Sources SoughtPosted Oct 6, 2026

APX-119 Transponder Upgrade

Air Force and Space Force · FA8609 AFLCMC WLCK KC46

Stage
Early notice (sources sought, presolicitation or special notice)
NAICS
334511
Value
Not stated
Solicitation
FA8609-R-APX119
Set-aside
None stated
PSC
5841
Place
Wright Patterson AFB, OH, USA
Contact
Joy Hunter (joy.hunter.1@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 FA8609-R-APX119 in this department, oldest first.

Early notice
  • Oct 6, 2026 · this notice
    Sources Sought
Solicitation
None posted
Award
Not yet. Typical award: Dec 1, 2026 to Apr 3, 2027, middle of the range Jan 12, 2027.
Measured from 253 past early notices at Dept of the Air Force that later posted an award (middle half of cases, counted from Oct 6, 2026).

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

1. Executive Summary & Notice This Sources Sought Synopsis is published for market research purposes only and does not constitute a Notice of Solicitation. The United States Air Force, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), Mobility and Training Aircraft Directorate, KC-46 Contracting Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), Ohio, is seeking capabilities packages from potential sources, including small businesses (SB), capable of performing required upgrade services on the APX-119 transponder and delivering a rotational pool of spare units. The Government is actively seek… (show all)

ing capabilities packages from all potential sources, including but not limited to: Small Business (SB), 8(a) participants, HUBZone Small Business, Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB), Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). IMPORTANT NOTICE As stipulated in FAR 15.201, responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. No solicitation (Request for Proposal) currently exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. The decision to solicit for a contract remains solely within the Government�s discretion. Any information submitted is strictly voluntary, and the Government will not reimburse any costs associated with the submission of information in response to this notice. 2. Requirement Specifications The Government is performing market research to identify contractors who possess the skills, experience, knowledge, and ability to obtain proprietary data to service the APX-119 transponder. The contractor must have the capability to perform necessary hardware and software upgrades while maintaining Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) compliance. All upgrade services must be performed by an FAA Part 145 certified vendor/facility. Requirement Parameter Specification Details Part Number (P/N) 4079100 (APX-119 Transponder, including dash numbers 0522 and 0531) National Stock Number (NSN) 0522: 5841-01-580-8081 0531: To date, not assigned Anticipated Retrofit Quantity 190 Units Anticipated Spare Quantity 15 Units (Rotational Pool) 2.1 Operational & Logistics Flow The selected vendor will receive APX-119 units from the Government�s main operating base and will be required to ship the same number of upgraded units back to the Government. This notice is searching for capable vendors to upgrade the units only; the contractor will not be required to perform procedures to remove the units from or reinstall them onto the aircraft. Performance of the upgrade requires access to the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) service bulletin to perform the necessary upgrade of OEM certified units. Additionally, all delivered units shall include a minimum of a one-year (1-year) warranty. 3. Capabilities Package Requirements Interested parties shall submit a capabilities package, accompanied by a cover letter, that is brief and concise, yet clearly demonstrates the ability to meet the stated requirements with sufficiently qualified personnel. Capability packages must not exceed five (5) pages in total. Responses must include the following detailed information: Company Profile: Company name, physical and mailing address. Point of Contact: Name, phone number, and email address. Prime Contractor Intent: A clear statement of your intention to submit a bid for this requirement as a Prime contractor. Ownership & Personnel: A statement as to whether your company is domestically or foreign owned or controlled (if foreign, please indicate the country), and whether use of any foreign national employees is contemplated on this effort. Subcontracting Arrangements: If subcontracts are to be used, provide the anticipated percentage of effort to be subcontracted and whether small or large businesses will be used. Teaming and/or subcontracting arrangements should be clearly delineated, and previous experience in teaming must be provided. Capability & Capacity: A statement as to your capability (including financial) and capacity to perform and manage the work. Execution Methodology: A statement explaining how your company will perform this work, specifically addressing: How your company will complete the retrofits at a rate of up to 16 per week. Demonstration of conducting the required retrofit while maintaining FAA STC compliance. Commitment to delivering units with a minimum 1-year warranty. Experience & Background: A statement clearly describing your related background and experience with retrofitting similar transponders within the last ten (10) years, including contract numbers, project titles, dollar amounts, and points of contact. Business Size Standard: A statement of business size in relation to the NAICS size standard stated above. Socio-Economic Status: Socio-economic status (e.g., Large Business, Small Business, 8(a), HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, etc.). Government Identifiers: Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS) number and Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code. 4. Submission Instructions & Points of Contact Advertising or marketing information is NOT appropriate for this submission. Responses must be submitted electronically to the Primary Point of Contact. All correspondence sent via email MUST contain the exact subject line: �APX-119 Transponder Upgrade� Failure to include this exact subject line may result in the email being blocked by spam filters at Wright-Patterson AFB. Email filters are designed to delete emails without a subject, with suspicious subjects, or with attachments exceeding 15 MB. Attachments with files ending in .zip or .exe are not allowable and will be automatically deleted. Ensure only .pdf, .doc, .docx, .xlsx, or .xls documents are attached.

Who won similar work

44 award notices on SAM.gov in the last 24 months. Matched by: Same agency (Air Force and Space Force), same NAICS 334511.

Single-winner award sizes (44): middle half $121K to $4.4M, median $411K; range $10K to $1.8B.

WinnerAwardsValueLast
Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation · $NOC · $39.3B4$2.0BOct 5, 2026
OWT GLOBAL, LIMITED2$2.8MSep 29, 2026
DRONESHIELD LLC · $DRSHF2$340KMar 23, 2026
Symetrics Industries, LLC · $TDG · $6.6B1$147.3MSep 4, 2026
RAYTHEON COMPANY · $RTX · $68.9B1$63.0MApr 8, 2025
KIHOMAC INC1$32.4MFeb 27, 2026
Able Aerospace Services, Inc.1$16.8MSep 3, 2026
KEYSTONE MISSION SOLUTIONS CORP1$14.8MSep 17, 2025
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.1$8.9MNov 18, 2024
TELSPAN DATA, LLC1$5.0MAug 18, 2026

Value counts single-winner awards. "Shared" awards are multiple-award contracts that list every winner with the same total ceiling; that ceiling is not one company's win, so it is not added in. Revenue next to a ticker is the company's last annual revenue from its 10-K.

Investor context
  • $NOC reported $39.3B revenue in FY2025. The median single-winner award in these 44 past awards, $411K, is under 0.1% of that. 10-K
  • $TDG reported $6.6B revenue in FY2025. The median single-winner award in these 44 past awards, $411K, is under 0.1% of that. 10-K
  • $RTX reported $68.9B revenue in FY2025. The median single-winner award in these 44 past awards, $411K, is under 0.1% of that. 10-K

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

Latest awards

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

  • 3 of these past winners lobbied Air Force, Dept of since 2024 (17 filings)
  • 1 of their lobbyists list a past Air Force, Dept of job
  • $827K from their corporate PACs since 2024 to members of House Committee on Appropriations, House Committee on Armed Services, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senate Committee on Armed Services
  • 0 foreign-agent (FARA) registrations
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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.

  • 8 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
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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.

  • 4 of the past winners are listed companies
  • 0 insider buys and 6 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 only. A company we could not match shows no market rows; that is a miss, not a finding.