REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) FOR GROUP 1 AND GROUP 2 UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM (UAS) TRAINING, MISSION PLANNING, MISSION REHEARSAL, SIMULATION, AND QUALIFICATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

DISCLAIMER 

THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) IS FOR INFORMATIONAL AND PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY. IT IS A MARKET RESEARCH TOOL BEING USED IN ACCORDANCE WITH FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (FAR) PART 10 TO IDENTIFY FIRMS POTENTIALLY CAPABLE OF PROVIDING THE CAPABILITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN AND TO INFORM POTENTIAL FUTURE ACQUISITION PLANNING. 

THIS RFI IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, INVITATION FOR BID, REQUEST FOR QUOTATION, SOLICITATION, OR COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND CANNOT BE ACCEPTED BY THE GOVERNMENT TO FORM A BINDING CONTRACT. THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR ISSUE A FUTURE SOLICITATION AS A RESULT OF THIS RFI. 

ANY QUANTITIES OR DELIVERY SCENARIOS REFERENCED IN THIS RFI ARE PROVIDED SOLELY TO SUPPORT MARKET RESEARCH AND CAPACITY PLANNING AND DO NOT CONSTITUTE A GOVERNMENT REQUIREMENT, ACQUISITION FORECAST, MINIMUM OR MAXIMUM PURCHASE QUANTITY, OR COMMITMENT TO PROCURE ANY QUANTITY. 

RESPONSE TO THIS RFI IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT REIMBURSE RESPONDENTS FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PREPARING OR SUBMITTING A RESPONSE, PROVIDING SUPPORTING INFORMATION, PARTICIPATING IN FOLLOW-UP DISCUSSIONS, OR PARTICIPATING IN ANY SUBSEQUENT MARKET RESEARCH ACTIVITY. INFORMATION SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS RFI WILL NOT BE RETURNED. 

FAILURE TO RESPOND TO THIS RFI WILL NOT PRECLUDE A COMPANY FROM PARTICIPATING IN ANY FUTURE MARKET RESEARCH EFFORT, TECHNICAL DEMONSTRATION, OR COMPETITIVE ACQUISITION RELATED TO GROUP 1 AND GROUP 2 UAS TRAINING, MISSION PLANNING, MISSION REHEARSAL, SIMULATION, AND QUALIFICATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS. THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT OBLIGATED TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK OR COMMENTS REGARDING ANY RESPONSE. NO TELEPHONE RESPONSES WILL BE ACCEPTED. 

INTRODUCTION 

The Aircraft Project Management Office (AIR PMO), under the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager Robotic Autonomous Systems (DRPM RAS), is conducting market research regarding commercially available and emerging Group 1 and Group 2 Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Training, Mission Planning, Mission Rehearsal, Simulation, and Qualification Management Systems. 

For market research and planning purposes, the Government is seeking information regarding industry’s ability to provide and support these capabilities at scale. Potential future demand could involve thousands of training devices, simulator stations, software licenses, or equivalent deployed units. However, no procurement quantity, acquisition strategy, or requirement has been established, and any quantities referenced in this RFI are illustrative planning assumptions only. 

The Government requests white papers from interested parties with commercially available or emerging capabilities. Responses will assist the Government in identifying potential solutions; understanding technical approaches, system maturity, interoperability, scalability, implementation considerations, and business models; refining capability objectives and potential requirements; and informing acquisition planning and potential procurement strategies. 

This RFI follows the Air PMO virtual Industry Day conducted on 03 September 2026. Participation in the Industry Day is not a prerequisite for responding to this RFI. Interested parties may respond regardless of whether they attended the event. 

This RFI is an independent Air PMO market research effort and is not associated with or conducted in support of the Drone Dominance Program. Respondents should address the capability areas and information requested in this RFI without assuming any relationship to that program’s requirements, acquisition approach, funding, schedule, or procurement quantities. 

BACKGROUND 

Simulation-based training has the potential to enhance operator proficiency, improve training availability, increase training throughput, reduce operational risk, and provide realistic Mission Planning and Mission Rehearsal capabilities for Group 1 and Group 2 UAS. These capabilities may enable operators to safely practice in realistic and challenging operational and threat environments, emergency procedures, and degraded system behaviors that may be impractical, unsafe, or cost-prohibitive to execute using live aircraft. 

