Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM) intends to award a sole source firm-fixed price contract to AeroVironment, Inc., 900 Enchanted Way, Simi Valley, CA 93065 for the procurement of RQ-11B Raven Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS) NATO Standards Agreement (STANAG) 4586 analysis and reporting services. The contract will include an option for a demonstration of a RQ-11B Raven SUAS system with STANAG 4586 interface capability. Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) interoperability has become of great interest to the UAS operator community and the Department of Defense. The Marine Corps is pursuing procurement of the RQ-11B Raven through the U.S. Army’s contract W58RGZ-05-C-0338. The RQ-11B Raven Small Unmanned Air Vehicle (SUAV) system includes a ground control station. The NATO Standards Agreement (STANAG) 4586 is a standard that governs the interoperability of UAS ground control stations. While STANAG 4586 has primarily been focused on interoperability of larger tactical UAS’s, the current edition of the standard has not necessarily excluded capability for SUAS interoperability and does not currently address all the capabilities necessary for handling SUAS operations. Therefore, it is necessary to perform an analysis of the STANAG 4586 requirements as they may apply to the RQ-11B Raven as a SUAS. AeroVironment, as the sole manufacturer of the Raven, has the explicit knowledge and understanding o! f the system necessary to perform the analysis of STANAG 4586 and how it should apply to the SUAS. AeroVironment also is in the unique position to identify and recommend a form of standard SUAS messaging with respect to STANAG 4586 and recommend possible changes to the STANAG and/ or changes to the existing SUAS messaging. Finally, AeroVironment has the inherent knowledge and ability to prepare a Raven UAS system with STANAG 4586 interface capability in support of test demonstrations. No Request for Proposal (RFP) is available for competitive bidding, however, interested parties may submit a statement of capability for satisfying this requirement no later than close of business on 11 September 2006 to the contact person listed above. Numbered Note 22 applies to this acquisition.

Bid Protests Not Available