697DCK-26-RFI-RDPP FINAL.pdf

Sources Sought/RFI | 1

September 2021

SOURCES SOUGHT/REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Notice of Radar Data Pilot Program (RDPP)

1. PURPOSE

This is a Market Survey/Request for Information (RFI) for the Radar Data Pilot Program

(RDPP), made available under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Reauthorization Act of 2024 (Public Law 118-63), Section 905, “Radar Data Pilot

Program.” The RDPP directs the FAA Administrator, in coordination with the Secretary of War, and other heads of relevant Federal agencies, to establish a pilot program to make airspace data feeds containing Sensitive Unclassified Information (SUI) and Controlled

Unclassified Information (CUI) available to qualified users (as determined by the FAA

Administrator). Based on these criteria, the FAA has established policy to implement a collaborative process with U.S. interagency partners. The FAA will coordinate with the

Department of War and other relevant Federal agencies on the RDPP. These interagency partners may participate in FAA’s review to identify qualified users among RDPP interested vendors.

The purpose of this Market Survey/Request for Information is to:

Survey the marketplace to assess the level of interest and identify potential qualified entities and capabilities among applicants seeking airspace data feeds containing SUI and

CUI related to air traffic within the National Airspace System (NAS) to provide and enable Air Traffic Management (ATM) services and Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)

Traffic Management (UTM) services or to test technologies that may enable or enhance the provision of ATM and UTM services.

2. GENERAL INFORMATION

a. This Market Survey/RFI is being issued in accordance with the FAA 49 USC

106(l). Interested parties are advised that:

1. This is not a Screening Information Request (SIR) or Request for Proposal

(RFP). This information will not inform an acquisition or procurement process. This will not result in a procurement contract under the AMS.

2. The FAA is not seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals;

3. The FAA will not pay for any information received or costs incurred in preparing the response to the Market Survey/RFI;

4. Any costs associated with responding to this Market Survey/RFI are incurred

Sources Sought/RFI | 2 solely at the interested party’s expense;

5. The FAA, at its sole discretion, may contact one, some, all, or none of the respondents to the RFI and ask for additional information; and

6. Vendor responses to this Market Survey/RFI and any follow-up inquiries by the Government are for informational purposes only; they do not constitute a promise or obligation of future business with the FAA.

3. BACKGROUND

a. In 2024, Congress directed the FAA to establish a Radar Data Pilot Program to enable qualified users access to radar data feeds for the purpose of enabling ATM and UTM services or testing technologies to enhance these services. As part of this process, the FAA shall continue to consult with representatives of the UAS industry, UAS Test Site entities, and related technical groups to identify an efficient, effective, and secure format and method to provide data under the

RDPP.

b. Access to data feeds will be limited to qualified users that demonstrate the requisite “need to know” and “duty to protect” requirements for SUI and CUI contained in FAA NAS radar data feeds. It should be noted that criteria for “need to know” requires meeting a “lawful government purpose,” which includes a demonstration that access to sensitive, unfiltered FAA NAS radar data will benefit the safety and other essential needs of the NAS. Criteria for “need to know” and

“duty to protect” are cited in Section 4B below. If the FAA decides to enter into an agreement with a U.S. State, Local, Tribal, or Territorial (SLTT) government entity, that entity must enter into a legally-binding Other Transaction Agreement

(OTA) and Interconnection Security Agreement (ISA).

c. Due to cybersecurity requirements, the FAA’s NAS Enterprise Security Gateway

(NESG) must be utilized to facilitate provisioning of FAA NAS radar data feeds.

As such, the data feeds will have no service level agreement regarding data latency or availability, and therefore any provisioning of the data will be constrained to a “best effort” availability basis. Additionally, due to current FAA infrastructure capacity and personnel resource limitations, the FAA anticipates that the RDPP will be limited to no more than three (3) participants.

d. If an SLTT entity is selected for this pilot program, they must meet the requirements in Section 4 of this RFI, including any OTA and ISA requirements, and will be provisioned FAA NAS radar data for a period of time that supports the execution of their Concept of Operations (CONOPs) and at the discretion of the

Sources Sought/RFI | 3

FAA. Each participant will be required to provide a periodic report on the status of their specific efforts involving the use of FAA NAS radar data. This will assist the FAA in formulating the mandatory recurring annual RDPP status report to the appropriate committees of Congress. This RDPP will sunset on October 1, 2028.

Note: Participation in this pilot program does not alleviate an applicant from compliance with the requirements for operating UAS in the NAS contained in the

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and the United States Code (U.S.C.).

4. RDPP ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

Eligible Applicants: Eligible applicants are U.S. SLTT government entities, comprised of legal U.S. residents, who meet requirements for access to FAA NAS radar data feeds containing SUI and CUI. The applicants may have private sector teammates or partners; however, the SLTT agencies participating in the RDPP will be the signatory to the OTA and ISA with the FAA and will be responsible for meeting the terms of those agreements.

