Air Force Plans $1B ACT 3 Contract Vehicle for Cybersecurity Advancements

The U.S. Air Force has announced the third iteration of its Agile Cyber Technology (ACT) contract vehicle at an approximate value of $1 billion, open to small businesses, FedScoop reported Thursday.

“In order to receive from Industry the most novel and innovative approaches to solving user needs, it is anticipated that 4 to 6 Prime contractors are necessary under ACT 3,” the notice said. “Large Businesses are still encouraged to partner with SB.”

The Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) recently published a pre-solicitation notice for the ACT 3 contract, noting that it will expedite cybersecurity research and development.

Under ACT 3, AFRL has requested a variety of technologies to enhance federal cybersecurity capabilities, including cyber threat avoidance, full-spectrum cyber operations, network exploitation and situational and mission awareness technologies. Contractor my deliver solutions in the form of hardware, software, technical documentation and technical reports. 

The Air Force will also contract technology to help it achieve mission success are cyber command and control, wargaming and cyber infrastructure. The ACT 2 contract was awarded to five small businesses.

ACT 2 was a five-year, $950 million dollar ceiling, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle to research, develop, and integrate cyber solutions to address emerging requirements for the Air Force and its mission partners.

Under ACT 2, the companies were contracted to conduct rapid development, design, prototyping, demonstration, scenario development, experimentation and evaluation, integration, testing, technical installation, and transition of cyber technologies. 

These technology focus areas include: cyber threat avoidance and cyber defense; full spectrum cyber operations; cyber network exploitation; cyber situational and mission awareness; cyber infrastructure; cyber command and control; information network modeling, simulation, and war-gaming; and cyber mission assurance.

“A review of the previous market research under ACT and ACT 2 in addition to the ongoing market research throughout the current contract has provided adequate justification for ACT 3 to be a total [small business set-aside],” the notice stated.

An initial draft request for proposals is expected to be posted in early August. The notice has stated that that contractors would need top-security clearances.