(CLOSED) University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics (UCAH) Project Call (TEES/JHTO-RPP-2021-003)

The Joint Hypersonic Transition Office (JHTO), in partnership with Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and the UCAH, is soliciting competitive White Papers (WP)/Prototype Project Proposals (PPP) supporting hypersonic research and technology, per the defined Statement of Need (SON) in Section 2.1 of the Core Project Call. JHTO reserves the right to fund none, some, or all of the submissions made in response to this RWP/RPP. Furthermore, JHTO may choose to fund a portion of a submission or a combination of submissions. Not all meritorious submissions will necessarily receive funding. TEES and JHTO will exercise their discretion in selecting submissions. TEES and the JHTO will provide no funding for direct reimbursement of WP/PPP development costs.

For Core Grants The broad technology areas are (See the Core Project Request for White Papers for all topics and descriptions):

• Technology Area 1: Materials, Structures and Thermal Protection Systems
  • Topic 1: Mechanical Interface between RF transparent nose material and typical high temperature body materials
• Technology Area 2: Navigation Guidance Control and Sensing
  • Topic 2: Aero Parameter Estimator
• Technology Area 3: Air Breathing Propulsion
  • Topic 3: Methods for Predicting High-Speed Airbreathing Propulsion Performance
• Technology Area 4: Hypersonic Environments and Phenomenology
  • Topic 4: Hypersonic Materials Effects on Near-Field Phenomenology
• Technology Area 5: Applied Aerodynamics and Hypersonic Systems
  • Topic 5: Uncertainty quantification for vehicle trade studies
• Technology Area 6: Lethality and Energetics
  • Topic 6: System Level Simulations of Blast Energetics for Hypersonic Operations
  • Topic 7: The development of experimentally validated methods and models to advance understanding of multiphase blast properties and structural responses to structures
• Workforce Development
  • Topic 8: Quantitative Progress on Hypersonic Workforce Development

Applicant Eligibility:

Proposal awards are made under 10 U.S.C. § 2371b, and as such all awardees must meet at least one of the following conditions:

• There is at least one nontraditional defense contractor or nonprofit research institution participating to a significant extent in the prototype project.
• All significant participants in the transaction other than the Federal Government are small business (including small business participating in a program described under section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) or nontraditional defense contractors.
• At least one-third of the total cost of the Prototype Project is to be paid out of funds provided by sources other than the Federal Government.
• The senior procurement executive for the Agency determines, in writing, that exceptional circumstances justify the use of a transaction that provides for innovative business arrangements or structures that would not be feasible or appropriate under a contract, or would provide an opportunity to expand the defense supply base in a manner that would not be practical or feasible under a contract.

Except as addressed in the next paragraph, individuals supported by a Sub-Agreement awarded as a result of this RWP/RPP process must be United States (U.S.) citizens prior to award. Since research projects are expected to include CUI, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or Distribution Statement C information, the fundamental research exclusion (National Security Decision Directive 189) is not expected to apply. Universities responding to this RWP/RPP must be able to appropriately maintain and handle sensitive data. Hence, all publications will require review and approval.

Affiliate Consortium Members, including Industry, University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs), a University Affiliated Laboratory (UAL), and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), and universities (on a case by case basis) from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom are not eligible to respond to this RWP/RPP but may team with an eligible principal bidder and be funded accordingly.

Teams are encouraged in all areas, to include:

• Other universities;
• Industry;
• UARCs/FFRDCs;
• National Laboratories;
• Minority Serving Institutions;
• Nontraditional Members.

Period of Performance: Three-year with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2022.