Simulation-based training may also reduce operational impacts associated with range availability, airspace restrictions, spectrum congestion, weather delays, aircraft maintenance requirements, and logistical constraints while supporting standardized, repeatable, and scalable training across multiple UAS platforms. The Government seeks to understand current industry capabilities, technology maturity, innovative approaches, best practices, and limitations relevant to these objectives. 

MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS 

This RFI represents the white-paper phase of Air PMO's market research effort. The Government may use information received to support capability development, requirements refinement, acquisition planning, evaluation of commercially available and emerging solutions, and potential procurement strategies. 

Following review of submitted white papers, the Government may invite selected respondents to participate in follow-up discussions or technical demonstrations to further assess the maturity, suitability, and applicability of proposed solutions. Selection for, or participation in, a follow-up activity does not constitute a competitive range determination, source-selection decision, commitment to procure, or preference for any future acquisition. Any invitation and associated instructions will be issued separately. The Government may elect not to conduct follow-up activities and is not obligated to provide feedback to respondents. 

INFORMATION REQUESTED 

Respondents should provide a concise white paper describing how their solution addresses the capability areas in this RFI. Responses should identify current capabilities separately from planned, developmental, or partner-provided capabilities. At a minimum, the white paper should address the following: 

• Company profile, business size and socioeconomic status, Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), and primary point(s) of contact. 

• Executive summary of the proposed solution and the operational or training problem it addresses. 

• Description of the complete solution, including software, hardware, peripherals, hosting or deployment model, licensing, and any Government-furnished equipment or services required. 

• A capability cross-reference identifying each applicable Capability Area of Interest as currently available, configurable, developmental, not available, or provided by a third party. For developmental capabilities, identify the anticipated availability date and key dependencies. 

• Supported Group 1 and Group 2 UAS platforms, flight models, ground control stations, hand controllers, payloads, mission-planning tools, and training environments, including the approach and estimated effort to add new aircraft or configurations. 

• Technical maturity and commercial availability, including Technology Readiness Level or equivalent maturity evidence, operational use, customer base, relevant contracts, and available test or performance data. 

• System architecture, interfaces, data formats, application programming interfaces, standards, modularity, and approach to integration with Government or third-party systems. 

• Training-management, instructor, evaluation, after-action review, records-management, and qualification-management functionality. 

• Cybersecurity, identity and access management, data protection, software-update, cloud or on-premises deployment, and authority-to-operate status or experience, as applicable. 

• NDAA and supply-chain compliance status, including identification of any noncompliant components, planned remediation, dependencies, or assumptions. 

• Implementation approach, schedule, lead times, training and support model, sustainment, warranties, upgrades, and product roadmap. 

• Production, licensing, integration, deployment, and delivery capacity, as applicable to the proposed solution. Identify the unit of measure or configuration used to describe capacity; current sustainable monthly capacity; the number of complete and operational units that could be delivered or deployed within the first 30 calendar days after receipt of an order; and the estimated time required to deliver or deploy a cumulative quantity of 2,000 units. If the respondent cannot currently support that quantity, describe the time, resources, facilities, workforce, suppliers, capital investment, Government actions, or other conditions required to achieve and sustain the necessary capacity. For solutions not delivered as individual hardware devices, provide equivalent information using the most appropriate unit of measure, such as simulator stations, training seats, software licenses, concurrent users, sites, or enterprise deployments. 

• Rough-order-of-magnitude pricing or commercial pricing structure, including major cost drivers, licensing basis, nonrecurring integration costs, and relevant quantity or enterprise pricing assumptions. Pricing is requested solely for market research and is not a proposal or binding offer. 

• Known limitations, risks, dependencies, and recommended Government actions or information needed to support implementation. 

• Readiness and recommended scope for a potential technical demonstration, including the capabilities to be demonstrated; whether the demonstration would be live, virtual, or hybrid; required facilities, equipment, connectivity, Government-furnished information or equipment, data, cybersecurity or network considerations, safety considerations, estimated preparation time, and estimated demonstration duration. 

CAPABILITY AREAS OF INTEREST 

The Government is interested in understanding industry capabilities in the following areas. These areas are provided solely for market research and do not constitute final requirements or imply a future procurement strategy. Respondents are not required to address every area and should clearly identify the areas applicable to their solution. 

