (DIB)’s mission. Offerors are encouraged to propose solutions with the flexibility to support diverse prototype efforts across the full range of Defense Industrial Base priorities.