QNA_ FSN 8.15.2025_REVISED.pdf

FLIGHT SCOOL NEXT (FSN) PROGRAM

Question Response

Do Prime offerors have the ability to propose more than one solution through multiple submissions? (i.e. multiple submissions with varying solutions?

Yes. Prime offerors have the ability to propose more than one solution. Each submission must be separately submitted.

When is the due date of AoI Solutions briefs? Thank you for the question. The Phase 1 Response to the Call for Solutions is the Quad Chart and Solutions Brief. This is currently due on 31 OCTOBER 2025.

Since the proposed aircraft directly drives numerous aspects of the overall solution such as logistics/sustainment plans, staffing/workforce size, and viable simulation options, request the Government clarify that offerors are to propose a specific rotary wing airframe, instead of a vague, non-committal offering as part of the initial submission.

The government does not prefer nor recommend a specific helicopter. The general airframe requirements and the performance of specific training tasks is the criteria for industry to consider.

The proposal must include the model(s) of aircraft that are being proposed and the USG will evaluate the aircraft based on technical and logistical merit.

The C4S notes the model of aircraft to be provided. Can offerors propose a mix of different aircraft to meet the training requirements and not a single model type series? (i.e. Helicopter A for Primary/Instruments Phases and Helicopter B for Tactical Flight Training?

The government is currently open to solutions that propose a mixed fleet. Helicopters must be able to perform all aspects of the flight tasks associated with the phase of training.

For Phase I Slides, does the Government want offerors to include the two

(2) quad charts within the briefing as part of our 10 slides or can the Government-requested topics be allocated across the 10 slide maximum?

Thank you for the question. The Government intends to remove the Executive Summary allowance and limit the Solution Brief to maximum of 5 pages. The title page does not count towards the page limit. In addition, the Government intends to limit the quad charts to 1 page because the quad charts are being simplified.

I’ve submitted questions but am not seeing them or their answers on any of the Flight School Next postings. Also, I asked which posting is the actual live one but haven’t heard back or seen that answer posted either. I do get notifications of changes from SAM.gov but I haven’t actually seen any changes to documents or Q/A. So, is there one specific Record ID I should be watching? Why are there three Record ID for Flight School Nex?

Thanks for your question. If you execute a search for “Flight School Next”, there should only be 2 entries for “Flight School Next”. 1. PANRSA-25-P-0000-006131 is the CSO and 2. W9113M-25- S-C006-0001 is the Call for Solutions. Updates to #1 will be occurring this week.

Section 5, Price Volume appears to be missing a paragraph 1. Can we assume that the government will provide guidance on what detail is expected for the Pricing Narrative?

2. W9113M-25-S-C006-0001 is the Call for Solutions. Updates to #1 will be occurring this week.

Could the US Army confirm that the de-ice requirement applies to inadvertent flight into icing and that engine inlet heating and a heated pitot tube meet the intent?

The final anti-icing requirements will be posted in the final call for solutions. Blade de-ice will not be required.

Will the US Army mandate Aviation Life Support Equipment (ALSE) requirements for contractor flight instructors such as Nomex flight suits, flight boots, gloves, survival vest, helmets? Additionally, will the US Army be providing the ALSE for all students?

It depends. The answer to this question, with regards to ALSE equipment is very much dependent on whether or not the Contracting Officer invokes the GFRC (Ground Flight Risk Clause). If the GFRC is in place, then procedures will be in accordance with appendix 3a of the DCMA 8210-1D (AR 95-20) and will be in accordance with service guidance. If the GFRC is not in place, addressing Aircrew Flight Equipment will not be a required COCO procedure, in accordance with appendix 9a.

As far as the students, the government will provide all students with the ALSE equipment in accordance with service guidance, whether the GFRC is in place or not. The government will most likely provide ALSE to the contractor if required as well.

Attachment 1 Statement of Objectives, Section 6 – Performance Objectives – Helicopter requirements and on Page 13 of SOO Attachment 2, Line 1 of the C4S (Draft) states that the aircraft must be single engine for all three phases. In previous Q&A (Nov 2024) the government stated that dual engine solutions were not excluded. Is it the government’s position that solution including a dual engine aircraft would be non-compliant?

