Rapidly Deployable Base Fortification Systems

OUSD (R&E) CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Advanced Materials 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: Development of improved base fortification systems that provide rapid defense for personnel in an austere environment. Maximum utilization of readily available resources in the field it to be utilized in order to minimize transportation weight, deployment time, and destruction for withdrawal time. Technology should be about to be transportable on aircraft with minimal footprint. DESCRIPTION: Currently, military personnel must bring equipment with them to austere environments in order to fortify their fighting position. For shorter durations, the sandbag is the most likely fortifying material to be utilized by personnel in the field. Additionally, the sandbag serves a pivotal function in long-term defensive applications. The basic sandbag requires ready access to dirt, sand, or similar earth material that be excavated to fill the bag and then it is arranged in a manner to provide a makeshift protection wall. Of particular interest are technologies that can reduce the employment time of sandbags or completely replace the sandbag system with a comparable system that provides equal, or better, levels of protection for personnel. Currently, the sandbag is manually filled with some in-field improvements that have been created by personnel. However, even with these manual creations, the process of filling and deploying sandbags is extremely time consuming, which increase personnel fatigue and reduces defensive capabilities. Improvement points may include, but not limited to: prefilled sandbags that fully deploy under certain conditions, lightweight systems capable of rapidly filling sandbags, lightweight systems capable of quickly deploying multiple sandbags, or a total sandbags replacement system. Further, the systems need to be minimal in size and weight to reduce cargo size and weight such that impact for transportation is minimized. This work is to be done at the unclassified level for Phase I and II. PHASE I: As this is a Direct-to-Phase-II (D2P2) topic, no Phase I awards will be made as a result of this topic. To qualify for this D2P2 topic, the Government expects the Offeror to demonstrate feasibility by means of a prior Phase I-type effort that does not constitute work undertaken as part of a prior SBIR/STTR funding agreement. In order to be awarded a D2P2, the applicant's technology should have a fully developed blueprint, concept or, at best, prototype to further develop. The proposer should demonstrate the feasibility of their design and its readiness for a Phase II. PHASE II: Perform in-depth research and develop, resulting in a full-scale prototype package that demonstrates the capability of the product and the time to deploy as compared to a comparable dimension of standard fortification products in use today. Delivery and demonstration of the product will be conducted in the customer's environment, and performance will be evaluated. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Explore and pursue paths for military and commercial applications. Potential users may include, but are not limited to, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and local governments. This phase will also focus on inserting and evaluating performance of the developed capability in operational environments. REFERENCES: Base defense fortification; KEYWORDS: fortification; sandbag; emplacements; base building