DON27BZ02-NV020 — Rapid Imagery Creation for Navy Training

Develop technology to use historic real-world satellite imagery and then rapidly (10 minutes or less) modify it to reflect a training scenario order of battle (aircraft, ships, vehicles, etc.) to allow imagery analysts to practice their tradecraft underway or ashore in support of maritime exercises.

Currently, imagery analysts are excluded from, or extremely limited in, participating in dynamic Navy operational and staff training such as Surface Warfare Advanced Team Trainer (SWATT), Information Warfare Advanced Team Trainer (IWATT), Fleet Synthetic Training General Commander/Joint (FST-GC/J), and Commander Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX).This is due to the limited ability to dynamically generate the required products for imagery analysts within a reasonable amount of time at a quality that supports training. Currently, either summaries are provided to the training audience circumventing the imagery analysts all together or providing GRAPHPLOTS - the equivalence of stick figure drawing - to track the order of battle (OOB) made up of aircraft, ships, vehicles, etc., without any use of actual imagery or geospatial analysis. A technology to address this shortfall would need to take real-world geo-rectified imagery as a base and then rapidly adjust/modify the image to reflect the desired OOB and in a National Imagery Transition Format (NTIF) to be provided to the training audience for imagery analysts to process. For example, in real-life Port A, identified by Basic Encyclopedia (BE) number, is of high interest and has a collection requirement against it for satellite imagery to be collected. In reality, Port A has three Kilo-class submarines and one Luhu-class destroyer, but in the scenario things have dynamically changed such that one of those submarines is now underway and an additional Luda I-class Destroyer has arrived, requiring the rapid (less than 10 minutes) production of an NITF image depicting two Kilo-class submarines, one Luhu DD, and one Luda I DDG to provide the training audience for analysis. The same would be required for airfields depicting aircraft movement as well. Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. owned and operated with no foreign influence as defined by 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq., National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) formerly Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor and/or subcontractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances. This will allow contractor personnel to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DCSA and ONR in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material during the advanced phases of this contract IAW the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), which can be found at Title 32, Part 2004.20 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Create concept formulation for electro-optical imagery, determine technical feasibility of rapidly generating an NITF image, and validation through the modification of a single image (note: format and quality are not relevant here) to change the depicted order of battle. Determine technical feasibility of infrared (IR), and Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) imagery. Create demonstration standard sufficient to assess preservation of imagery characteristics necessary for realistic imagery-analysis training.

Develop prototype technology on the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRnet) to effectively execute the example provided in the Description for Electro-Optical (EO) imagery. Determine a site by BE number (from a limited provided subset), outputting a near real-world NITF image of the desired OOB (from a limited inventory of platforms). Demonstrate standard sufficient to assess preservation of imagery characteristics. Prepare a Phase III commercialization/transition plan. Work in Phase II may become classified. Please see note in Description section.

This technology would be usable and empower any dynamic military training opportunity to support Imagery/GEOINT analysis. Possible transition to National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Naval Information Forces (NAVIFOR), Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT), Carrier Strike Group FOUR and FIFTEEN (CSG-4/15), Tactical Training Group Pacific (TTGP), Tactical Training Group Atlantic (TTGL) and NSWC Corona. This product will ideally reside on the SIPRNet as a portal for users to query on RED networks, such as NCTE-RED OPS, NMCI SIPR, SIPR TRANET, then providing the requested images. Potential work in Phase III could include prototype refinement, testing, production, and transition support.