Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract for Parrot ANAFI UKR Drones

1. Action Code: Notice of Intent to Award Sole Source Contract

2. Synopsis:

The United States Coast Guard (USCG), CG-9312, intends to award a sole source firm-fixed price contract to W.S. Darley & Co for the procurement of Parrot ANAFI UKR drones and associated accessories. The estimated value of this contract is $68,000.

3. Description of Requirement:

The USCG requires Parrot ANAFI UKR drones to provide a supplemental airborne reconnaissance, surveillance, and tracking capability to enhance situational awareness for field commanders and agents in areas that lack nearby traditional surveillance systems or available manned air support. These drones will be used for various USCG missions, including but not limited to surveillance for law enforcement (LE), search and rescue (SAR), aids to navigation (ATON), investigations, civil engineering inspections, pre and post storm assessment, and training. The drone must be able to be be deployed in myriad environmental and climatic conditions including day/night; dense, thick foliage; extreme temperature ranges (-20° F to 120° F); high salt air conditions; dirt and fine dust conditions; humidity (> 90%); rain, fog, snow, icing, high winds (up to 30 knots), sand storms, and electrical storms. The drones must meet specific technical requirements as follows: 

Operating Range: 3+ kilometers 

Flight Endurance: 35+ Minutes 

Environmental Rating: Flies through dust and rain (IP53) 

Assembly Time: 5 minutes or less 

Take-Off Weight: 5 lbs or less 

Payload: High Resolution Day/Night Stabilized Optics 

Simulator: Controller w/built in simulator for training 

Hand launch and recovery: Capable of launching and recovering from hand for underway operations.  

Based on the compliance with Section 848 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, the Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) was tasked to develop a list of “trusted” drone options for DoD and Federal Government partners. In addition, this product is in accordance with DHS Policy Memorandum 119-08 and the DHS sUAS Cybersecurity Guidance. Furthermore, this product requires authority to operate (ATO). The USCG has sought an ATO based on reciprocity for systems DIU evaluated. This is based on specific capabilities of the evaluated UAS, actual procurement availability and most importantly, the ATO itself. The systems the USCG seeks are contained within the same ATO package, reducing the amount of workload on our cyber forces. The following product meets the need of USCG operators and is a second generation of one of the products we are receiving an ATO for. Other “Blue” UAS do not have a USCG ATO and therefore are authorized for R&D efforts within the USCG. 

4. Authority:

This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b)(1), Soliciting from a Single Source. This allows for soliciting from one source if the contracting officer determines that only one source is reasonably available.

5. Justification for Sole Source:

W.S. Darley & Co is the sole authorized distributor of the Parrot ANAFI UKR drone. The Parrot ANAFI UKR drone is essential to meeting the Government's requirements because it is a Blue sUAS 2.0 drone that has been vetted and cleared by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) as an NDAA supply chain compliant cyber hardened Blue 2.0 cleared system and meets the specific technical requirements of the USCG. Specifically, the market research determined that other companies’ with similar products lack the particular feature and do not meet and cannot be modified to meet the Government’s requirements.

6. Market Research:

Thorough market research was conducted, including:

• Review of DHS Strategic Sourcing Vehicles.
• Searches on GSA Advantage.
• Consultation with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment (OUSD(A&S)).
• Attendance at industry tradeshows (EXPONETIAL 2023 and Commercial UAV Expo 2023).

This market research confirmed that only the Parrot ANAFI UKR, distributed by W.S. Darley & Co, meets the USCG’s stringent requirements for cyber security, NDAA compliance, and operational capabilities.

7. Interested Parties:

Although this is a notice of intent to award a sole source contract, all responsible sources may submit a capability statement within 5 days of the publication of this notice, which shall be considered by the agency. Any capability statement should demonstrate the vendor's ability to provide a drone that meets all of the USCG's requirements as outlined above, including the required cyber security, NDAA compliance, and DIU Blue sUAS 2.0 certification. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely at the discretion of the Government.