Eligibility Criteria: Applicants must:

1. Plan to use FAA NAS radar data to provide and enable ATM and UTM; or test technologies that may enable or enhance ATM and UTM, including activities up to and beyond 400 feet Above Ground Level (AGL). Include any information on relevant experience with related use cases.

2. Provide detailed use-case(s) and CONOPs that clearly describe plans for analyzing the performance of the FAA NAS radar data provided and demonstrate how their efforts contribute to the safe and efficient integration of

UAS and improve aviation safety in the NAS.

3. Demonstrate that access to FAA NAS radar data will meet a lawful government purpose for “need to know,” which includes a benefit to the safety and other essential needs of the NAS.

4. Agree to protect federal SUI and CUI data from unauthorized access and disclosure and abide by handling, storing, and dissemination requirements identified in the OTA and ISA.

5. Provide details describing the technical maturity of their Information

Technology (IT) systems to be used to sustain protection of sensitive FAA

NAS radar data, including the level of IT system preparedness that aligns with

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication

(SP) 800-171, titled Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in

Sources Sought/RFI | 4

Nonfederal Systems and Organizations (as revised).

Note: There is no capability to “filter” sensitive flight data from the FAA NAS radar data feeds and therefore the data will not be permitted to be further shared with any UAS operators outside of each RDPP participant’s secure, NIST SP 800-171 compliant data enclave accessible only by vetted personnel.

6. Demonstrate the ability to comply, or identify steps and timeline to comply prior to participation, with requirements to protect SUI and CUI from unauthorized access and disclosure, pursuant to 32 CFR Part 2002, Controlled

Unclassified Information, 49 CFR Parts 15 and 1520, Protection of Sensitive

Security Information, FAA Order 1600.75, Protecting Sensitive Unclassified

Information, and the OTA and ISA requirements.

7. Agree to arrange for a qualified Third-Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) to conduct a risk assessment of the required cyber, physical, and personnel security controls, including the NIST SP 800-171 requirements as specifically tailored by the FAA, following IT system implementation of the required security controls and prior to receiving any FAA NAS radar data feeds.

8. Agree to restrict the processing, storage, and offline storage of the FAA NAS radar data containing SUI and CUI to physical locations within the U.S., as defined in 49 U.S.C. 40101, and authorize access only to legal U.S. residents with a validated need to access the information to perform necessary functions directly related to RDPP participation.

9. Enter into legally binding agreements, including an OTA and ISA, that set forth specific requirements for the handling and protection of the sensitive

FAA NAS radar data feeds containing SUI and CUI.

10. Agree to subject participating personnel to criminal history records check

(CHRC) and other personnel security vetting requirements that meet established criteria for qualifying applicants under this RDPP to receive FAA

NAS radar data feeds containing SUI and CUI.

Note: The FAA will not pay for any costs incurred to meet the eligibility criteria outlined above.

5. RFI RESPONSE SUBMISSION CONTENT AND INSTRUCTIONS

a. The following instructions apply to the submission of responses to this Market

Survey/RFI:

Sources Sought/RFI | 5

1. Interested SLTT entity applicants are required to submit a completed FAA

Form 1200-5, NAS Data Release Request, available at:

https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Form/FAA_1200-

5_NAS_Data_Release_Request.pdf. While the form provides instructions for completing each section, applicants must ensure specific details are included regarding the following:

a) The specific FAA radar facility identifier(s) they are requesting to receive

FAA NAS radar data from (e.g., KXXX ASR-11), and;

b) Information regarding their current ability or inability to comply with security requirements for processing, storing, and/or transmitting CUI outlined in NIST SP 800-171.

Note: If additional space is required due to constraints of the form, continue entries on a separate blank page and correlate each separate input to specific sections of the form and include it with your submission.

2. Interested SLTT entity applicants are also required to submit a completed

CONOPs document that includes, but is not limited to, the business, goals, and objectives of the activity; a description of the proposed use of the FAA NAS radar data; the specific geographic location and airspace areas for each use case; technical approaches; operating procedures, including whether there are already existing UAS operational waivers or approvals (e.g., Beyond Visual

Line of Sight approvals) or a plan to obtain those approvals; key metrics;

airspace plans; data system descriptions; networks and connections; a data management plan; additional stakeholder relationships (State Department of

Transportation, U.S. Department of War, industry partners, etc.); and test/operation timeline.

3. Any other supporting documentation by email to the FAA.

4. RFI responses must be submitted via electronic mail (e-mail) to the

Contracting Officer, Kristin Frantz at Kristin.T.Frantz@faa.gov and Contract

Specialist, James Nguyen at James.T.Nguyen@faa.gov no later than 3:00 PM

Eastern Time on July 27, 2026.

