Sources Sought
AC/MC-130J Arkham SMP Production
Dept of Defense · Dept of the Air Force · Sol. FA850926
Due in 12 days
AI summary Beta
Some details are in the notice's attachments, which this summary didn't read. Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The Air Force (AFLCMC) is doing market research to find companies that can build and deliver Arkham Special Mission Processor kits for the AC/MC-130J aircraft. The need is 94 production kits and 55 spares over a seven-year period of performance. This is a Sources Sought notice, not a solicitation.
Watch out for
- Complex classified avionics hardware. Building safety-critical mission processors with classified network zones is a heavy technical lift for a small business.
The Safety Critical Processing is done on two (2) ARM based Safety Critical Processor (SCP) modules.
- Long seven-year production period. A long production commitment of 94 kits plus spares needs strong manufacturing capacity and financing.
The acquisition strategy is for the contractor to provide kit production with a period of performance of seven (7) Years.
- Sources Sought only. This is market research, not an offer request, so no award comes directly from it.
The Government is conducting market research to identify potential sources
Read from the notice text only.
Full brief
What they want
- Manufacture, assemble, test and deliver 94 Arkham SMP Production Kits and 55 Spares
- Each kit: two Arkham units, two External Data Storage devices, two 1 TB Delkin SSDs and aircraft installation hardware
- Develop prototype hardware, software and technical data needed for production
- Fully test and evaluate function and performance of the kits and spares
- Provide source data to update AFTOs and TDPs
- Meet the architecture and operating system needs (SOSA, LYNXOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux)
- Period of performance
- Seven years (kit production)
- Place of performance
- USA
- Offers due
- 2026-10-19T17:00:00-04:00
You must have
- Must have the expertise, capabilities, facilities and experience to manufacture, assemble, test and deliver the kits
identify potential sources that possess the expertise, capabilities, facilities, and experience to manufacture, assemble, test, and deliver
- System works in a classified network environment with multiple security levels, so facility or personnel clearances may be needed (not stated)
The network includes a red and an internal NextGen SMP gold (same classified level with different subnets)
Not in the notice text
- How to respond and what information to send
- NAICS code and PSC are blank
- Set-aside plans
- Security clearance requirements
- Contract type and estimated value
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Key facts
- Response due
- Oct 19, 2026, 9:00 PM UTC
- Posted
- Sep 17, 2026
- Notice type
- Sources Sought
- Solicitation
- FA850926
- Agency
- Dept of Defense · Dept of the Air Force
- Office
- FA8509 AFLCMC Wiuka
- Contracting contact
- Daniel Youngdaniel.young.48@us.af.mil
Full notice text from SAM.gov
Arkham Special Mission Processor (SMP): The Government is conducting market research to identify potential sources that possess the expertise, capabilities, facilities, and experience to manufacture, assemble, test, and deliver a total of 94 Arkham SMP Production Kits and 55 Spares. The Arkham SMP is a mission processor utilizing Sensor Open System Architecture (SOSA) in support of AC/MC-130J system integration. The Arkham SMP is separated into two (2) major processing areas: Video Processing/General Processing and Safety Critical Processing. The Video Processing/General Processing is done on five (5) Intel based General Purpose Processor Modules. The Safety Critical Processing is done on two (2) ARM based Safety Critical Processor (SCP) modules. The network includes a red and an internal NextGen SMP gold (same classified level with different subnets), and two unclassified black for multiple levels of security. Safety Critical Processing is separated into Red/Gold and Black zones. The Arkham SMP must utilize LYNXOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the operating system. The acquisition strategy is for the contractor to provide kit production with a period of performance of seven (7) Years. The kit will include the following: Two (2) Arkham Units, two (2) External Data Storage (EDS) Devices, two (2) one (1) TB Delkin Solid State Drives (SSD), and other hardware required for aircraft installation. This will provide the AC/MC-130J mission with enhanced abilities for search and rescue in increased threat environments. Potential Sources must be capable of developing prototype hardware, software, and all associated technical data necessary to be able to produce and deliver the Arkham Production Kit and Spares. The Potential Source must be able to fully test and evaluate the function and performance of the Arkham Production Kit and Spares. The Potential Source must be capable of developing and providing the source data necessary to update AFTO’s and TDPs.