Training and Qualification Management 

• Initial operator qualification training 

• Refresher and sustainment training 

• Instructor-led training 

• Student performance tracking 

• Student training records and qualification management 

• Automated grading and evaluation 

• After-action review and debrief capabilities 

• Training syllabus management 

Unmanned Aircraft Simulation and Flight Fidelity 

• Unmanned Aircraft-specific flight models 

• Realistic flight characteristics and handling qualities 

• Unmanned Aircraft performance modeling 

• Payload effects on aircraft performance 

• Environmental and weather effects 

• Emergency procedure training 

• Lost-link procedures 

• Degraded system operations 

Mission Planning and Mission Rehearsal 

• Mission planning functionality 

• Mission rehearsal capability 

• Route and waypoint planning 

• Terrain analysis 

• Obstacle analysis 

• Airspace planning 

• Real-world geographic mission rehearsal 

• Operational environment replication 

• Import and export of mission plans, geospatial data, and mapping products 

Terrain and Synthetic Environment 

• Global terrain databases 

• Satellite imagery integration 

• Digital elevation models 

• Urban environments 

• Maritime environments 

• Custom training area generation 

• Area of Responsibility (AOR) development 

• User-generated scenarios 

Instructor and Evaluation Capability 

• Instructor Operator Station (IOS) 

• Scenario creation and modification 

• Student monitoring 

• Real-time scenario control 

• Scenario replay 

• Instructor evaluation tools 

• Scenario injection capabilities 

Contested and Tactical Environment Training 

• GPS-denied operations 

• GPS-degraded operations 

• Electronic warfare effects 

• Communications degradation 

• Adverse weather operations 

• Tactical mission scenarios 

• Multi-aircraft operations 

System Integration and Interoperability 

• Integration with operational hand controllers 

• Integration with operational Ground Control Stations (GCS) 

• Support for multiple aircraft types 

• Open architecture solutions 

• Future aircraft integration 

• Government-configurable aircraft libraries 

• Modular system design 

• Compatibility with commercially available and Government-furnished simulation hardware, controllers, and peripherals 

WHITE PAPER FORMAT AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS 

White papers shall conform to the following format: 

• File format: Searchable Adobe PDF. Do not submit ZIP files or password-protected files. 

• Page size and margins: 8.5 x 11 inches with 1-inch margins on all sides. 

• Font: Arial or Times New Roman, 11-point or larger. Tables and figure labels may use 9-point font or larger. Condensed fonts and newspaper-column formatting are not permitted. 

• Length: no more than 30 pages, excluding the cover page, table of contents, acronym list, and appendices containing only product literature or supporting test data. 

• File size: no more than 20 MB per response unless coordinated in advance with the Point of Contact. 

• One response per company or team is preferred. Respondents proposing materially different solutions may submit separate white papers. 

Submission deadline: The white-paper submission deadline is concurrent with the RFI response date. 

Submission method: Email the white paper to FoSUAS_Simulator_and_Training_RFI@us.navy.mil and the Contracting Points of Contact identified in this notice. If a response cannot be transmitted by email because of file-size or security restrictions, contact the Points of Contact before the submission deadline to coordinate a Government-approved transfer method. 

Email subject line: "RFI White Paper - Group 1 and Group 2 UAS Training and Simulation - [Company Name]" 

The body of the submission email should identify the company name, white-paper title, primary point of contact, telephone number, email address, business size and socioeconomic status, CAGE code, and UEI.  

Do not submit classified information.  All material provided in response to this RFI shall be UNCLASSIFIED. 

Respondents are responsible for accurately marking all data with applicable proprietary, data-rights, distribution, and export-control markings. Restrictive markings should be applied only to the specific portions requiring protection and not to the response in its entirety. The Government will protect properly marked information from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with applicable laws and regulations but cannot ensure the protection of information that is not clearly marked. 

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS RFI 

Questions 

Interested parties wishing to submit questions regarding this RFI shall use the RFI Question Submission Link provided as an attachment to this RFI on SAM.gov. 

