Special Program Announcement for Office of Naval Research Research Opportunity: FY27 Communications and Networking Applied Research

The proposed topic will develop and mature Communications and Networking technologies for Naval operations. Background: A Design for Maritime Superiority (2018) describes an operational architecture for distributed maritime operations (DMO) that "... will provide accurate, timely, and analyzed information to units, warfighting groups, and fleets." A critical component of this architecture is the Naval Tactical Grid (NTG) to connect distributed units into groups and distributed groups into fleets. Communications and networking technologies that can provide seamless, robust, connectivity are key enablers for the NTG. These technologies will be deployed on a variety of platforms, both manned and unmanned, operating under challenging environmental and operational warfare conditions (lack of infrastructure, mobility, spectrum limitations, interference, multipath, atmospherics, jamming, electronic intercept, size/weight/power constraint, etc.) in different domains (land, maritime [includes both surface and undersea], cyber, and space). Successful Command and Control (C2) and decision making, at all levels of command, for DMO is critically dependent on these communications and networking technologies

All responsible sources from academia, industry and the research community worldwide may submit proposals under this BAA. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals; however, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCUs/MIs, small businesses or other socio-economic participation. All businesses, both small and large, are encouraged to submit proposals and compete for funding consideration. Federally Funded Research & Development Centers (FFRDCs), including Department of Energy National Laboratories, are not eligible to receive awards under this BAA. However, teaming arrangements between FFRDCs and eligible principal Offerors are allowed so long as such arrangements