Outdoor Small Uncrewed Aircraft System

The National Institute of Standards and Technology seeks firm-fixed-price quotations for one outdoor small uncrewed aircraft system airframe with operator control unit and one lot of attachments, with proposals due June 8 and questions due June 5. This is an unrestricted commercial procurement under FAR Part 12.

Place of performance is NIST-Boulder, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80305, with delivery required by August 19, 2026; partial delivery is acceptable. The NAICS code is 336411, Aircraft Manufacturing, with a small business size standard of 1,500 employees. The PSC is 1550, Unmanned Aircraft.

The aircraft must be a modular, sub-55-pound multirotor with 2.4/5 GHz and 5G/LTE capability; IP55 rating for the airframe and IP54 for the operator control unit; sub-60 second startup time; minimum 40-minute flight time; GPS-denied position-hold operation; true 360-degree obstacle avoidance; 4K minimum video with infrared and telephoto navigation cameras; gimbal stabilization with ~1000-lumen lights; two 256 GB micro-SD cards; three batteries and dual charger; ruggedized storage case; spare propellers; and minimum 11.17 m/s windspeed handling. The system must be NDAA and/or TAA compliant with durable construction capable of surviving crashes. Attachments include RTK/PPK GPS, payload dropper, parachute, spotlight, and speaker.

Vendors must possess an active Export Control Classification Number and active Unique Entity Identification on SAM.gov at time of award. A one-year base manufacturer warranty including labor and parts, one-year maintenance plan with spare parts and software updates, and autonomy drone software license with acceptance within seven business days are required. Quotations must be submitted electronically to clifford.nicholson@nist.gov in three volumes: Technical Quotation, Price Quotation with all-inclusive pricing, and Terms and Conditions. Award goes to the responsible quoter with the lowest priced, technically acceptable quote. No prototypes, demonstration models, used, or refurbished equipment will be considered.