Solicitation
RWP - Test Site 2 (TS2) Improvements & Modernization, Aerospace Vehicle Survivability Facility (AVSF)
Department of Defense · Department of the Air Force
AI summaryArnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC), for the Air Force, is asking for whitepapers (short capability papers) to design, build and install a modernized Test Site 2 at the Aerospace Vehicle Survivability Facility at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. It is addressed to AEDC Velocity Alliance Consortium members and other industry partners and uses Other Transaction Authority (OTA, a non-FAR deal) under 10 U.S.C. § 4022. Whitepapers are due by the response due date of November 16, 2026, 2:00 PM Central. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC), for the Air Force, is asking for whitepapers (short capability papers) to design, build and install a modernized Test Site 2 at the Aerospace Vehicle Survivability Facility at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. It is addressed to AEDC Velocity Alliance Consortium members and other industry partners and uses Other Transaction Authority (OTA, a non-FAR deal) under 10 U.S.C. § 4022. Whitepapers are due by the response due date of November 16, 2026, 2:00 PM Central.
Who can bid
- Must meet at least one 10 U.S.C. § 4022(d) criterion: a nontraditional defense contractor or nonprofit research institution takes a significant part; all significant participants are small businesses or nontraditional defense contractors; at least one-third of the cost paid from non-Federal funds; or a written senior procurement executive determination of exceptional circumstances
- Cybersecurity compliance (Controlled Unclassified Information and Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, CMMC) that flows down to all subcontractors and partners
- Addressed to AEDC Velocity Alliance Consortium performers and industry partners; no set-aside is stated on SAM.gov
How to submit: Send the whitepaper to the Government points of contact: Haley Smith (haley.smith.10@us.af.mil) and Bailey Deason (bailey.deason@us.af.mil). What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (7)
From the version posted Oct 18, 2026.
- Serious: Must satisfy the statutory OTA eligibility test. A firm that cannot show nontraditional defense contractor participation, an all-small-business team, one-third non-Federal funding or an exceptional-circumstances finding can be rejected at screening.
- Serious: Whitepaper is the first step; a proposal request may follow only for selected firms. The Government may pick one or more firms to receive a Request for Prototype Proposal or go straight to negotiations, so firms not selected may be shut out of later steps.
- Worth checking: Non-FAR OTA agreement and CMMC flow-down. The FAR does not govern this agreement, and cybersecurity compliance covers every subcontractor, supplier and partner and stays the prime's sole responsibility.
Show all 7Show fewer
- Worth checking: Submissions that don't follow the format can be rejected. Initial screening checks page limits, formatting and mandatory forms, and non-compliant submissions may be rejected without evaluation.
- Minor: Whitepaper limited to 15 pages. The whitepaper must be a PDF of at most 15 pages, not counting ROM and schedule details.
- Minor: Work near operating test sites. Construction must minimize disruption to ongoing operations at adjacent AVSF test sites, and a phasing plan may be required.
- Minor: No follow-on production award expected. The Government does not expect a non-competitive follow-on production agreement after the prototype.
Read from the notice and 2 attachments. Show which files.
- SOO_OL-B_TS2_DistroA.pdf (read)
- RWP_Test Site 2.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Design, fabricate, deliver, install and functionally test the whole Test Site 2 system
- Build a freestanding steel test structure about 24 ft wide, 50 ft long and 50 ft high, with a ground-level test area and a platform at 20 ft, and a concrete/steel deck roof
- Install a 25-ton bridge crane and a 5-ton monorail, certified to Crane Manufacturers Association of America (CMAA), OSHA and ASME standards
- Provide a steel fuel catch pan for up to 1,000 gallons, a 6,000-gallon fuel recovery tank and a portable pump moving fuel at a minimum of about 180 gallons per minute
- Build a 40 ft long by 4 ft high concrete curb on the north edge of the test area
- Deliver design reviews (preliminary and critical), as-built drawings in PDF and native CAD, and operation, safety and maintenance documents
- Do geotechnical (soil) and utility surveys and keep disruption to nearby test sites low
- Contract type
- Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) for a prototype project under 10 U.S.C. § 4022; not a FAR contract
- Period of performance
- Not stated. Schedule is to be proposed by the bidder against 11 base milestones plus 1 unfunded option (Milestone 12).
- Place of performance
- Wright Patterson AFB, OH, USA (Aerospace Vehicle Survivability Facility)
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- Contract vehicle
- AEDC Velocity Alliance Consortium (VAC) members and other industry partners; non-VAC firms must state their own IP and data rights terms in the whitepaper
- How they'll choose
- Two-step whitepaper review (screening, then detailed technical evaluation) on three equally weighted criteria. The Government may then select one or more firms to receive a Request for Prototype Proposal (RPP) or go straight to negotiating an agreement.