5. Applicant responses should contain “697DCK-26-RFI-RDPP-RFI Response” in the subject line of the e-mail.

6. Applicant responses should contain the information requested in Section 4 and

Section 5 of this Market Survey/RFI.

7. Files comprising the response to the Market Survey/RFI must not exceed ten https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Form/FAA_1200-5_NAS_Data_Release_Request.pdf https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Form/FAA_1200-5_NAS_Data_Release_Request.pdf mailto:Kristin.T.Frantz@faa.gov mailto:James.T.Nguyen@faa.gov

Sources Sought/RFI | 6

(10) pages in total.

8. Subject to the stated page limit, vendor responses may provide additional feedback regarding the RDPP.

9. Files comprising the response to the RFI must be compatible with Microsoft

Office 365 or be in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. No other form of submission will be accepted.

10. If any of the information submitted is proprietary, the respondent is responsible for marking it accordingly.

11. Submissions must include following information for one or more points of contact for the respondent: name, title, telephone number, and e-mail address.

Note: The Federal Acquisition Regulation references cited in SAM.gov are not applicable to the FAA, as the FAA has its own policies and guidance referenced in the AMS.

Please direct any inquiries regarding this matter to the FAA Contracting Officer, Kristin Frantz via e-mail at Kristin.T.Frantz@faa.gov and Contract Specialist, James

Nguyen at James.T.Nguyen@faa.gov.

6. GOVERNMENT USE OF MARKET SURVEY/RFI RESPONSES

a. The FAA may or may not provide feedback on any of the submitted materials.

The FAA reserves the right to contact any interested SLTT entity applicant about their submission and request additional information.

b. The Government does not intend to release or distribute any of the information contained in the Market Survey/ RFI responses.

c. Responses to this RFI will not be viewed by the FAA as a commitment by the respondents to submit a proposal for any competitive solicitations initiated by the

FAA in relation to the services described in this RFI. However, following the 30-day period after this notice in SAM.gov, the FAA will review all submissions.

Participants must meet all the eligibility criteria elements outlined in Section 4 above.

d. The FAA will also consider a variety of use cases conducted across different types of terrain and airspace areas (e.g., controlled or uncontrolled), and other unique characteristics that would comprise optimal testing scenarios using existing FAA terminal and enroute radar systems which are tuned for conventional air traffic control operations in the NAS. Additional consideration will be given to interested mailto:Kristin.T.Frantz@faa.gov mailto:James.T.Nguyen@faa.gov

Sources Sought/RFI | 7 vendors whose use cases would complement other UAS integration activities or initiatives in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 aimed at testing technologies that may enable or enhance the provision of UTM services.

7. RDPP QUALIFICATION ACTVITIES AND PROCESSES

If the FAA determines it is in its best interest to include up to three SLTT entities in the RDPP pilot program, the FAA may engage and select up to three applicants to participate in the qualification activity and processes. The FAA will then assign a project manager or FAA sponsor to guide each applicant through the RDPP qualification process. This includes, but is not limited to, providing FAA process and policy guidance on development of the required documentation to demonstrate compliance with all required security control measures for safeguarding FAA NAS radar data feeds containing SUI and CUI. Compliance with the security requirements must be achieved prior to receiving any NAS radar data.

a. Additional steps include:

1. The FAA will coordinate with federal interagency representatives from the

Department of War, Department of Homeland Security, Department of

Justice, Department of Energy, and other Federal Departments/Agencies, as necessary, to identify any site-specific Operational Security (OPSEC) concerns and develop Mitigations of Sensitivity Risk (MoSRs) and tailor

Security Control Measures (SCMs) to be applied, as required.

2. RDPP participants must complete all tailored SCMs and coordinate with the

FAA to formulate and ratify the required legal agreements, to include an OTA and ISA.

3. The FAA, in coordination with the Transportation Security Administration, will verify that the RDPP participants meet personnel security screening requirements.

4. The FAA will evaluate the RDPP participants’ compliance with the legal agreements and SCMs using the FAA NAS Data Release Board (NDRB) evaluation process and will develop an NDRB Decision Record to include any deficient items that must be corrected prior to FAA NAS radar data provisioning, in accordance with FAA Order 1200.22, External Release of

National Airspace System (NAS) Data.

5. The FAA will maintain coordination with each RDPP participant receiving

FAA NAS radar data under the RDPP for the duration of their testing to

Sources Sought/RFI | 8 ensure compliance with the provisions, requirements, and conditions of the pilot program guidance herein.

6. If an RDPP participant cannot meet the qualification requirements to receive

FAA NAS radar data feeds containing SUI and CUI for any reason, then the participant will be removed from the pilot program. If it is in the best interest of the FAA, the FAA reserves the right to further engage other SLTT entities that had submitted responses to this RFI.

(End of Announcement)