DON26BX01-NP001 TITLE: NAVWAR Open Topic for Resilient Wideband RF Photonic Architectures for Assured Communications and PNT in Contested Electromagnetic Environments

COMPONENT TECHNOLOGY PRIORITY AREA(S): Advanced Materials;Integrated Sensing and Cyber

PROJECTED CMMC LEVEL REQUIREMENT: Level 2 (Self)

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: Develop, prototype, and demonstrate next-generation radio frequency (RF) photonic front-end technologies that improve the reliability, clarity, and resilience of wireless communications and navigation in high-interference environments. These solutions will leverage advances similar to those used in commercial fiber-optic telecommunications, satellite broadband (e.g., Starlink-class systems), 5G wireless infrastructure, and autonomous vehicle sensor systems to ensure the U.S. Navy maintains assured communications and assured position, navigation, and timing (APNT) during contested maritime operations.

DESCRIPTION: The United States Navy must maintain reliable communications and accurate navigation to operate effectively at sea, coordinate with allies, and ensure freedom of navigation in increasingly complex and contested environments. Modern naval operations depend on uninterrupted wireless communications and precise timing and positioning, much like commercial aviation, autonomous shipping, satellite internet providers, and global logistics companies.

The Navy’s Communications and GPS Navigation Program Office (PMW/A 170) is responsible for delivering resilient and adaptive communications and APNT capabilities to Fleet forces and coalition partners. As commercial technology rapidly advances in areas such as fiber-optic networking, 5G/6G wireless systems, high-speed satellite communications, and advanced sensing platforms, the Navy seeks to harness and adapt these innovations to strengthen maritime mission performance.

The Golden Fleet initiative emphasizes modernizing not only ships, but also the systems that enable command, control, communications, navigation, and situational awareness. Modern Naval operations depend heavily on reliable communications and precise navigation, much like commercial aviation, satellite broadband networks, autonomous systems, and global logistics enterprises. As commercial industries continue to advance technologies that maintain reliable performance in crowded and interference-heavy environments, the Navy seeks to adapt and transition these innovations to strengthen maritime mission resilience.

Naval communications and navigation systems must operate reliably not only in routine conditions, but also in environments where adversaries attempt to disrupt signals or where the radio spectrum is heavily congested. Traditional RF front-end electronics can experience degraded performance or signal loss when exposed to jamming, electromagnetic interference, or strong competing signals. These vulnerabilities can create operational risk and threaten mission continuity in contested electromagnetic environments.

To address these challenges, this Open Topic invites system-level innovations in wideband RF photonic front-end architectures. RF photonics combines radio and optical technologies by using light and fiber-based components to carry, preserve, and condition radio signals with high fidelity. Similar approaches are widely used in commercial fiber-optic communications, high-capacity wireless infrastructure, and precision timing networks to improve signal quality, expand bandwidth, and reduce distortion over long distances. When adapted to Naval RF systems, these technologies offer a promising path to lower noise, improved resistance to interference, wider signal capture, and more reliable signal recovery than conventional electronic front ends.

Proposed solutions may incorporate commercially inspired technologies such as:

• Coherent optical signal processing used in high-speed telecom networks

• Advanced phase-tracking techniques similar to those used in precision satellite navigation and autonomous vehicle localization

• Interference suppression approaches used in dense commercial wireless environments (e.g., stadiums, smart cities, and industrial IoT networks)

• Compact photonic integrated circuits (PICs), similar to those being developed for next-generation data centers and lidar systems

Desired capabilities include systems that:

• Reduce receiver noise without relying on traditional RF amplifiers

• Maintain signal integrity under heavy interference and jamming

• Capture and reconstruct wideband signals with high accuracy

• Automatically detect and remove unknown interference sources

• Support scalable, ruggedized deployment on ships, aircraft, and distributed maritime platforms

• Reduce size, weight, power, and cost while improving survivability

Of particular interest are integrated, fiber-remoted, and packaged front-end modules that can operate reliably in harsh maritime environments, similar to ruggedized telecom and offshore energy communications equipment. Solutions that enable real-time interference excision without prior knowledge of the signal or threat are strongly encouraged.

