Willow

Background
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative proposals in Acoustic Warfare (AW) systems to counter active surface sonars. The program seeks to develop innovative payloads to conduct Acoustic Warfare to counter active surface sonars. Performers are expected to propose plans for compelling operational concepts and deployment hardware that inform design requirements, including command and control (C2). Willow is a two-phase effort, with an 18-month Phase 1 Base and a 16-month Phase 2 Costed Option. At the end of Phase 1, performers will participate in an at-sea test to demonstrate their counter-sonar capabilities from a single node. The Phase 2 demonstration will be a sea test where multiple (>= 3) nodes demonstrate Phase 1 capabilities extended to a multi-node implementation.

Work Details
The program seeks performers to develop innovative payloads for Acoustic Warfare to counter active surface sonars. Payloads will be deployed on various 'nodes' such as Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), buoys, moored systems, etc. If a proposer selects a UUV-based solution, they should propose an integration and test timeline consistent with current supply chain disruptions. Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V), hardware-in-the-loop simulations, and at-sea testing will be central components of the program. Performers are required to provide their own end-to-end modeling, simulation, and analysis to develop their Willow nodes, and sonar receiver processing.

Period of Performance
Willow is a two-phase effort, with an 18-month Phase 1 Base and a 16-month Phase 2 Costed Option.