| Location: | Maryland |
|---|---|
| Posted: | Nov 12, 2026 |
| Due: | Dec 10, 2026 |
| Agency: | DEPT OF DEFENSE |
| Type of Government: | Federal |
| Category: | |
| Solicitation No: | W15P7T-27-R-DIGIF |
| Publication URL: | To access bid details, please log in. |
APEX Accelerators are an official government contracting resource for small businesses. Find your local APEX Accelerator (opens in new window) for free government expertise related to contract opportunities.
APEX Accelerators are funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the Department of Defense.
The APEX Accelerators program was formerly known as the Procurement Technical Assistance Program (opens in new window) (PTAP).
As of today, Thursday, 11 November 2026, this Call for Solutions is Amended under No. 0002 to incorporate the questsion and comments submitted to APG and the government's responses. Additionally attached is a red-lined document showing all changes to the Call for Solutions as well as a clean version of the CfS incorporating all changes. No extension to the due date for solution submissions within this CfS are offered at this time.
Capability Program Executive Command and Control Information Network (CPE C2IN) Commercial Solution Opening (CSO)
Call for Solutions (CfS) for
Product Manager Wideband Enterprise Satellite Systems (PdM WESS)
Commercial Digital Intermediate Frequency Subsystem (DIFS)
under the
Army Open Solicitation (AOS) Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO)
Project Office/Customer
Product Manager Wideband Enterprise Satellite Systems (PdM WESS)
Contracting Activity
Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving
Ground (ACC-APG)
CSO Number
Army Open Solicitation (AOS) - W9128Z-25-S-A002
Call for Solution Title
Commercial Digital Intermediate Frequency Subsystem (DIFS) under the Army Open Solicitation (AOS)
Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO)
Contracting Points of Contact
Contracting Officer: Licinda Peters
Email: licinda.m.peters.civ@army.mil
Contract Specialist: Keith Magaw
Email: keith.a.magaw.civ@army.mil
Questions Due Date/Time
05 November 2026 at noon Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Solution Brief Due Date/Time
10 December 2026 at noon Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Submit Solution Brief Via
Sam.gov and AOS
Controlled by U.S. Army
Controlled by: PdM WESS
CUI Category: Operations Security (OPSEC)
Limited Dissemination Control: FEDCON
POC: licinda.m.peters.civ@army.mil
SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION
Product Manager Wideband Enterprise Satellite Systems (PdM WESS) is seeking solutions for a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Digital Intermediate Frequency (IF) system to satisfy the requirements for Increment 1 of this modernization effort. The current legacy analog infrastructure limits scalability, resilience, and interoperability. Under this Call for Solutions, the selected vendor will deliver, integrate, install, and acceptance-test a flexible, open-standard, modular Digital IF solution across up to twenty (20) worldwide satellite communications (SATCOM) teleport sites. Increment 1 will establish a fully operational baseline designed to support subsequent capability upgrades and integrations in future fiscal years.
SECTION 2 – REQUIREMENT DESCRIPTION
Area of Interest: Modular Digital Intermediate Frequency Solutions for Next-Generation SATCOM Teleports
Background & Operational Context
Current Department of War (DoW) satellite communications (SATCOM) ground infrastructure relies heavily on legacy L-Band Intermediate Frequency (IF) distribution systems. These analog-hardware-bound architectures limit flexibility, inhibit rapid tech insertion, and create single points of failure across global teleport infrastructures. To counter emerging near-peer threats in dynamic operational environments, the warfighter requires highly resilient, agile, and rapidly scalable SATCOM.
The Problem
The legacy L-Band architecture fails to offer the ability to dynamically route or transport Radio Frequency (RF) signals over DoW Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This lack of flexibility inhibits the resilience of geostationary earth orbit (GEO) SATCOM operations. To transition to a modern, flexible, software-defined ground segment, the DoW requires an open-standard Digital IF architecture. However, before committing to a full-scale global deployment, the DoW must validate the operation, interoperability, security, and performance of these modular commercial solutions in a rigorous representative environment.
Technical Objective & Scope
The DoW seeks a commercial solution for an Increment 1 Digital IF capability set built on a flexible, open standard (e.g., Digital Intermediate Frequency Interoperability compliant), modular architecture. The selected solution will undergo standard site acceptance testing and operational verification to confirm compliance with contract performance requirements and site compatibility. Upon successful acceptance, this operational configuration will serve as the standardized baseline for deployment and installation across up to twenty (20) worldwide SATCOM teleport sites.