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 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 NAVWAR 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.

PHASE I: Phase I will explore technical feasibility and different approaches and identify a solution based on the investigation and technical tradeoffs. During Phase I, develop a coherent link architecture addressing the specifications detailed in the Description. Develop a design, chip level layout, and packaging concept for an integrated front end transceiver module. The transceiver should contain at minimum a sub 1V Vp coherent modulator deriving a signal and local oscillator from a remote optical source and a nominal 50 ohm antenna input. The transceiver package should incorporate necessary optical I/O to deliver I and Q signals to the backend. The link architecture should contain polarization management to eliminate the need for polarization maintaining fiber. The expected analog performance of the proposed transceiver should be determined and incorporated in an end-to-end link model to determine the expected performance (e.g. minimum detectable signal, input voltage range, digital sampling rate, operating bandwidth and SFDR) of the digital back end. Analysis of the effects of specific hardware and software innovations to reduce digitization and processing requirements is encouraged.

PHASE II: Phase II should optimize the Phase I design. Create, and test a functioning transceiver front end. Demonstrate a packaged, fiberized transceiver front end suitable for interface to a broadband antenna in a realistic environment. Update the end-to-end link model with the measured performance of the front-end transceiver and optimize the link architecture. Perform a feasibility demonstration of back-end signal recovery. The demonstration does not need to implement the entire planned functionality but should produce quantitative results that can be used to extrapolate the expected link performance with reasonable fidelity. Phase II should include a set of performance specifications for the identified solution and prototype(s). Proposals should also include the use of Systems Engineering Technical Review (SETR) events, plans for testing, demonstration, and validation of the solution within the target Program of Record (PoR) or an equivalent and Government approved development environment. Proposals should also include the development of a strategy or plan for post-Phase II activities to include the development of production representative articles, Formal Qualification Tests (FQT) plans, life-cycle support strategies and concepts, commercialization opportunities, etc.

It is highly likely that the work, prototyping, test, simulation, and validation may become classified in Phase II (see Description for details). However, the proposal for Phase II will be UNCLASSIFIED.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Support the transition of developed technology to the Fleet.

Investigate the dual use of the developed solution(s) for commercial applications. Commercial technology is rapidly advancing in areas such as fiber-optic networking, 5G/6G wireless systems, high-speed satellite communications, and advanced sensing platforms. Commercial aviation, shipping, satellite broadband networks, autonomous systems, and global logistics enterprises depend heavily on reliable communications and precise navigation. There will be many dual uses in the commercial sector for capabilities developed under this topic that maintain reliable performance in crowded and interference-heavy environments for command, control, communications, navigation, and situational awareness.

REFERENCES:

1. Devgan, P. S. (2018). Applications of Modern RF Photonics. Artech House. https://www.worldcat.org/title/applications-of-modern-rf-photonics/oclc/1029482016
2. McKinney, J. D., Godinez, M., Urick, V. J., Thaniyavarn, S., Charczenko, W., & Williams, K. J. (2007). Sub-10-dB noise figure in a multiple-GHz analog optical link. IEEE Photonics technology letters, 19(7), 465-467. https://doi.org/10.1109/LPT.2007.893023
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5. Bhatia, H-F Ting, and M,A, Foster "All-optical multiorder distortion elimination in a phase-modulated microwave photonic link," J. Lightw.Technol. vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 2017
6. McKenna, Timothy P., Jean H. Kalkavage, Thomas R. Clark, Rod B. Waterhouse, and Dalma Novak. "Photonic downconverting link with digital linearization." In 2015 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium, pp. 1-4. IEEE
7. Pei, Yinqing, Jianping Yao, Kun Xu, Jianqiang Li, Yitang Dai, and Jintong Lin. "Advanced DSP Technique for Dynamic Range Improvement of a Phase-Modulation and Coherent-Detection Microwave Photonic Link", 2013 IEEE International Topical Meeting on Microwave Photonics (MWP)
8. National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual (NISP), 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq. (1993). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-32/subtitle-B/chapter-XX/part-2004

KEYWORDS: EMI; jamming; RF photonics; interference; HF; co-channel interference