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DEFENSE CONVERSION More than 2,800 proposals were submitted to the Advanced Research Projects Agency for commercial conversion funds. A decision on fund distribution is expected on September 30. ARPA Accepts, Evaluates Bids Deportment Of Defense Will Soon Award Technology Development Contracts To Maritime Industry To Assist In Commercial Conversion by James R. McCaul, president IMA Associates, Inc. Later this month the Ad-vanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) will award hundreds of contracts to U.S. firms to assist in the transition from the defense to a commercial busi- ness base. ARPA, an agency in the Depart- ment of Defense, is executing the 1992 Congressional mandate to channel billions of dollars into the defense industry for commercial transition assistance. In response to a broad industry announcement last May, thousands of companies have submitted tech- nology development or deployment proposals to ARPA. Included among them are a vari- ety of proposals from shipbuilders, marine machinery manufacturers and other firms active in the U.S. marine industry. Rules called for all proposals to be submitted by July 23, and con- tracts are to be awarded by Septem- ber 30. The activities to be supported are broken into two general areas: • Technology Development - Sup- ports activities to develop technolo- gies that have dual use with defense and commercial applications. • Technology Deployment - Sup- ports activities that help make ex- isting defense-oriented technology accessible to the commercial sector. The following is a summary of the guidance given by ARPA to poten- tial proposers in the shipbuilding industry, (editor's note: the follow- ing was supplied directly from ARPA). The ARPA objective for the Ship- building Industrial Infrastructure is to assist the U.S. shipbuilding industry with the development of technologies, processes and products to become internationally competi- tive; that is, a national shipbuilding infrastructure capable of providing • Technology Reinvestment Project • Development Activities-Statutory Restrictions Funding Required Participants Matching Funds DOD Technical Assistance Critical Technology Partnerships Defense Dual Use $81,9M 2 or more eligi- ble firms or non- profit corp setup by eligible firms 50% Yes Defense Advanced Manufacturing Technology Partnerships $23.5M 2 or more eligi- ble firms or non- profit corp setup by elibible firms 50% Yes Commercial-Military Integration Partnerships $42.1 M 1 or more eligi- ble firms or non- profit corp setup by eligible firms 50%/60% 70%/70% Yes (incl. in Fed. Contribution) Regional Technology Alliances Assistance Program $90.5M 1 or more eligi- ble firms in a re- gion, and state or local gov't sponsorship 50% Yes September, 1993 23