- Offers due
- November 16, 2026, 2:00 PM Central
- How to submit
- Send the whitepaper to the Government points of contact: Haley Smith (haley.smith.10@us.af.mil) and Bailey Deason (bailey.deason@us.af.mil)
- Page limits
- Whitepaper: 15 pages, PDF, not counting the ROM and schedule details
What they'll judge offers on
- Technical Capability and Approach: understanding of the Statement of Objectives (SOO), low-risk method to design, fabricate and install the superstructure, crane and fuel systems
- Schedule and Risk Management: realism of the schedule (critical path, milestones, unpriced options) and risk plans
- Cost and Price Realism: Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM, a rough cost estimate) for Base Milestones and Unpriced Options
What to include when you submit
- Show technical expertise, personnel, equipment and supply chain to design and build the system per the Statement of Objectives (SOO); prototype designs are not requested.
- State your intellectual property (IP) and data rights approach; VAC members cite the 'Article: Intellectual Property Rights' in part 3 of the AEDC Velocity Consortium Request for Whitepaper, and non-VAC partners state their assertions in the whitepaper.
- Confirm the prototype rights you will grant the Government for designs, as-built CAD files and operation and maintenance documents.
- Explain how you meet at least one of the four 10 U.S.C. § 4022(d) criteria (see eligibility).
- Give a detailed execution schedule and a ROM cost estimate for all Base Milestones.
- For Unpriced Options, give an estimated schedule and integration plan only (no price needed).
- Reference the 'Article: Cybersecurity Requirements (CUI and CMMC)' and state that cybersecurity compliance flows down to all subcontractors, suppliers and consortium partners and stays the prime Performer's responsibility.
- Offerors may recommend alternative NAICS and PSC codes.
Current contractor
No incumbent is named. The existing Test Site 2 is a partially enclosed 20 ft by 20 ft test area, but no current contractor is identified.
Not in the notice text
- Whether there is a site visit is not stated.
- Which wage rule applies (for example a Davis-Bacon wage determination) is not stated.
- The price or budget is not given; firms supply a Rough Order of Magnitude estimate.
- The time of day for the whitepaper deadline appears only in SAM.gov (2:00 PM Central); the Request for Whitepapers gives the date only.
- Terms in the AEDC Velocity Consortium Request for Whitepaper (IP rights and cybersecurity articles) are referenced but not included in the attached files.
- Drawings for the grating and ballistic shields are to be provided by the owner and are not in the documents read.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Send the whitepaper to the Government points of contact: Haley Smith (haley.smith.10@us.af.mil) and Bailey Deason (bailey.deason@us.af.mil). Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Construction contracts over $2,000 pay at least the local Davis-Bacon wage rates, from the wage determination in the solicitation. Price your labor from it: How to price a government contract, and how Davis-Bacon differs from the Service Contract Act.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 18, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- FA9101 Aedc PKP Procrmnt BR, Arnold AFB, TN
- Product/service code
- Y1JZ · Construction of Miscellaneous Buildings
- Business type
- Construction & renovation (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 236220)
- Versions
2 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 18, 2026 · Amendment 0001 (this version)Due Nov 16, 2026
- Oct 17, 2026 · SolicitationDue Nov 16, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
18 Oct 26 - Added Statement of Objectives _______________________________ REQUEST FOR WHITEPAPERS (RWP) To: AEDC Velocity Alliance Consortium Performers and Industry Partners via SAM.gov Project Title: Test Site 2 (TS2) Improvements & Modernization, Aerospace Vehicle Survivability Facility (AVSF) Contracting Organization: AFTC/PZIA (Arnold) Acquisition Authority: 10 U.S.C. § 4022 Other Transaction Authority (OTA) Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) is seeking whitepapers to modernize Test Site 2 (TS2) at the Aerospace Vehicle Survivability Facility (AVSF) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), Ohio. The strategic goal of this project is to provide the United States Air Force (USAF) with a state-of-the-art test facility capable of safely and efficiently conducting Live Fire Test and Evaluation (LFT&E) on current and future aerospace systems against an expanded range of advanced kinetic threats.
Similar open opportunities
- General Construction Services for Elevator Modernization at the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse, New York, NYThe U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) wants a general contractor to modernize 17 elevators at the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in New York, NY, with no set-aside.
- Armed Forces Recruiting Building 25 Tenant Improvement and Renovation Project- Sources Sought NoticeThis is a sources sought and request for information notice, not a request for proposals: the General Services Administration (GSA) Public Buildings Service is checking which…
- USBC Tenant Improvement Services, Reno, NVThis is a presolicitation (an early notice), not a request for quotes.
- Design Build Markey DC0094ZZ Multi Floor Interior Finish Improvements
- Customs and Border Protection Brown Field Border Patrol Station Vehicle Maintenance Facility San Diego County, CA