Hexacopter

This is a Notice of Proposed Contract Action under the FAR Part 12 Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This notice is for information only; a solicitation will not be issued. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTATION. No contract will be awarded on the basis of offers received in response to this notice. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 336411 with a small business size standard of 1,500 employees.

AFRL requires 1 IF600H hexacopter aircraft and 1 IF1200BETA aircraft.  Specifications:

IF600H

• Gross take off weight (GTOW): 18kg
• Maximum Speed: 60mph
• Duration: 30 minutes
• Payload capacity: 7kg
• Autonomous take-off and landing
• Manual control for safety of flight
• IR sensors for safe landing

IF1200BETA (Same Specs as IF600H plus the following):

• Higher Current Electronic Speed Controllers
• Folding Landing Gear for heavy payloads
• Modular payload mounts for expansion to additional payloads
• Re-arranged onboard components to provide more space for payloads
• High rate production design
• Zone 5 Fully programmable Autopilot
   

To satisfy the requirement, the Government intends to negotiate a sole source contract with:   

            INSPIRED FLIGHT, INC.

            225 Suburban Rd.

            San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Due to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 the current aircraft used for research efforts must be discontinued. DoD interpretation of the law gave a grace period to comply and is nearing expiration. Inspired Flight is the only company that can provide a US made hexacopter that is compatible with required Autopilots and payloads and performance specifications. Other aircraft alternatives researched either have Chinese manufactured parts (which are banned by the law), cannot carry the weight at the needed speeds for the needed duration or require additional engineering to support payloads. AFRL has done an expansive search and has found that Inspired flight is the only known provider of aircraft that can meet required specifications.

This is a notice of proposed contract action and not a request for competitive proposals; however, all responsible sources may submit a capability statement or proposal, which shall be considered by the agency. All inquiries should be sent by email to richard.childres@us.af.mil. Responses must be submitted by the date/time listed on the notice. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government in future procurements.

Responses received will be evaluated; however, a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government anticipates an award date on or before 21 AUG 2020.

A Sole Source Justification will be attached to the subsequent Notice of Award in accordance with applicable regulation.