Air Operations Support Contract - Sources Sought Notice (SSN).pdf

Federal Emergency Management Agency Response Directorate: Air Operations Support Contract

Sources Sought Notice: 70FB7027I00000002

INTRODUCTION

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE (SSN) ONLY.

This Sources Sought Notice (SSN) is issued solely for information and market research planning purposes; it does not constitute a solicitation or a promise to issue a solicitation. Furthermore, those who respond to this SSN should not anticipate feedback with regards to its submission;

other than acknowledgment of receipt – ONLY IF a request for an acknowledgement is requested by the submitter. This SSN does not commit the government to contract for any supply or service. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is not seeking proposals at this time. Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay any costs incurred in response to this SSN. All costs associated with responding to this SSN will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this SSN does not preclude participation in any future solicitation.

The information provided in this SSN is subject to change and is not binding on the government. All submissions become the property of the federal government and will not be returned.

Any information that the vendor considers proprietary should be clearly marked as such.

1. Background:

Summary: The mission of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is to help people before, during, and after disasters. To fulfill this statutory mission under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Public Law 93-288, as amended), FEMA executes programs via steady state and emergency activities to protect the nation from all hazards— including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and major technological emergencies.

Maintaining proactive operational readiness requires the continuous capability to transport senior officials, emergency response teams, and mission-critical equipment without delay. During declared and undeclared emergencies, FEMA serves as the lead agency coordinating core federal operational response capabilities to save lives, prevent suffering, and protect critical infrastructure.

A contracted, dedicated, and immediately available air transportation and ground support mechanism is essential to support these time-sensitive federal response mandates.

FEMA SSN –

70FB7027I00000002

a. Current State: Requesting Information for a potential requirement only.

b. Requirement:

• Seeking two identically configured Challenger 650 aircraft that provide fleet redundancy and concurrent operating capability.

• Aircraft must comply with Part 91/Public Aircraft Operations construct for eligible governmental missions.

• Seeking availability of at least one aircraft within three weeks after contract award and availability of the second aircraft by early December 2026.

• Contractor shall ensure readiness capabilities consisting of on-call strategic special mission aviation service, available on a continuous 24-hours-per-day, 7-days-per-week, 365 days a year (24/7/365), for operational footing across the Continental United States (CONUS) and Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS), including U.S. territories and commonwealths (United States Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Alaska, and Hawaii).

• Strategic special mission air service shall be available for non-disaster and disaster related flights.

• Contractor shall provide how much notice is needed to identify sufficient pilots, crews, and technical personnel to support a contracted flight.

• Departure Point: Government approved basing within the National Capital Region (NCR) including Washington-Manassas Airport. Final designated departure Fixed Based Operator (FBO or designated commercial/military/regional airfields shall be approved by FEMA.

• Arrival Point(s): Destination FBOs or designated commercial/military/regional airfields across CONUS and OCONUS will be specified upon flight request.

• Aircraft must contain Sensor Miniaturization and Hybrid Payloads:

· System shall provide MX-20 integration and multispectral, infrared (IR), and electro-optical (EO) cameras in a single, compact turret.

· The system shall be capable of rapid deployment into disaster impact zones to:

Generate wide-area infrastructure damage assessments.

Facilitate survivor search and identification efforts in complex rubble and flood environments.

Assist incident command teams in safely routing ground rescue personnel past hazards.

· The system shall include modular, podded, or roll-on/roll-off mission suites (as opposed to a permanent structured suite).

· The contractor shall ensure experienced personnel capable of supporting MX-20, IR/EO capabilities.

• System shall support secure communications such as in-flight communications and telecommunication systems, high availability satellite communications (SATCOM), end-to-end cryptographic security and FIPS compliance, and executive voice and emergency command link.

• System shall be able to support onboard edge computing to process raw sensor data mid-flight. System must ensure capability with appropriate connectivity (such as Starlink/Starshield based or equivalent architectures) to transmit processed damage-assessment maps and survivor coordinates.

• Contractor shall provide payload for passengers, baggage, fuel, Government Furnished Equipment, and mission equipment.

2. Purpose of this SSN:

a. To determine industry capabilities for providing Air Operations Support to FEMA.

b. To determine industry capability to provide aircraft and services outlined in Section

1.b.

3. Sources Sought Notice (SSN) Questions:

a. Company Information:

i. Please state if your company is an owner, broker, vendor, or any combination thereof, for aircraft?

ii. Provide any GSA or Government-Wide Contracts that you hold and may provide the aircraft and services outlined in Section 1.b?

iii. Does your company maintain its own inventory of aircraft? If yes, what types do you maintain?

