Engineering Technical Support Services
Closed Pre-Solicitation Posted
- Solicitation number
- N00173-26-RFI-EN02
- Agency
-
Office of Naval Research
Secretary of the Navy, Department of Defense
- Responses due
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
Opportunity facts
- NAICS code
- 541330 Engineering Services
- Place of performance
- Maryland 20646, United States
Notice details come from SAM.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), under the Department of the Navy Office of Naval Research, is seeking engineering technical support services for its Pomonkey Facility in La Plata, Maryland, and an associated Outside Continental United States (OCONUS) facility. This Request for Information (RFI)/Source Sought notice is not a formal solicitation but rather an information-gathering effort to identify potential contractors capable of providing hardware design, system development and upgrades, equipment implementation, maintenance and sustainment support, and technical documentation for specialized research and development assets. Key requirements include operating 24-hour continuous operational support for antenna systems ranging from 1 to 18 meters in aperture, performing bi-annual preventative maintenance at the OCONUS location and monthly maintenance at Pomonkey, maintaining machine shops with precision metalworking capabilities, providing a two-hour emergency response time, and traveling to the OCONUS facility a minimum of four times annually. Contractor personnel must meet strict qualifications, including an RF & Microwave Systems Technician with 25 years of specialized experience and 20 years of tower-climbing expertise, an Electromechanical Specialist with 10 years of relevant experience, a certified journeyman Modelmaker with 10 years of experience, and Antenna Support Personnel with a minimum of 5 years in antenna construction. Responses to this RFI are due by March 20, 2026, and interested parties should note that this is a source-seeking activity only, not a formal proposal request.
This pre-solicitation notice does not utilize any set-aside designations and contains no information regarding current contractors or award values. The anticipated contract will be structured as a Firm Fixed Price award with a base year running from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2027, followed by four optional one-year extension periods through August 31, 2031. The government has detailed specific labor hour requirements totaling 8,610 direct labor hours per contract year, with the Model Maker position representing approximately 47 percent of total hours, followed by RF & Microwave Technician and Electromechanical Specialist positions each representing approximately 22 percent of hours, and Antenna Support Personnel representing approximately 9 percent of hours. Work will be performed primarily at the Pomonkey Facility during normal business hours (0600-1700 Monday-Friday, excluding federal holidays), with monthly program management reviews required. Contractors must demonstrate current OSHA certifications for forklift operation and working at heights, and personnel must comply with waste oil management procedures and maintain proficiency with specialized equipment from manufacturers including Vertex Communications Systems Inc., Scientific-Atlanta Inc., Empower, ETM, MCL, and CPI.
Notice text
This is not a request for proposals. Phone solicitations or emails regarding the status of this sources sought will receive no response.
This is a Request for Information (RFI)/ Source Sought (SS) notice pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(e). The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this notice or to pay for any information provided by industry, except as an allowable cost under other currently awarded contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this RFI, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal.
Objective:
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is searching for potential sources with the capability to perform the service set forth in the attached draft Statement of Work (SOW) entitled “Design, Development, Implementation, and Maintenance of Special Research and Development and Associated Support Equipment” for the NRL for Naval Center for Space Technology, Space Systems Development Division.
NRL Pomonkey Facility, along with its associated Outside Continental United States (OCONUS) facility, has a requirement to procure engineering and technical support services for research and development equipment support. The required services include hardware design, development, system upgrades, implementation, maintenance, and the preparation of technical documentation for the special research and development equipment.
NRL has a long-standing requirement to procure engineering technical support services for specialized research and development assets located at the Pomonkey Field Site and an associated OCONUS facility.
The contractor shall provide engineering and technical support services including:
• Hardware design
• System development and upgrades
• Equipment implementation
• Maintenance and sustainment support
• Technical documentation
The specialized equipment supported under this effort includes:
- Parabolic antenna systems ranging from 1 meter to 30 meters
- Radio frequency (RF) subsystems operating between 10 MHz and 31,000 MHz
- Copper and fiber RF and network transmission infrastructure
- Site-wide telecommunications and video systems
- Technical systems climate control systems, including radomes and computer room environmental controls
- Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems
- Backup generator systems
- Facility access control systems
The RF subsystems, antennas, and radomes are manufactured by various commercial vendors including:
- L3 Datron
- Viasat
- General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies Inc.