Mission Impact
Successful validation and deployment of this flexible open-standard Digital IF architecture will directly enhance warfighter lethality and survivability by delivering a highly resilient, agile, and survivable GEO-SATCOM capability which rapidly adapts to contested/congested environments.
The scope of this effort is to acquire, integrate, test, and field a commercially available or commercial-derivative Digital IF suite, and to operationalize it within existing DoW Teleports. The subsystem shall demonstrate the core capability to digitize analog L-band satellite signals, transport them over a high-speed digital network, and convert them back to analog signals, while handling native digital IF traffic from modems. The subsystem shall leverage mature commercial solutions with an emphasis on automation, reliability, and adherence to open standards, for example, the IEEE-ISTO Std 4900-2021 (DIFI) standard.
The offeror shall propose a commercial solution that achieves the following high-level technical objectives, aligned with the core characteristics of the DoW modernization framework:
The Government will consider commercial solution approaches and vendors that fall along a spectrum of technological maturity, from capabilities that may require some further development to those that are fully commercialized and currently fielded.
The primary deliverable is a Full-Scale Engineering Development (FSED) DIFS (First Article) that successfully meets the objectives in Section 3.0, followed by optional production units. Associated deliverables include:
This acquisition is conducted under the Army Open Solutions (AOS) to identify and procure mature, commercially available technologies using Other Procurement, Army (OPA) funds. The Government's objective is to verify a c, followed by the immediate execution of priced contract options for the procurement, installation, and sustainment of production-ready subsystems at up to twenty (20) or more DoW Teleports and strategic gateway sites worldwide.
The offeror shall propose a streamlined schedule based on commercial product availability and rapid verification milestones:
SECTION 3 – SUBMISSION AND SELECTION
Selection of awardee is planned to be conducted using a three (3) step approach: Step 1 – Request for Solution Briefs, Step 2 – Pitch Session and/or Vendor Technical Demonstration (PS/VTD) and Step 3 – Proposal Submission.
A multi-disciplined working group of technical experts will evaluate the solution Briefs on their own technical merit and not against other solutions. Solution Briefs, and Pitches and/or Demos will be evaluated based on adherence to the following submission and evaluation criteria.
Parties with innovative solutions interested in being considered for this Digital IF solution shall submit a Solution Brief for review, prior to submission of a formal proposal. Solution Briefs that do not meet the requirements in this Call will not be considered. At the Government’s discretion, fully mature solutions, partial solutions, or solutions that are not commercially ready may either be awarded an Other Transaction (OT) to further mature the solution or retained in a library for three (3) months to be considered for contract or OT award at a later time. Not all fully matured solutions will be awarded a contract, nor will all partially mature or solutions that are not commercially available be given an OT award.
The commercial solutions described in the solution Brief must clearly articulate relevancy to the technical objectives described in this Call, with a specific focus on delivering commercial capabilities to achieve objectives.
No information submitted by an interested party in response to this Call will be returned. Submission of Solution Briefs shall adhere to the following general guidelines:
The Solution Brief shall address the following requirements/information:
OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION
SOLUTION BRIEF DUE DATE/TIME
Questions are due 05 November 2026 at noon Eastern Standard Time (EST) via email to Mr. Eric Belle, Project Management Specialist at eric.k.belle.civ@army.mil, Mr. Keith Magaw, Contract Specialist at keith.a.magaw.civ@army.mil, and Licinda M Peters, Contracting Officer at licinda.m.peters.civ@army.mil. Respondents who submit questions in response to the CfS, are requested to use “ACC-APG Digital IF CfS_ Questions Template_Attch 0001.” The completed question template should be attached to the email as an Excel document.
This Call will remain open for no more than forty-five (45) days from the original posting. The due date for solution-Briefs submitted in response to this Call is no later than 10 December 2026. Solution Briefs received after the due date and time will not be considered for selection.
