Solicitation
USCG Response Boat Small Third Generation (RB-S III)
Department of Homeland Security · U.S. Coast Guard
AI summaryPhase I: the response due date is November 13, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern. Only the up to four Phase I winners enter Phase II, an in-water boat test. The Coast Guard (Department of Homeland Security) is buying Response Boat Small Third Generation (RB-S III) boats and trailers, set aside for small businesses. Up to four firms win indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ: orders placed as needed) contracts with a 10-year ordering period; one firm gets all production orders after Phase II. More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Oct 22, 2026. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 16, 2026. The notice was amended Oct 22, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov. This summary may miss requirements: 2 of 13 attachments weren't read (J-3 Government Furnished Information (GFI).zip, J-1 Pricing Schedule.xlsx). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Phase I: the response due date is November 13, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern. Only the up to four Phase I winners enter Phase II, an in-water boat test. The Coast Guard (Department of Homeland Security) is buying Response Boat Small Third Generation (RB-S III) boats and trailers, set aside for small businesses. Up to four firms win indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ: orders placed as needed) contracts with a 10-year ordering period; one firm gets all production orders after Phase II.
Who can bid
- Small business set-aside (total): only small businesses can bid. The boat-building size standard (NAICS 336612) is not in the documents read.
- Limitation on subcontracting clause (FAR 52.219-14) applies and is measured over the performance period of each order, so a small business prime must keep its share of each order's work
- To see restricted Government furnished information (Distribution Statement C), the bidder must be an authorized offeror and request it in writing by email; the Government verifies authorization first
How to submit: Electronically through the Department of Defense Secure Access File Exchange (DoD SAFE), a secure file drop. Bidders must first email the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist to request a DoD SAFE Drop-Off Request. The form lists William E. Lewis III, William.E.Lewis3@uscg.mil, 703/850-4153.. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (10)
- Serious: Two-phase down-select: only one firm wins production. Up to four firms win Phase I contracts, but only one is picked after Phase II to get all production orders; the others' contracts end.
- Serious: Phase I award means building a demonstrator boat. Phase I winners must build and deliver a demonstrator boat and trailer, then take part in a Government in-water demonstration; Phase II dates are not given.
- Serious: Response due date may be extended to November 20, 2026. The Government says an extension to November 20, 2026 is being considered; the SAM.gov response due date stays November 13, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern until an amendment moves it.
Show all 10Show fewer
- Serious: Large production capacity expected. Bidders must show they can build upwards of 60 boats per year with quality control, which a small shipyard may find hard to document.
- Worth checking: Date passed (Oct 19, 2026): Statement of work, specification and deliverables list still to be revised. The Government targets releasing the revised specification and statement of work the week of October 19, 2026; bidders must draw and calculate against a baseline that is still changing.
- Worth checking: Heavy engineering package with the proposal. The proposal needs drawings and preliminary calculations in native Excel, and claims in the narrative not backed by the appendices can be rated a weakness.
- Worth checking: Secure file drop must be requested ahead. Proposals go only through DoD SAFE, and the drop-off request must be emailed five working days before the response due date.
- Worth checking: Price proposal can be rejected for unbalanced pricing. All pricing tiers must be priced, and offers the contracting officer finds risky for unbalanced prices may be rejected.
- Worth checking: Restricted documents available only on request. Some Section J Government furnished information is not posted; authorized firms must ask for it by email and receive it through DoD SAFE.
- Worth checking: Price fixed for Phase II. Price is evaluated once in Phase I and carried forward; no price revisions or updates are allowed after the demonstration.
Read from the notice and 11 attachments. 2 of 13 not read. Show which files.
- RFP No. 70Z02326R93250001_Conformed.pdf (read)
- C-1 RB-S III Specification.pdf (read)
- SF-30 Amendment A00003.pdf (read)
- SF-30 Amendment A00002.pdf (read)
- SF-30 Amendment A00001.pdf (read)
- J-2 List of RB-S Delivery Location.pdf (read)
- C-2 2D TDP Option Selection Worksheet.pdf (read)
- C-3 3D TDP Option Selection Worksheet.pdf (read)
- C-4 List of Deliverables.pdf (read)
- Attachment 2 - Questions and Government Responses v2.pdf (read)
- Attachment 1 - Questions and Answers.docx (read)
- J-3 Government Furnished Information (GFI).zip: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
- J-1 Pricing Schedule.xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Design, build, test and deliver RB-S III response boats and purpose-built trailers; each Phase I winner first delivers one demonstrator boat and trailer for Phase II
- Replace the aging fleet of 29-foot Response Boat Small Second Generation (RB-S II) boats
- Boat performance in the specification: full speed of not less than 45 knots, range of at least 150 nautical miles at 25 knots, gasoline outboard engines, operate in seas up to six feet and survive eight-foot seas
- Production capacity of upwards of 60 boats per year; price evaluation uses estimated quantities of 1 boat in ordering period 1, 6 in period 2, 60 in period 3 and 65 in period 8, which do not obligate the Government to order
- Related supplies and services priced as separate lines: shipping inside and outside the continental United States, Crew FAM, spares, retrofit, a display model, labor, engineering and travel
- Logistics support, technical documentation, configuration management and supply support
- Deliver boats to about 62 Coast Guard locations listed in Attachment J-2; if another Government agency needs a variant, changes and delivery costs are negotiated
- Contract type
- Multiple-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ). Boat lines are fixed price with economic price adjustment; shipping, labor and engineering lines are firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price); travel is reimbursed at cost.
