Silvus radios flight

NASA's Shared Services Center is procuring 4 OEM Silvus 4200 dual-band radios with associated equipment including antennas, batteries, connector cables, and Wi-Fi dongles for their Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project focused on improving wildland firefighting aerial communication systems. The radios must meet specific technical requirements including Mobile Networked MIMO waveform, multiple modulation types, channel bandwidths of 5-20 MHz, DES encryption, data rates up to 100 Mbps, and operation across frequency bands from 2025-2110 MHz, 2200-2300 MHz Federal S Band, and 2.4GHz ISM. The procurement aims to enhance situational awareness and safety in wildland fire airspace management by addressing communication interoperability challenges in high-risk, low-altitude firefighting environments. Evaluation will be conducted using the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) method, with quotes due by August 20, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. CT. Offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and comply with various federal provisions regarding telecommunications equipment and small business representations.

This procurement is designated as a Total Small Business set-aside under NAICS code 334220, with Silvus Technologies (now owned by Motorola) identified as the sole source provider due to technical compatibility requirements with existing systems. The estimated total contract value is $53,639.80 with a 120-day delivery period following award. NASA's Brand Name Justification emphasizes that alternative radio brands cannot interoperate with the existing Silvus radios used by the flight service provider, and changing vendors would potentially delay the project by 6-12 months while requiring additional certification processes and new Radio Frequency Authorizations. The radios are critical to meeting the project's minimum success criteria and have already received spectrum office approval from NASA Glenn Research Center. Delivery will be FOB Destination, and quotes must remain valid for 30 days following submission.