The government is evaluating a final decision on dual engine aircraft and GOCO as a potential solution. Final determinations will be posted prior to the Final call for solutions.

Is a ROM still required and if so what is the specific period of performance and scope that you are looking for? With the proposed transition plan what would be the facility transition plan for each of the years? How and when will the facilities be transitioned from the incumbent contractor to the FSN awardee. The list of GFE space was provided in the Draft C4S FSN 7.10.2025; however, there is not a list of GSE (e.g. tooling, hydraulic carts, maintenance stands). When will a complete list of GFE GSE be available?

This information is needed to estimate costs for stand-up of maintenance if some items are not available. Are all the tools in the tool room currently owned by the USG or contractor? Is the US government responsible for the upkeep and licensing on all ground support equipment?

Will the contractor have access to compass rose? Will all the current classroom furnishings and electronics be maintained and be available for contract use? Is internet infrastructure provided to the contractor to use?

Who is responsible to pay for the cost of fuel? From previous RFI response, it stated fuel would be charged at current DLA rate ($4/gal); however, government charge cards are used offsite. Will there be a reconciliation for offsite charges and airfield / stagefield fuel. If so, how will this be charged to the contractor? Would the Army be open to a separate Cost Plus contract to support the fuel cost since there is a request for surge capability +/- 250 students which needs to be accounted for in contractor pricing (could fluctuate significantly)? Does the FY26 NDAA language (Sec

344) change the Army’s overall plan / approach for Flight School Next? At a minimum, what schedule changes do you anticipate? While operating a non-government owned aircraft at Cairns AAF, will the contractor fall under the oversite of ACLC? Will the services contract include a Ground Flight Risk Clause (GFRC)? If the Ground Flight Risk Clause (GFRC) is not included in the services contract, will Flight Operation Procedures and Ground Operation Procedures be required? Will the contractor be required to provide a flight and ground operating plan? If so, will the government provide the current flight and ground operation plan?

The ROM and other requirements, transition plan, and GFE/GFP, will be outlined in the final Call for Solutions. There should not be any reason why the contractor would not have access to the compass rose for compass calibrations. The government is re-evaluating providing fuel for contract related requirements. The FY26 approved NDAA has not been published. There will most likely be an element of government QA for maintenance. The government is still evaluating the use of a GFRC. The contractor will most likely be required to provide a flight and ground operating plan. The current flight and ground operating plan will not be provided.

Do the following Frequency Bands satisfy the requirement for UHF-AM, VHF-AM (both military and civilian banded freq's) and VHF-FM? Air Band : 118 to 156 MHz, Low Band FM : 30 – 50 MHz, VOR Voice AM : 107-117. 9 MHz, Military UHF-AM : 225 – 400 MHz

The government is compiling a complete list of frequency bands used in the local flying area that will be published with the final Call for Solutions.

When can Industry expect to see the FSN Industry Day slides posted to SAM.gov? Thank you.

CSO & C4S Pre-Solution Brief slides were posted to SAM.gov on 8/15/2025.

SOO Attachment 2, Key System Attribute for Anti-Ice/De-Ice establishes a production threshold of “trace/light ice capable”. Considering that demonstrating compliance to this performance attribute is problematic for any commercial helicopter not designed for or intended to be utilized in prolonged icing conditions, shall we conclude that an aircraft which meets the requirements set forth in 14 CFR, Part 27--Airworthiness Standards: Normal Category Rotorcraft, Section 1093 Induction system icing protection and Part 33--Airworthiness Standards: Aircraft Engines, Section 68 Induction system icing satisfies the threshold requirement?

Thank you for the question. Based on feedback from industry, the government is reconsidering the necessity of this requirement and will provide greater clarification in a future response.

At Merryman sim building, what are the interior dimensions of the space where the two simulators are currently located? Does the government have other space that could additionally be utilized for simulators?

