Sources Sought

Small Unmanned Aerial Systems Charging Connector/Interface

Department of Defense · Department of the Army

AI summaryThe Army (W6QK ACC-APG), for its C5ISR Center Power Division, is asking companies to describe existing products that could become a standard connector between a small drone battery and its charger. It covers Group 1 (0 to 20 lbs) and Group 2 (21 to 55 lbs) small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS). This is a sources sought notice, not a solicitation, and the Army does not plan to award a contract from it. The response due date is November 20, 2026, 5:00 PM Eastern. More in the summary

Market research, not a bid. Replying is free and tells Department of the Army who could do this work. Send a short reply to the contracting contact; no price is needed. See the contact

AI summary Beta

Written by AI from the notice text. Check dates on SAM.gov.

The Army (W6QK ACC-APG), for its C5ISR Center Power Division, is asking companies to describe existing products that could become a standard connector between a small drone battery and its charger. It covers Group 1 (0 to 20 lbs) and Group 2 (21 to 55 lbs) small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS). This is a sources sought notice, not a solicitation, and the Army does not plan to award a contract from it. The response due date is November 20, 2026, 5:00 PM Eastern.

How to submit: Email the information package to usarmy.apg.mbx.c5isr-center-uas-pe@army.mil. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.

Things to watch

From the version posted Oct 21, 2026.

Worth checking: Unlimited Government data rights. Products should be usable by industry without limits; if yours is not, you must price the cost of giving the Government full unlimited data rights.
Minor: No contract or payment comes from this notice. Responses are voluntary and unpaid, and respondents will not be told individually how the Government assessed them.
Minor: Set-aside decision comes later. The set-aside is not stated on SAM.gov, and the Army says responses will help decide whether a future solicitation is open to all or set aside for small businesses.

Read from the notice and 1 attachment. Show which files.

20260527_UAS Charging Connector RFI Draft.pdf (read)

All attachments on SAM.gov

Full summary

What they want

Describe a current product offering for the interface between the sUAS battery and the sUAS charger
Mechanical details: a description of the connector, detailed physical dimensions and a CAD drawing of the design
Electrical details: supported voltage, current and power ranges, and a detailed pin-out description
Communications and data: the protocol (it must let the battery's Battery Management System (BMS) talk to the charger) and the data standard
Data rights: who owns the relevant data rights or intellectual property, and what it costs for the Government to own it
Testing and certifications: environmental tests such as water ingress and pull force, MIL-STD tests such as MIL-STD-810, and commercial standards or marks
State whether the information package is company proprietary

Place of performance: Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA
Estimated value: Not stated
How they'll choose: No award is planned from this notice; the Army will use responses to decide whether a later solicitation is full and open or a small-business set-aside
Offers due: November 20, 2026, 5:00 PM Eastern
How to submit: Email the information package to usarmy.apg.mbx.c5isr-center-uas-pe@army.mil

What to include when you submit

Address the mechanical, electrical, communications and data, data rights, and testing and certification items; partial solutions and specialized capabilities are also encouraged
Describe products that could in future be available for unlimited use by industry for military and commercial applications
If the product is not currently available for unlimited use, include the cost of attaining it with full unlimited Government data rights
Say whether the submitted package is company proprietary

Not in the notice text

The NAICS code and product service code are not given on SAM.gov.
Whether and when a solicitation will follow is not stated.
The estimated value or number of expected awards is not stated.

Eligibility and how to respond

No set-aside. Any business can reply: this is market research, and no bid is being taken yet.
To respond, send a short reply to the contracting contact near the top of this page. No price is needed.

Notice details

Posted: Oct 21, 2026
Notice type: Sources Sought
Office: W6QK ACC-Apg, Aberdeen Proving Grou, MD
Attachments: Files on SAM.gov:
20260527_UAS Charging Connector RFI Draft.pdfRead by the AI summary
See attachments on SAM.gov

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 answer a sources sought notice

Terms on this notice: Sources sought notice

Full notice text from SAM.gov

To achieve the goal of a standard Army sUAS charger (or family of chargers), the C5ISR Center Power Division is seeking information about current product offerings to inform future solutions for a standard sUAS charging connector/interface for Group 1 and Group 2 UAS. This is defined as the interface between the sUAS battery and the sUAS charger. This may or may not be the same connector/interface as that between the UAV (the air platform) and the battery. Please see attachment.

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