These items have historically been commercially available products, sold to both Government and commercial customers.
The associated engineering technical services supporting these systems may meet the definition of a commercial service in accordance with FAR 2.101.
The intent of this RFI/SS is to gauge industry interest, potential capabilities and relevant experience to support NRL personnel in providing the required services stated in the attached draft SOW. A small business set-aside decision may be made as a result of the responses to this RFI.
Location:
Primary performance locations include:
- NRL Pomonkey Facility – La Plata, Maryland
- Associated OCONUS facility
Contract Type:
NRL anticipates this will be a level of effort contract and will be performed on a Cost-Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) or a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) basis. This determination will be based on the results of market research and acquisition planning.
Competition Strategy:
NRL is currently contemplating full and open competition unless the results from this RFI support a small business set-aside of any kind. Federal multiple award schedule holders and/or small businesses are encouraged to reply.
Length of Award:
Date of award through five years total (One (1) 12-month base year, to include four (4) 12-month option years)
Resources:
To aid industry in evaluating their ability to perform the required service, the following documents have been attached and available at the link below:
- Draft SOW
- Draft Contract Data Requirement List
- Draft Personnel Qualifications
- Draft Distribution of Labor
Contractor Response Format:
Required content and submission organization:
- Cover Sheet – RFI number, company name and address, socio-economic status, NAICS code, DUNS number, Cage code, technical point of contact, printed name, title and email address and date. (Not included in the total page count);
- Please indicate if your company is a General Service Administration Holder and/or SeaPort Multiple Award Contracts Holder;
- Technical description of the proposed concept or capability (i.e. capability statement) including a concise description of the specifications. This section should not exceed five pages, single-spaced, 12-point font, including charts, graphs, or other illustrations;
- The RFI will be evaluated solely for market research purposes. Consequently, the Government is primarily interested in Qualified Sources (Prime Contractors) providing specific technical details indicating how that source can meet the Government's needs;
- Please specify if subcontracting possibilities exist and/or if all tasks can be performed in-house;
- List of assumptions, if any, which were considered in formulating the response. It is anticipated that travel, materials and equipment will be included in the RFP.
NRL will consider industry comments regarding the draft SOW, CDRL, Personnel Qualifications and Distribution of Labor to provide clarification and/or enhancement for final drafts to be included in any potential solicitation.
Past Performance Information:
Please provide in the response a list of Department of War, Department of Navy, or Federal contracts supported during the past 24-months with a brief description of the supply provided for each contract. Only list contracts with effort similar to those detailed in the draft SOW.
Submission of Information:
Responses are requested no later than 20 Mar 2026 at 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Any response received after this date will also be considered, but may not be included in initial reporting or assessments. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. Proprietary information should be marked accordingly.
All information and data received in response to this posting marked or designated as corporate or proprietary information will be protected as such. Please include this notice number on all documents and email correspondence. Classified Material shall NOT be submitted.
Please include “N00173-26-RFI-EN02” in the subject line of your email response.
Contact Information:
Submit the responses electronically to the Contracting Officer, Richard Waterstreet at richard.waterstreet@us.navy.mil and the Contract Specialist, Erica Turner at erica.n.turner9.civ@us.navy.mil no later than 20 Mar 2026 at 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.
Other Business Opportunities
Other business opportunities for NRL are available at NRL’s website at: https://www.nrl.navy.mil/doing-business/contracting-division/.
52.215-3 -- Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes.
a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
(b) Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal.
(c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of market research and procurement planning.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| Att No. 1 SOW.doc | DOC document | |
| Att No. 4 Distribution of Labor.pdf | ||
| Att No. 3 Personnel Qualifications.pdf | ||
| Att No. 2 CDRL.pdf |
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