Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service seeks quotation for one Unmanned Aerial Vehicle system under a Total Small Business Set-Aside, with proposals due July 9, 2026 at 1 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items under FAR Part 12, issued as Request for Quotation 1232SA26Q0909.

Place of performance and delivery location is Temple, Texas. The NAICS code is 336411 (Aircraft Manufacturing) with a small business size standard of 1,500 employees. All offerors must be registered and active in SAM.gov at time of submission and award.

The required system comprises one multirotor quadcopter airframe with 4.5–6.0 kg maximum takeoff weight, minimum 28-minute flight endurance with payload, IP43 environmental sealing rated for −4°F to 122°F, triple-redundant IMU architecture, and dual-band GNSS with RTK-enabled flight controller. All components must be NDAA-compliant with no People's Republic of China-restricted parts. The payload is an LR1-class stabilized imaging system with 3-axis gimbal stabilization, minimum 20 MP still imagery, and 4K video at 30 fps or higher. Deliverables include six intelligent lithium-ion or lithium-polymer flight batteries (98–100 Wh capacity, TSA-compliant, 200+ cycle life), one SL8-class multi-bay fast-charging system, one RTK GNSS ground reference station with centimeter-level accuracy, remote controller, protective carrying case, spare propellers, mission-planning software with waypoint and grid mapping, and complete documentation. Delivery is required within 90 days after receipt of order. The Government will make one firm-fixed-price award based on lowest price technically acceptable evaluation criteria, assessing technical acceptability, past performance (acceptable, neutral, or unacceptable), and price fairness with F.O.B. destination requested. Quotations must be submitted electronically to frank.palmer@usda.gov. The contract is a rated order under the Defense Priorities and Allocations System.