77th Aviation Training Drones

Active

Contract Opportunity

1. General Requirement

This is a requirement to procure a complete, brand-name or equal, First Person View (FPV) UAS training package for five students. The procured system must meet the operational characteristics for a Group 1 or Group 2 UAS, which are defined as having a Maximum Gross Takeoff Weight between 0-55 lbs, a normal operating altitude of less than 3,500 feet, and a speed of less than 250 knots. The brand-name benchmark for this procurement is a package consisting of the Five33 Drone Kit, Fat Shark HDO3 Goggles with ImmersionRC RapidFIRE video receivers, and TBS Mambo controllers.

2. Salient Characteristics for 'Or Equal' Determination

An 'or equal' package must meet the following salient characteristics to be considered technically acceptable. The package must provide five complete individual kits.

Component/System

Salient Characteristic

Airframe

5-inch propeller class quadcopter. The Maximum Gross Takeoff Weight must be under 20 lbs, classifying it as a Group 1 UAS.

Flight Control

F7 processor-based flight controller and a 4-in-1 Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) with a minimum continuous current rating of 50A.

Propulsion

Brushless motors with a KV rating suitable for operation with 6S LiPo batteries (approximately 1700-1800kv).

Command & Control

A long-range, low-latency control system operating on a sub-GHz frequency (e.g., 915 MHz). Includes a compatible remote controller with an integrated screen.

FPV System

A high-quality analog system including: FPV goggles with OLED or equivalent high-contrast displays, a diversity video receiver module, a multi-power video transmitter (VTX), and a high-quality analog FPV camera.

Power

Each of the five kits must include at least three (3) 6S LiPo batteries and a compatible multi-channel battery charging station.

Ancillary Items

Each of the five kits must include a backpack/case, a basic repair toolkit, spare propellers, drone flight simulator software, and an operator logbook.

3. Mandatory Compliance and Sourcing Requirements

• Source of Manufacture: In accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020 (Section 848) and the American Security Drone Act of 2023, the UAS and its critical components cannot be manufactured in a covered foreign country. Critical components include, but are not limited to, flight controllers, command and control data links, video data links, and cameras. The offeror must provide documentation of its supply chain for critical components.


• Blue List Certification: As per the provided SECDEF memorandum, Blue List certification is not a requirement for this procurement.


• Component Origin Verification: While Blue List certification is not required, for any critical components that are not Blue List certified, the vendor must provide a 'Country of Origin' or 'Declaration of Final Manufacturing' statement for that critical component to ensure compliance with NDAA FY2020 Sec 848 and NDAA 2024 Sec. 1821-1825.


• UAS Group Classification: The proposed UAS must be classified as a Group 1 UAS, defined by the DoD as a UAS with a maximum gross takeoff weight of 0-20 pounds.

4. Training and Support Requirement

The offeror must provide 40 hours of instructor-led training for five students. The training shall cover basic flight, safety procedures, advanced FPV maneuvers, and field-level maintenance. Additionally, the offeror must provide ongoing training service and support with a guaranteed response time of within 24 hours for all post-training inquiries.

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