Dimensions of the Merryman sim building will be made available in a later response. At this time, there is no other space available for simulators.

What equipment/tools in the hangars and classrooms will be available for contractor use. Will that equipment be GO/CO, GO/GO?

The finalized list of available GFE and GFP will be included as part of the final CSO and Call for Solutions.

Will the contractor fall under AR95-1 or the FARs. This is for planning purposes in both maintenance and training paperwork requirements.

The government is still evaluating the pros and cons of invoking the GFRC. While the aircraft will be designated public use, other requirements under AR 95-1 are still being evaluated.

Is the expectation to be at 25% BY day 1 year 1. Or jump from 0% to 25% on day 1 year 1. Ie. Starting at a lower percent prior to day 1 year 1, and slow build to 25% before that date.

The expectation is that the entire 1st year under contract, the Prime and teams will be preparing. There will not be any student training during the 1st year under contracting;

however, starting DAY 1 of the 2nd year of the contract, at a MINIMUM, the FSN Prime will be expected to train 1 of every 4 classes of IERW. The government is pursuing any and all solutions that meet that objective.

May we assume that there will be additional Q&A periods at a later date (post 31 Oct) for those companies invited for Phase II, Phase III, and Phase IV – each Q&A period allowing focus on those submissions per Phase?

Yes, the Government will allow for a Q&A period at the initiation of each Phase. Dates TBD.

(Reference C4S, Attachment 2, pg 29-30) For the Phase I submission (C4S, Attachment 2) may we assume that you intend for industry to submit a: (1) 5-page Solution Brief (MS Word) (2) The instructions also refer to a Solution Brief Executive Summary – is this 5-page paper to include an Executive Summary, or is the Executive Summary to be in addition to the 5-page Solution Brief? (3) The instructions say this is not included in the 2-page written limit. We find no 2-page limit. Is this intended to be calling out the Executive Summary of the Solution Brief, and the Executive Summary is NOT included in the 5-page limit? Please clarify

Thank you for the question. The Government intends to remove the Executive Summary allowance and limit the Solution Brief to maximum of 5 pages. The title page does not count towards the page limit. In addition, the Government intends to limit the quad charts to 1 page because the quad charts are being simplified.

Question #2: The recent Call for Solutions (Draft) does not include any language with respect to the use of Government Owned, Contractor Operated solutions. Previously, the Government had stated that this would be an option. Is the Government excluding any GOCO solution?

The Chief of Staff of the Army has given approval for AVCOE to proceed with COCO solution. At this time, the AVCOE and ACC teams are following this direction.

Question #1: Attachment 1 Statement of Objectives, Section 6 – Performance Objectives – Helicopter requirements and on Page 13 of SOO Attachment 2, Line 1 of the C4S (Draft) states that the aircraft must be single engine for all three phases. In previous Q&A (Nov 2024) the government stated that dual engine solutions were not excluded. Is it the Government’s position that a solution including a dual engine aircraft would be considered non-compliant?

The government is currently considering the engine number limitation. Further research is required.

Current military flight training is exempt from FAR part 121/135 requirements and FAA certifications. Are there any future requirements to become FAA compliant?

No. Phase I & II tasks were written to be similar (not equivalent) to FAA requirements. Currently, there are no plans for the training to become FAA compliant.

Is there any incumbent/recompete or this is a brand-new project? If yes, could you please provide us with their award number or even if the customer bought similar services in the past.

The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence has been operating from Fort Rucker for over 50 years teaching and training the best helicopter aviators in the World. Flight School Next (FSN) is an evolutionary leap forward in the contractual order and operational organization of the flight school and the services that support it. Thus, while there is an incumbent for flight school aviation training, this is a brand-new approach and FSN is a new project that the U.S. Army has never attempted before.

Can you please advise on the USG’s targets/goals for subcontracting for Flight School Next (W9113M-25-S-C006)?

The FY 25 DoD Subcontracting Goals are public information and are adjusted annually.

