FOUNDATIONS OF TRUSTED SYSTEMS

SOL #: FA875025S7001Pre-Solicitation

Overview

Buyer

DEPT OF DEFENSE

Dept Of The Air Force

FA8750 AFRL RIK

ROME, NY, 13441-4514, United States

Place of Performance

Place of performance not available

NAICS

Research and Development in the Physical (541715)

PSC

National Defense R&D Services; Department Of Defense Military; Applied Research (AC12)

Set Aside

No set aside specified

Original Source

https://sam.gov/opp/850f583e04124d388920278d000cbc8b/view

Timeline

Posted

Dec 2, 2024

Last Updated

May 28, 2026

Qualification Details

Fit reasons

NAICS alignment with historical contract wins in similar service areas.
Scope strongly matches core technical capabilities and delivery model.

Risks

Past performance thresholds may require one additional teaming partner.
Potential clarification needed on staffing minimums before bid/no-bid.

Next steps

Validate eligibility requirements, assign capture owner, and schedule partner outreach to confirm teaming strategy before submission planning.

Quick Summary

The Department of the Air Force, AFRL - Rome Research Site, has issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), FA8750-25-S-7001, seeking innovative research for Foundations of Trusted Systems. This initiative aims to establish trusted foundations for hardware and software to enable secure, resilient, and affordable Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) and Cyber technologies. This is an open, two-step BAA, accepting white papers until December 4, 2028, at 2 PM EST. Total funding is approximately $99.9 million.

Scope of Work

The BAA focuses on several technical areas:

Trusted, Secure, and Resilient Computational Systems: Research into hardware and software elements, tools, and methodologies for trustworthy computing environments, including processor/architecture trustworthiness, IC security, new secure architectures, and operating system constructs.
Trusted and Assured Software: Enhancing Software Assurance (SwA) through technology, tools assessment, evidence-based assurance, and developing resilient techniques for trusted software-intensive systems engineering, especially for DevSecOps and Cyber Physical Systems (CPS).
AI in Trusted Systems: Leveraging AI for human-machine teaming to improve automation, understanding, and mitigate risks in design and evaluation, focusing on correct-by-construction design and continual assurance of learning-enabled components.
Digital Engineering Model-based Analysis: Developing techniques to extract software models from code and binaries for analysis, including formal semantics and behavior modeling for security.

Contract Details

BAA Number: FA8750-25-S-7001
Estimated Funding: Approximately $99.9M total. Individual awards typically range from $100K to $5M, not normally exceeding 36 months.
Anticipated Awards: Multiple awards are anticipated.
Award Instruments: FAR-based Procurement contracts, CFR-based grants and cooperative agreements, or Other Transactions (OTs) under 10 USC 4021, 10 USC 4022, and 10 USC 4023. Prototype OTs may lead to follow-on production contracts.
Set-Aside: None specified; open to all qualified offerors.
Eligibility: Foreign participation is generally closed, with exceptions for unclassified fundamental research. Specific requirements apply to foreign nationals and FOCI companies. FFRDCs/Government Entities must demonstrate work is not available from the private sector.

Submission & Evaluation

This is an Open, 2-Step BAA. Only white papers are accepted as initial submissions; formal proposals are by invitation only.

White Paper Submission Deadline: White papers will be considered if received prior to December 4, 2028, at 2 PM EST. Suggested submission dates for aligning with projected funding are: FY25 by Dec 18, 2024; FY26 by Sep 1, 2025; FY27 by Sep 2, 2026; FY28 by Sep 3, 2027; FY29 by Sep 4, 2028.
White Paper Format: 2-5 pages, double-spaced, 12pt font, including Title/POCs, Task Objective, and Technical Summary/Deliverables.
Evaluation Criteria: Scientific and Technical Merit, Capabilities and Related Experience, Openness/Maturity/Assurance of Solution, and Reasonableness/Realism of Costs.
Assistance Instruments Evaluation (Amendment 7): New criteria apply, including a Go/No Go screening for Gold Standard Science (GSS) implementation, immediate demonstrable results, speed, accountability, and alignment with President's policy priorities. Proposals must not promote racial preferences, denial of the sex binary, illegal immigration, or anti-American values.