SUBMISSION METHOD (UNCLASSFIED ONLY)
In addition to soliciting SAM.Gov, the Digital IF effort utilizes AOS for the posting of Calls. Please submit your solution responses for the above requested information in PDF or Microsoft Word format no later than (NLT) Noon EST on 10 December 2026 to Mr. Eric Belle, Project Management Specialist at eric.k.belle.civ@army.mil, Mr. Keith Magaw, Contract Specialist at keith.a.magaw.civ@army.mil, and Licinda M Peters, Contracting Officer at licinda.m.peters.civ@army.mil.
SOLUTION BRIEF EVALUATION CRITERIA (listed in priority order)
Notice to offerors: The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools may be used during evaluations. Any AI tools utilized by the Government will be employed in a manner consistent with applicable regulations that govern the protection of proprietary and source selection sensitive information. No proposal data will be transmitted to or processed by external, non-Government systems without appropriate safeguards and authorizations in place.
Based on the results of the Step 1 evaluation, a Vendor will either receive a non-selection letter from the Contracting Officer providing a short summary of why the solution-brief was not selected, a notice of inclusion into the library, or an invitation to continue to the next step. Since CPE C2IN only requests minimal information from a Vendor at this initial stage (and not a full proposal), we generally will not provide significant feedback beyond the letter.
The pitch session will allow selected companies from Step 1 to provide detailed information on their proposed solution. In-person pitch sessions will be held in an unclassified setting at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. If selected for an in-person pitch session (limited to 90 minutes with an additional 30-minute question and answer segment), each vendor will also conduct a VTD on the same day as the pitch session (limited to 1 hour to showcase subsystem capabilities. Vendors selected for a VTD will be given detailed testing information and requirements closer to the date of testing.
The purpose of the VTD is to validate the information provided during the in-person vendor pitch session and give Army stakeholders an opportunity to witness the vendor subsystems’ capability performance within a controlled laboratory environment.
The Government may bypass Step 2 and move a Vendor(s) into Step 3, based on the information provided in the Step 1 Brief.
3.4 STEP 3: PROPOSAL
The Government will engage in collaborative discussions regarding the statement of work (SOW) with a Vendor who is invited to Step 3. During this process, the Government team and the Vendor team can discuss requirements, exchange ideas, share drafts of the proposal and SOW, and collaborate until a mutually beneficial SOW is agreed upon. Upon completion of discussions/collaboration, the Government may issue a Request for Proposal (“RFP”) to the Vendor selected. The RFP will have specific guidelines. Chiefly, Vendors must submit a technical volume, an updated SOW (if required), and a detailed price breakdown as it relates to the SOW.
USE OF NON-GOVERNMENT ADVISORS
Vendors are advised that data included in solution-briefs and technical/cost proposals submitted to the Government in response to this CSO Call may be released to support contractors or Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) personnel for review and analysis. Any such personnel will serve in an advisory capacity only to the Government evaluators and will provide the CPE C2IN with independent review and analysis of technical matters and on accomplishment of objectives, tasks, and deliverables as proposed or required.
All Government and non-government participants in the review process are required to execute government nondisclosure agreements and personal/organizational statements of financial interest, as appropriate. By submission, Vendors agree that their material may be reviewed by support contractors.
SECTION 4 – AWARDS
The Government intends to award one FAR Part 12 commercial contract as a result of this Call for Solutions. The Government may also award an Other Transaction Authority (OTA(s)) as a result of a Vendor(s) submission(s).
The selection of a Vendor for an award will be based on the relevance of their proposed solutions to meet the Government’s requirements, the maturity of their offerings, and their demonstrated ability to produce and sustain their capabilities. New and updated white papers will be accepted for the entire period the CSO Call is open. The estimated award timeline is first quarter of 2027.

With GovernmentContracts, you can:
Follow Drug Demand Reduction Program (DDRP) Active Contract Opportunity Notice ID W50S8227QA002 Related
DEPT OF DEFENSE
Bid Due: 11/20/2026
Installation of New Bus Shelters & Associated Site Improvements Department: Finance & Administration
City of Gaithersburg
Bid Due: 12/09/2026
ID: BPM055432 Title: Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) water Filtration Systems Status: Open Due
State Government of Maryland
Bid Due: 11/30/2026
Follow VALVES Active Contract Opportunity Notice ID 70Z04027Q60515Y00 Related Notice Department/Ind. Agency HOMELAND
HOMELAND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF
Bid Due: 11/16/2026