LINK: https://business.defense.gov/About/Goals-and-Performance/

Will the current library and program of instruction / curriculum be available to offerors before the proposal due date?

No. We seek innovative solutions/training programs based on the requirements provided (flight hours, academic topics, flight tasks, etc.), not a version of the current program of instruction.

Will TRADOC be required to sign off on the instruction? If so, are there restrictions on TRADOC sign off prior to execution? How does the offeror amend or update programs of instruction without access to TRADOC requirements

It is likely that the government will have to sign off on the instruction to some extent.

The degree to which this will occur is unknown at this time. The contractor will be responsible for the development of all training material. The government will be responsible for inputting data into the current Army training development system of record (if required). The contractor will be responsible for providing updates to the government.

We attempted but are unable to open the attachment file called “DRAFT_C4S_FSN_7.10.2025 Master.pdf”. The document appears to be encrypted, and we do not appear to have the required permissions to open the file.

Thank you for your comment and interest in Flight School Next. There was a situation with the protections in the MS Word verstion that tranferred to the PDF version and caused the document to have a permission issue. We believe we have resovled this and would welcome your feedback.

In reference to the subject SAM.gov notice, the draft CSO indicates there are (5) attachments to the document, however these were not found on SAM.gov. Will these be made available on SAM.gov or could I receive copies direct from your office?

Try this: Download the initial document into a folder. Open the document from the folder (don’t use a short cut). Find attachments on left side of screen as imbedded documents. See attachment for screen shot of what should be a list of the attachments.

Is there any incumbent/recompete or this is a brand-new project? If yes, could you please provide us with their award number or even if the customer bought similar services in the past.

The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence has been operating from Fort Rucker for over 50 years teaching and training the best helicopter aviators in the World. Flight School Next (FSN) is an evolutionary leap forward in the contractual order and operational organization of the flight school and the services that support it. Thus, while there is an incumbent for flight school aviation training, this is a brand-new approach and FSN is a new project that the U.S. Army has never attempted before.

Will we be allowed to sign up for 1:1s at industry day The Ft. Rucker Aviation Industry Days event is not connected to the Flight School Next solicitation.

The ACC-RSA-FSN team will offering more information regarding one-on-ones with industry partners during the Site Visit on July 31st and August 1st.

I'm looking for confirmation for the dates and the two locations (Building numbers) for the Flight School Next Training site visits. There are several different dates floating around, none of which confirms building number(s). Thanks for your help.

Building numbers have not been provided.

The FSN Site Visit RSVP Form requires as mandatory fields that both a UEI ID and a CAGE/NCAGE Code be provided to complete and submit the RSVP Form. While our US subsidiary in respect of which I am attempting to complete the RSVP Form has a UEI ID, it does not currently have a CAGE Code as we have not elected at this time to complete a SAM registration for this entity. Is it possible to complete the RSVP Form without providing a CAGE Code? Alternatively, is it possible to obtain a CAGE code directly from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for use with the RSVP Form without completing a SAM registration for our US entity?

Thank you for your questions. It is not possible to complete the RSVP without a CAGE Code.

The CAGE code, which stands for Commercial and Government Entity code, is a unique identifier assigned to businesses that do business with the U.S. federal government. It is a crucial part of the registration process in the System for Award Management (SAM).gov, which is mandatory for all entities seeking to do business with the government.

To your 2nd question, please contact DLA for more information regarding the possibility of obtaining a CAGE code without completing the SAM registration..

Is there a schedule of events available for the Flight School Next Site Visit on July 30th – August 1st?

Thank you for the question. As of 7/11/2025, there has not been a public distribution approved agenda provided.

A Company will be signing up for the For Novosel Site Visit. I see that the dates for this listed are July 30-August 1st. Is the visit planned to take place over all three days, or is it the same presentation each day? Are there any scheduling details you can provide so we can plan our flights?

Thank you for your question. Site Tours will be on the 31st and the 1st. These will not be same sites on both days, but rather different sites and locations across Ft. Rucker. See the response to Question #1 above for schedule details.

