As part of its Fleet Recapitalization Plan, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is soliciting proposals for uncrewed maritime systems (UMS) to support its new Class B charting and mapping vessels. The UMS will assist NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) with ocean mapping and fisheries acoustic surveys.
According to the Statement of Requirements, OMAO’s mission is to enable systematic hydrographic and fisheries acoustic surveys for NOAA’s Offices of Coast Survey and National Marine Fisheries Service. The integration of UMS will allow these operations to be conducted more efficiently by performing seafloor mapping or water-column acoustic surveys autonomously. The UMS will operate in coordination with crewed survey vessels and be monitored remotely from a NOAA host vessel as safety and environmental conditions require.
The presolicitation notice outlines 14 work areas. The first task requires the contractor to “produce, test, and deliver a small craft capable of remote and semi-autonomous operations from a NOAA host vessel, or other government facility, in accordance with the specifications.”
The Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract will be established to procure up to eight UMS over the course of five, one-year ordering periods.
Offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database at SAM.gov and provide a Unique Entity ID (UID) with their proposals.
The full request for proposal can be accessed here.