- Period of performance
- 10-year ordering period: 2-year base ordering period plus one 8-year option ordering period
- Place of performance
- Not stated in the SAM.gov fields. Boats are delivered to about 62 Coast Guard locations listed in Attachment J-2.
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Best-value tradeoff in two phases. Phase I scores Factor I Mission Effectiveness, Factor II Production and Management (both non-price) and Factor III Price. Phase II compares the demonstrator boats under Factor IV In-Water Demonstration, with Phase I price carried forward unchanged.
- Offers due
- November 13, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern (Phase I proposals) (from the version posted Oct 16, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Electronically through the Department of Defense Secure Access File Exchange (DoD SAFE), a secure file drop. Bidders must first email the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist to request a DoD SAFE Drop-Off Request. The form lists William E. Lewis III, William.E.Lewis3@uscg.mil, 703/850-4153.
What they'll judge offers on
- Factor I Mission Effectiveness (non-price): (a) mission capability: calm-water speed, acceleration, emergency stops and backing, seakeeping and stability, maneuverability; (b) human systems integration and crew endurance: ride quality and shock mitigation, ergonomics and layout, noise and environment
- Factor II Production and Management (non-price): (a) reliability and supportability, (b) structural details, stability and construction, (c) production capability of upwards of 60 boats per year and quality assurance, (d) configuration and change management, (e) contract deliverables
- Factor III Price: Total Evaluated Price (TEP) from the native Excel pricing workbook (Attachment J-1), checked for completeness, reasonableness and unbalanced pricing
- Factor IV In-Water Demonstration (non-price, Phase II only): side-by-side comparison of each Phase I winner's demonstrator boat during a demonstration lasting up to 90 calendar days
What to include when you submit
- Email the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist no later than five (5) working days before the response due date to request a DoD SAFE Drop-Off Request (Section L.3(b))
- Follow Section L of the solicitation for all proposal contents; Section L was attached but not read, so check it for volumes, page limits and file formats
- Send the price proposal in the native Microsoft Excel pricing workbook, Attachment J-1 (Pricing Schedule); the Government uses only that workbook to set the Total Evaluated Price (TEP)
- Fill in unit prices for all five pricing tiers in every ordering period; the Government reviews tiers outside the TEP for balanced pricing
- Send a technical narrative with appendices; Appendix II is drawings and Appendix III is preliminary calculations in native Excel (stability, drainage, structure, speed and range, weight, electrical, propulsion). The Government expects to revise the Appendix III wording
- Show production capability against 60 boats per year
- Acknowledge receipt of Amendments A00001, A00002 and A00003 as the solicitation instructions say
- To get restricted Government furnished information (GFI: documents the Government supplies) in Section J, email a written request to the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist
After award, you must have
- Contractor facility access for the contracting officer's representative (COR) at every location where the RB-S III is built; Sections H.2 and H.6 tie this to interim milestone payments From Attachment 2 - Questions and Government Responses v2.pdf:
The access requirements apply to any location where the RB-S III is…
Current contractor
No incumbent is named. The buy recapitalizes the aging fleet of 29-foot RB-S II platforms. No sources-sought counts or Government estimate are in the documents read; an Independent Government Cost Estimate is mentioned but no figure is given.
Not in the notice text
- Much of the solicitation was attached but not read: the middle of the RFP (Sections C through K and the start of L and M, including instructions, page limits, factor importance and clauses), the middle of the specification, and part of the Questions and Government Responses v2 file. J-1 Pricing Schedule.xlsx and J-3 Government Furnished Information (GFI).zip were also attached but not read.
- Page limits, volumes and file formats for the proposal are in Section L, attached but not read
- How much more important the non-price factors are than price (Section M.2) was not in the text read
- Dates for Phase II and the In-Water Demonstration other than its length of up to 90 calendar days
- Whether the response due date will move; a revised statement of work and specification are expected in a later amendment
- The Government's estimate for the whole contract and the SBA size standard for NAICS 336612
Eligibility and how to respond
- Set aside for small businesses: only a business that counts as small under this notice's NAICS code can bid as the prime contractor. More open small business set-asides under NAICS 336612
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Electronically through the Department of Defense Secure Access File Exchange (DoD SAFE), a secure file drop. Bidders must first email the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist to request a DoD SAFE Drop-Off Request. The form lists William E. Lewis III, William.E.Lewis3@uscg.mil, 703/850-4153. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 16, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- CG-Sea-C11, Washington, DC
- Product/service code
- 1940 · Small Craft
- Business type
- Aircraft, ship & vehicle parts (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 336612)
- Versions
5 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 22, 2026 · Amendment 0004Due Nov 13, 2026
- Oct 16, 2026 · Amendment 0003 (this version)Due Nov 13, 2026
- Oct 9, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Nov 13, 2026
- Oct 7, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Nov 13, 2026
- Sep 30, 2026 · SolicitationDue Nov 13, 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
- Set-aside contracts explained
Terms on this notice: Solicitation, Set-aside
Full notice text from SAM.gov
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