TOPIC Removed

Development of a Shore Based Information System (SBIS) Interface Software

Navy SBIR 22.2 - Topic N222-125
SSP - Strategic Systems Programs
Opens: May 18, 2022 - Closes: June 15, 2022 (12:00pm est)

N222-125 TITLE: Development of a Shore Based Information System (SBIS) Interface Software

OUSD (R&E) MODERNIZATION PRIORITY: General Warfighting Requirements (GWR); Hypersonics; Space

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platforms; Battlespace Environments; Weapons

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

OBJECTIVE: Develop the requirements, architecture, and a Model-based Systems Engineering (MBSE)-based interface profile/software that will perform data mining of Navy generated data (operational, logistics, maintenance, configuration, etc.), creating a specific portion of a Shore Based Information System (SBIS).

DESCRIPTION: This SBIR topic will provide an MBSE based profile and stereotypes to use in a shore based digital infrastructure (DI). Navy provided shipboard operational, logistics, maintenance, etc., data will be transferred off ship manually or through a cyber-connection to the SBIS and be ported through this developed MBSE profile/process and evaluate for product support impact, such as impact to Operational Availability (AO) and life cycle cost. Specific Navy data and requirements will be provided upon contract award, proposals should outline the framework before this data is provided. The architecture/profile will contain a shore based interface to other key navy maintenance and life cycle databases such as Open Architectural Retrieval System (OARS) to obtain other shipboard reported maintenance and manpower data that is not generated from the ship. This OARS interface may be manual but preferred as automated. This data can be used to assess effectiveness of product support. This profile/interface software will analyze tenets of AO and other data and provide near real time metrics of affordable readiness in the form of Business Intelligence DI dashboards. The SBIS will mirror the Shipboard Information System (SIS) with capability to all other Navy weapon system nodes to perform analysis that the Warfighter is currently unable to complete. Additional uses of a tool like this can aid in development of after action reports or post mission data collection. There is no known product support profile which can be applied to a DI in an MBSE format, which can use system generated data. This profile and capability can also be used in the "SSP of the Future" concept as it can be a key enabler for product support. As it can tie to a specific product support and other operational and configuration data sets, it can be applied to any program based on the same principles and that aligns to MBSE.

The SBIS, and specifically this SBIR effort, will help identify how all aspects of the weapon system tie together, inform decisions, and understand the weapon system at a functional level to verify how the upgrades will affect current functions and supportability of the system. The MBSE profile/interface software will be used to lessen the logistics footprint of the current system by reducing computing time on the ship. It may enable response product support in the form of Distance Support, spares allocation changes, training updates, etc. An MBSE profile tied to the program requirements and based on system generated data will aid in decision based product support.

The Phase I effort will not require access to classified information.

Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. owned and operated with no foreign influence as defined by DoD 5220.22-M, National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Counterintelligence Security Agency (DCSA). The selected contractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances, in order to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DCSA and SSP in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material IAW DoD 5220.22-M during the advanced phases of this contract.

PHASE I: A proof of concept outlining the requirements and basic architectural concept of an MBSE Product Support Profile must be provided. The requirements generation must tie all aspects of operational, configuration, and product support (Logistics, maintenance, etc.) data into feasible concept. These can be in the form of Concept of Operations (CONOPS), white papers, PowerPoint concepts and if necessary, high level models showing the construct to use and evaluate data. Evaluation of the concept will be based on company generated CONOPS scenarios which are relevant to standard Navy product support and operations and how the concept can aid in rapid decision making based on the system generated data.

The new capability shall be data agnostic, meaning the government will not provide classified program data and any relative product support metric data may be used to represent availability, reliability, cost, etc., to show functionality. The Phase I Option, if exercised, will include the initial design specifications and capabilities description to build a prototype solution in Phase II.

PHASE II: Generate a requirements based MBSE profile/architecture for the SBIS based on the Phase I concept. Additionally, finalization of requirements complete with verification methods and traceability to Government requirements (to be provided upon contract award). The architecture/profile will be evaluated against a company provided product support scenario consistent with the product support analyses in SAE TA-STD-0017 and further defines in MIL-HDBK-502A. Show how the profile can accept data and propagate the data through the model, outputting to a DI Business Intelligence dashboard which will identify the program not meeting requirements, such as a low Availability. The architecture/profile functionality will decompose shipboard system and outside data such as OARS data to decompose the reason for the product support metric not meeting standards. For example, a low availability may be attributable to a lack of spare parts, or a high time to repair may be caused by admin delays, tech assist, bad training, etc., which when identified can help the Navy enhance product support.

It is probable that the work under this effort will be classified under Phase II (see Description section for details).

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The final product will be a profile/architecture that can be included in the program MBSE CAMEO model. Support transition of this integration to the Government DI and serve as a part of the programs SBIS. The program will be evaluated during CONOPS based scenarios tied to Product Support Manager (PSM) to be defined (TBD) test events related to affordable readiness, which will be part of Maintainability Demonstrations and comparison to existing reporting from Navy Operational Availability management activities. A goal would be to absolve the Navy of reliance on these outside activities for AO evaluation. There is a potential for these solutions to become a standard Navy profile tied to even the NAVSEA Model Based Product Support (MBPS) and future weapon systems, thereby decreasing reliance on many existing operational processes and enabling program offices to make rapid decisions based on specific weapon system data sets, vice waiting for a yearly or longer standard Navy analysis, at significant cost.

REFERENCES:

  1. James M. Acton (2015) Hypersonic Boost-Glide Weapons, Science & Global Security, 23:3, 191-219, DOI: 10.1080/08929882.2015.1087242. https://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080%2F08929882.2015.1087242
  2. Guiping Hu, Bopaya Bidanda. "Modeling Sustainable Product Lifecycle Decision Support Systems." International Journal of Production Economics, Volume 122, Issue 1, Pages 366-375, ISSN 0925-5273, November 2009. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S092552730900200X

KEYWORDS: Shore-Based Information System; Product Support Analysis; life cycle support; Logistics Decision Support Systems; Operational Availability; Affordable Readiness

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