What are the locations of your aircraft?

What is the quantity and type of aircraft by location?

iv. Does your organization have the capability to provide aircraft meeting the requirements described Section 1.b? Specifically, please identify:

Whether any proposed aircraft are equipped with secure communications capabilities;

Whether any proposed aircraft are equipped with MX-20, IR/EO, technology; and

Whether any proposed aircraft possess both secure communications capabilities and MX-20, IR/EO technology.

b. Cost Information

i. Do you have commercially available pricing for the various types of services, to include owner, vendor, or broker?

ii. Do you have commercially available pricing for the aircraft and services outlined in the requirement?

iii. Identify pricing for fixed aircraft/readiness service, flight hour utilization, communications and sensor support, GFE integration, positioning, fuel, airport charges, deployment travel, and other variable costs.

iv. Do you have commercially available pricing for annual fleet-hours and staffing?

c. Miscellaneous Information

i. Is there any additional information not specifically requested in this questionnaire that is particular to your services or inventory?

ii. Does your company comply with all FAA and environmental regulations?

4. SSN Response Format:

In order to better assist in the review of submittals to this SSN, respondents are encouraged to prepare a capabilities statement that closely adheres to the following format:

The document format shall be either Microsoft Word (doc or .docx), or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) formats. Responses shall be prepared using 12 pt. font, 1-inch margins, and 8.5” by 11” paper and shall not exceed ten (10) pages in length, including images, data displays, charts, graphs, and tables.

Respondents are encouraged to ensure that their submittals are complete and address all items outlined within this SSN. Respondents may provide additional promotional literature in addition to their response as long as the literature conforms to the response format.

Submissions in response to this SSN shall not exceed 10 pages.

Response Deadline and Point of Contact Information:

FEMA will only give consideration to submissions in response to this notice that are in the form of Microsoft Word and/or PDF (searchable format) documents attached to emails received no later than 10/19/2026 at 12:00PM ET to Contracting Officer Kimberly Coakley:

Kimberly.Coakley@fema.dhs.gov. The SSN# 70FB7027I00000002 must be included in the subject line of the email.

Interested parties are requested to submit a statement of capability outlining past work that is related to this requirement. The statement of capability shall also include the information listed below:

1) Company Name/Division, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone, FAX numbers, and website address (if available).

2) Single point-of-contact name, title, telephone, and email address.

3) Unique Entity ID (UEI) number, CAGE Code, Tax Identification Number (TIN), and company structure (Corporation, LLC, partnership, joint venture, etc.). Please note that companies must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) to be considered potential sources (https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/).

4) A statement addressing whether the company has an accounting system that has been mailto:Kimberly.Coakley@fema.dhs.gov http://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/) determined adequate by DCAA or another cognizant audit agency for purposes of performing work on a federal government cost type contract.

5) A statement addressing whether the company has a property management system that has been determined acceptable for use on a federal government contract.

6) Applicable NAICS code under which the company customarily does business.

7) Business size for NAICS Codes 481219 and socio-economic status, if qualified as one or more of the following:

a) 8(a) firm (must be certified by SBA)

b) Small Disadvantaged Business (must be certified by SBA)

c) Woman-Owned Small Business

d) HUBZone firm (must be certified by SBA)

e) Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (must be listed in the VetBiz Vendor

Information pages)

8) If a teaming arrangement is contemplated, discuss potential team members.

9) A description of the firm’s ability to perform the work and any other information you believe to be important and germane for the purposes of this SSN.

The responses received will assist FEMA with identifying the number and nature of the entities that consider themselves feasible technical solution providers, as well as any teaming arrangements that may evolve as a result of this requirement.

Each respondent, by submitting a response, agrees that any cost incurred by it in responding to this request, or in support of activities associated with this SSN, shall be the sole responsibility of respondent. FEMA shall incur no obligations or liabilities whatsoever, to anyone, for any costs or expenses incurred by the respondent in responding to this SSN. Responses to this SSN will not be returned.

5. Industry Discussions

Some respondents may be asked to provide additional information regarding the matters addressed in this SSN. Those respondents will be contacted directly if there is a need for further information.

6. Questions

Respondents may submit questions regarding this SSN to the contact(s) listed below. Please send any questions you may have to the Contracting Officer, Kimberly Coakley:

Kimberly.Coakley@fema.dhs.gov. Each question shall provide the section and page number of the particular item being referred to in this SSN. The SSN# 70FB7027I00000002 must be included in the subject line of the email.

mailto:Kimberly.Coakley@fema.dhs.gov