Sonobuoy Lot Acceptance Testing (SLAT) Service Aircraft

UPDATE (24 February 2026) – In lieu of the pre-solicitation conference, the Government plans to conduct 30-minute One-on-One Sessions with interested vendors via Microsoft Teams on the 5-6 March 2026. If you wish to participate in a One-on-One Session, please send an email to bradley.dioguardo.civ@us.navy.mil by 02 March 2026 at 1000 EST. The Government will subsequently schedule you for your session via a Teams invite.

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Please note: Information on an upcoming pre-solicitation conference will be forthcoming so please continue to monitor this SAM.gov posting for details.

The Naval Air Warfare Center - Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), at Patuxent River, MD intends on issuing a four-year, 364 day competitive, Firm Fixed Price (FFP), full and open solicitation, for the services necessary to provide a Contractor-Owned/Contractor-Operated (COCO) aerial platform with sonobuoy pneumatic-launch capability to support NAVAIR’s Sonobuoy Lot Acceptance Testing (SLAT). The effort involves real-world ocean airdrop tests of random samples from production lots, ensuring they meet required standards before being deployed for operations, and supporting pre-production sonobuoy model testing. COCO mission support will be provided from an airfield within 50 nautical miles of Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, CA with flight operations occurring over open-ocean test ranges in the vicinity of San Clemente Island, CA.  The sonobuoys will be loaded on the aerial platform from the Contractor’s base of operations.

Industry’s review and feedback on the provided DRAFT solicitation is highly desirable and appreciated.

Comments and questions on the DRAFT Solicitation are welcomed and should be emailed to Brad Dioguardo at bradley.dioguardo.civ@us.navy.mil and David Silverstone at david.s.silverstone.civ@us.navy.mil. If questions received contain proprietary information, be sure to inform the Government of this in your response. No phone calls will be accepted. Non-proprietary Questions and Answers in response to this DRAFT Solicitation will be posted to SAM.gov following the Pre-solicitation conference (date forthcoming). The final day to submit questions and feedback will be 1000 EST on 02 March 2026.

This is a DRAFT Solicitation to obtain industry input/questions. The information provided in this notice is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. This notice DOES NOT constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) and shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government. Responses in any form are not offers and the Government is under no obligation to award a contract as a result of this announcement. No funds are available to pay for preparation of responses to this announcement. Any information submitted by respondents to this notice is strictly voluntary. No site visit will be permitted during the period of response to this announcement. Firms responding to this announcement will not be individually notified if the requirement is solicited. Solicitations will occur through the PIEE system.