I am reaching out in regards to the Flight School Next Site visit. Is there an agenda for this site visit? If not, would you be able to share at what time the visit would begin on the 30th, and end on the 1st? I am asking because we are trying to determine who from our team would be able to join.

Thank you for your question. Please see response to question #1 above.

Per the recent Government Broad Agency Announcement, Fort Novosel’s Aviation Industry Days are scheduled for 28-30 July 2025. SAM.gov Separately, the Flight School Next Special Procurement Notice lists an FSN Site Visit at Ft. Novosel for 30 Jul 2025 – 01 Aug 2025. Are these two separate events with some overlap on 30 Jul, or is this a schedule discrepancy? It looks like each event has its own Registration requirements.

Thank you for your questions. There is an overlapping of 2 hours. The Fort Rucker Aviation Industry Days conclude on the 30th. During the 2 hours of 1500 -1700 hrs., on the 30th, the ACC- RSA contracting team will be presenting an overview of the Flight School Next program and walking through the impact of FSN on the contracts currently providing service at the AVCOE. This overview will also introduce a discussion of the solicitation type, evaluation methodology, and award type.

What is the registration deadline for the Flight School Next Site visit at Ft. Novosel scheduled on 30 July – 1 August 2025?

Per the Special Procurement Notice, the last day to register for the FSN Site Visit is 7/14/2025

Regarding the 3-person limitation per company for the site visit, as you may know Lockheed Martin owns several companies (Sikorsky, Derco, etc) and they are interested in attending the FSN site visit. Is LM limited to 3 personnel as a whole or may we send 3 personnel from each interested LM company?

Thank you for this question. The established rules on attendance permit up to three (3) personnel for each unique CAGE code & UEI combination. However, the government reserves to right to limit attendance, based upon capacity maximums, in order to preserve the intent of the CSO and Site Visit to reach non-traditional Defense contractors and increase innovation.

It was noticed that there are FSN directed advertisements on the MWR/Ft. Novosel site. Is there an opportunity for paid advertising on

MWR?

Yes. For information to place Paid Advertising, contact: Rakhmanov, Casey N CIV USARMY ID- TRAINING (USA) <casey.n.rakhmanov.naf@army.mil>

Regarding the upcoming industry site visit, when will the US Army publish an agenda and will there be an opportunity for industry members to provide solution demonstrations or otherwise engage directly with US Army AVCOE stakeholders during the site visit?

Thank you for the question. Initial agenda information for the Site Visit has been provided. The ACC-RSA Contracting Command team will be providing an information session from 1500 - 1700 on the 31st. This will be a MS Powerpoint presentation and will also be posted to SAM.gov for those not able to attend. This will not be press-conference styled "Question & Answer" session; however, the accepted using the Q&A link prior to the info session and discussed during the 31st. The AVCOE stakeholders and ACC Contracting teams will be circulating at both the Industry Days and Site Visit; however, the government is requesting that industry members respect the Government Contractors' Code of Ethics: •

Are there any details you can share on when the flight demos will take place and how to coordinate? Additionally, is there an agenda for the FSN Site Visit?

Thank you for the question. Flight demos were set-up and are being ran by G3 Air in conjunction with Aviation Industry Days and will be held on Monday, 28 July. The demonstration is for government only and is NOT associated with Flight School Next; however, the government reserves the right to any information gathered from the demonstrations to use as additional Market Research. If companies are interested in demonstrating their aircraft, contact Paul Meisner at paul.e.meissner2.civ@army.mil to coordinate. The detailed agenda and brief sides for the 30 July FSN brief as part of Aviation Industry Days and follow-on site visit will be posted on Sam.gov NLT 20 July 2025. The following Site Visit General agenda is provided for planning purposes: 30 July 2025 1500-1700 Flight School Next Information Session 31 July 2025 0800-0900 Day 1 Site Brief 0900-1600 Site Tours Day 1 01 August 2025 0800-0900 Day 2 Site Brief 0900-1600 Site Tours Day 2

Yes. Prime offerors have the ability to propose more than one solution. Each submission must be separately submitted.