CAMP - Combat Autonomous Maritime Platform

CAMP – Combat Autonomous Maritime Platform 

This project is dedicated to the late Richard “Mike” Camp, former Director of Warfare Systems, U.S. Pacific Fleet. A highly accomplished former career submarine officer, Mike was an expert in his field and a tireless proponent for the adoption of large uncrewed undersea vehicles (UUVs) into the Fleet. Mike is remembered as a master of naval warfare planning, a beloved teammate, and a prolific Notre Dame fan. He will be forever missed.

Problem Statement

To maximize operational effectiveness in contested environments, the United States military requires enhanced capabilities for deploying large payloads across extended ranges. Current UUV capabilities present limitations in range and payload capacity, hindering the effective deployment of critical resources in certain operational scenarios.

The DoD seeks commercially available, demonstration-ready uncrewed systems that address these limitations, offering a scalable and cost-effective solution for long-range, high-capacity payload deployment. 

Desired mission sets include, but are not limited to:

●     Emplacement of various sized payloads

●     Bathymetric surveys and mapping

●     Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance

●     Communications across the air/water interface (acoustic and Radio Frequency)

●     Ability to operate in a GPS denied environment 

Desired Solution Attributes

A candidate platform should have some or all of the following characteristics:

●     Exceptional range, capable of transits greater than 1000nm.

●     Capable of performing deeper than 200m underwater.

●     Modular payload capacity with ability to drop various payloads to the seafloor. Payload sizes include but are not limited to:

○  5ft long, 19 inches in diameter

○   21ft in length and 21 inches in diameter

●     Autonomous operation including navigation, guidance, and obstacle/collision avoidance (including during emergence and at surface), as well as remote operation.

●     Capability for RF communications, and capability or demonstrate a pathway for undersea communications.

●     Modularity, including the ability to switch from different payloads and mission sets.

●     Hardware and software architecture with open interfaces, with a demonstrable pathway to integrate with various third party payloads;

●     Demonstrable pathway to integrate with third party control systems, including but not limited to government furnished common control system (CCS).

●     Demonstrable pathway for UMAA compliance.

●     Demonstrable pathway to prevent, mitigate, and recover from the effects of tampering or cyber events to achieve an Authorization To Operate in alignment with applicable Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) recommendations for minimum standards for unmanned national security systems (NSS).

●     Be transportable, deployable, and recoverable with commonly available commercial freight and transportation equipment, or demonstrate a development pathway to achieve this.

●     Minimize surface expression and duration.

●     Include modeling and simulation to inform specific vehicle behaviors and mission operations, or ability to integrate with 3^rd party modeling and simulation solutions. 

The government may provide various payloads as government furnished equipment (GFE). The government may also provide a suite of GFE and government furnished information (GFI) which vendors are not required to use, but can leverage for their solutions.

The government understands that companies will likely not be able to meet all of the specifications in this solicitation, but encourage companies with demonstrable capability applicable to one or more of these specifications to apply.

If selected to Phase 2 of the CSO, the Government intends to observe vendors’ solutions demonstrated in-water live and in-person. Government representatives may travel to Phase 2 vendor locations at vendor discretion. Phase 2 is expected to begin approximately 4 weeks after the closing date of this Area of Interest solicitation. Specific dates and instructions will be provided to vendors selected for Phase 2 of the CSO.

Teaming/Partnerships

Vendors may submit partial solutions, however the Government strongly encourages teaming for responses to this Area of Interest if vendors are unable to propose complete solutions. As part of the selection process, the Government may seek to team companies with complementary solutions. Traditional defense contractors are reminded that under 10 U.S.C. § 4022, that if you do not qualify as a non-traditional company that the government will seek either a one-third cost share in the prototyping effort or that the proposal must demonstrate that significant work is being performed with a non-traditional partner.

Awarding Instrument

This solicitation will be awarded in accordance with the Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) process detailed within HQ0845-20-S-C001 (DIU CSO), posted to SAM.gov on 13 Jan 2020, updated 02 Oct 2023. This document can be found at: https://sam.gov/opp/e74c907a9220429d9ea995a4e9a2ede6/view