Pre-solicitationPosted Nov 18, 2024·Original deadline passed (Dec 4). See latest amendment for current deadline.

Rocket Assisted Take Off (RATO) motors and initiators for the BQM-167A Aerial Target Drone

Air Force and Space Force · FA8213 AFLCMC EBHK

In plain words

Air Force and Space Force is planning to buy "Rocket Assisted Take Off (RATO) motors and initiators for the BQM-167A Aerial Target Drone". This is an early notice: it is not taking bids yet. The original due date (Dec 4, 2024) has passed; check the latest amendment for the current one. In the last 2 years, similar work went to 3 companies, usually for about $590K per award. An award could come any day: the usual time to award has passed.

Put together from the facts on this page; the details and sources are below.

Stage
Early notice (sources sought, presolicitation or special notice)
NAICS
336415
Value
Not stated
Solicitation
FA821324RB011
Set-aside
None stated
PSC
1340
Place
Not stated
Contact
Jesse Whinham (jesse.whinham@us.af.mil)
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CSV Email

Capture briefs (a one-page, shareable copy of this page) are part of Pro. The CSV here holds the notice, its timeline and past awards.

Where this opportunity stands

Every notice posted under solicitation FA821324RB011 in this department, oldest first.

Early notice
  • Sep 26, 2024
    Pre-solicitation
    View
  • Nov 18, 2024 · this notice
    Pre-solicitation
  • Nov 18, 2024
    Pre-solicitation
    View
  • Dec 3, 2024
    Pre-solicitation
    View
  • Dec 3, 2024
    Pre-solicitation
    View
Solicitation
None posted
Award
Not yet. Expected award: Any day (median passed). Typical range Dec 4, 2024 to Mar 24, 2025; middle Jan 2, 2025.
Measured from 253 past early notices at Dept of the Air Force that later posted an award (middle half of cases, counted from Sep 26, 2024).
Held to the response deadline (Dec 4, 2024): no award is forecast before responses are in.

Next steps for this stage

Standard steps for the notice type; not advice about this buyer.

  • Answer the notice: this is when the requirement can still be shaped.
  • Contact the contracting officer named on the notice.
  • Check who won similar work; they are the likely bidders.

What the notice says

This Acquisition is to establish a five (5) - year indefinate delivery -indefinate quantity (IDIQ) firm-fixed price (FFP) contract. the United States Government (USG) intends to procure Rocket Assisted Take-Off (RATO) rocket motors and initiators. These rockets are used to launch a remotely piloted target drone called the BQM-167 aerial target drone. A draft copy of the solicitation, including proposed clauses and attachments are attached below. The USG reserves the right to not award a contract in response to this draft solicitation. Interested parties with questions may reach out to the Prim… (show all)

ary Contracting Officer listed below. The JQR documents describing the required process needed to become qualified (as a requirement to be considered a technically acceptable source) are listed in the attachments below.

Who won similar work

3 award notices on SAM.gov in the last 24 months. Matched by: Same agency (Air Force and Space Force), same NAICS 336415.

Single-winner award sizes (3): middle half $334K to $24.3M, median $590K; range $79K to $48.0M.

WinnerAwardsValueLast
CANADIAN COMMERCIAL CORPORATION1$48.0MSep 17, 2025
UNITED DYNAMICS, INC1$590KNov 10, 2025
HYDRO-AIRE AEROSPACE CORP. · $CR · $2.3B1$79KJul 30, 2026

Value counts new single-winner awards. "Shared" awards are multiple-award contracts that list every winner with the same total ceiling (same contract, or the same office, day and amount); that ceiling is not one company's win, so it is not added in. Contract modifications are not new awards and are not added in either. Notices whose amount is a placeholder such as $999,999,999 are not added in. Revenue next to a ticker is the company's revenue over the latest 12 months in its SEC filings.

Investor context
  • $CR reported $2.3B revenue (fiscal year ending Dec 31, 2025). The median single-winner award in these 3 past awards, $590K, is under 0.1% of that. SEC filing

One award's total value against one year of revenue; many awards are paid over several years.

Latest awards
  • Jul 30, 2026HYDRO-AIRE AEROSPACE CORP.$79KF107 Lube and Scavenge Pump RepairMateriality: <0.01% of $CR revenue (Low) SEC
  • Nov 10, 2025UNITED DYNAMICS, INC$590KF107 Fuel Shut Off Valve RepairNo listed company matched (Materiality N/A)
  • Sep 17, 2025CANADIAN COMMERCIAL CORPORATION$48.0MRATO (Rocket Assisted Take Off) Motor and InitiatorNo listed company matched (Materiality N/A)

Materiality: one award's value as a share of the winner's revenue over the latest 12 months in its SEC filings (or its last fiscal year, as noted when you point at it). Low under 1%, Medium 1 to 5%, High 5% or more. Many awards are paid over several years, so this overstates a single year's share.

Competitive landscape

For the 3 most frequent past winners above. Lobbying is matched by the company's exact name or exact ticker; agencies are as named on the filings.

  • 0 of these past winners lobbied Air Force, Dept of since 2024 (0 filings)
  • 0 of their lobbyists list a past Air Force, Dept of job
  • No corporate PAC money from them to the overseeing committees since 2024
  • 0 foreign-agent (FARA) registrations
See who and the source records with Pro

Policy around it

Bills the past winners named while lobbying this agency's issues, rules from the department, and executive orders that name the agency, last 12 months.

  • 0 bills named on the past winners' lobbying filings
  • 32 rules from the department in the last 12 months
  • 0 executive orders naming the agency in the last 12 months
See who and the source records with Pro

Market

For past winners matched exactly to a listed company. Insider trades are open-market buys and sells (Form 4) in the last 90 days, shown as facts; our own study found insiders do not reliably buy ahead of awards. A sale marked 10b5-1 was made under a trading plan set up in advance.

  • 1 of the past winners are listed companies
  • 0 insider buys and 0 insider sells at them in the last 90 days
See who and the source records with Pro

Sources: SAM.gov notices and award notices; Senate LDA lobbying filings; FEC filings; FARA; Federal Register; congress.gov; SEC Form 4. Every row above links to its record.

Companies are matched to tickers by exact name, including the subsidiaries a company lists in its SEC filings. A company we could not match shows no market rows; that is a miss, not a finding.

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