Questions should be submitted sufficiently in advance of the RFI response date to allow the Government time to respond. The Government will make reasonable efforts to provide timely responses; however, the RFI response date will not be extended solely because a question remains unanswered. 

If a company is unable to access or submit questions using the RFI Question Submission Form due to technical difficulties, questions may be submitted by email to FoSUAS_Simulator_and_Training_RFI@us.navy.mil. Email question submissions shall include the following information: 

• Company Name  

• Point of Contact (POC) Name  

• Point of Contact (POC) Title  

• Point of Contact (POC) Email Address  

• Point of Contact (POC) Telephone Number  

• Question(s)  

Email question submissions shall include the following subject line: 

“Questions – RFI for Group 1 and Group 2 UAS Training and Simulation – [Company Name]” 

Questions shall not include proprietary, competition-sensitive, classified, Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), export-controlled, or other restricted information, as questions and corresponding Government responses may be consolidated and published on SAM.gov. 

Telephone inquiries regarding this RFI will not be accepted. 

NDAA COMPLIANCE AND SMALL UAS REUSABLE ARCHITECTURE (SRA) AWARENESS 

Information obtained through this RFI may be used to inform future market research activities, acquisition planning, and procurement decisions. Respondents should identify the current compliance status of their proposed solutions with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, including, as applicable, NDAA FY2020 Section 848, NDAA FY2023 Section 817, NDAA FY2019 Section 889, and the American Security Drone Act of 2023 (FY2024 NDAA, Public Law 118-31, Division A, Title XVIII, Subtitle B, Section 1821). Respondents should also describe any planned pathway to achieve compliance and the associated schedule, risks, and dependencies. 

To support transparency and traceability of NDAA compliance, respondents may, at their discretion, leverage the Navy's Small UAS Reusable Architecture (SRA) framework to document system components, supply-chain attributes, and applicable security controls. The SRA provides Government-backed tools and self-assessment mechanisms that enable vendors to evaluate alignment with applicable DoD-approved benchmarks and facilitate review of compliance artifacts during market research activities. Additional information is available at https://sra.navair.navy.mil. 

The SRA website is Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) enabled and requires a Department of Defense Common Access Card (CAC) or DoD External Certificate Authority (ECA) certificate for access. Additional information, including instructions for obtaining an ECA certificate, is available at https://www.cyber.mil/eca. Accordingly, access to the SRA website may be limited for some respondents. Use of the SRA framework and associated tools is not required to respond to this RFI and is provided for awareness and informational purposes only. 

PROPRIETARY INFORMATION AND GOVERNMENT SUPPORT CONTRACTORS 

Government Support Contractors may assist with the receipt, handling, review, analysis, and administration of responses. These contractors have executed Non-Disclosure Agreements with the Government that prohibit unauthorized disclosure of proprietary information obtained through this market research effort. 

Respondents are responsible for clearly identifying and marking proprietary or competition-sensitive information in their white papers, attachments, and correspondence. The Government will protect properly marked information from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with applicable law and regulation. Respondents should not place restrictive legends on the entire response when only portions contain protected information. 

If a respondent requires a separate Non-Disclosure Agreement with Government Support Contractors, the respondent should submit the proposed agreement and instructions to the Points of Contact with its response. The Government does not guarantee that a separate agreement will be executed and may be unable to evaluate information that cannot be shared with authorized support contractors. Unless the respondent expressly states otherwise in its response, submission constitutes consent for authorized Government Support Contractors to access properly marked proprietary information for purposes of this market research effort. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

The Government may contact respondents independently for clarification or additional information. Information received may be used to refine market research, capability objectives, potential requirements, acquisition strategy, and planning documents. Respondents are responsible for monitoring SAM.gov for amendments, answers to questions, or follow-on information. Respondents that are foreign concerns, or U.S. concerns with foreign team members or partners, are responsible for compliance with all applicable export-control laws and regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR). 

POINTS OF CONTACT 

 NAVAIR Procurement Group: 

• Contracting Officer- Diana Harritt diana.k.harritt.civ@us.navy.mil  

• Contract Specialist – John Barr john.m.barr1.civ@us.navy.mil  

• Contract Specialist - Mariah Williams - mariah.b.williams.civ@us.navy.mil 

• RFI Email Inbox: FoSUAS_Simulator_and_Training_RFI@us.navy.mil