Every reason behind the verdict rather than the headline one — which of your certifications match, how much runway is left, whether the work is your size, and what we would need to know to sharpen it.
The requirements that decide a bid — bonding, clearances, experience minimums, page limits — live in the attachments, not in the notice above. Start a free trial to upload them and have them read.
Draft the paperwork
Written against this notice and what you have told us about your company. Anything we do not know is marked [NEEDS INPUT] in the draft rather than guessed at — read it before you send it. Federal notices routinely put the real requirement in an attachment; adding the documents above makes every one of these materially better.
Start a free trial to draft these. Nothing is sent to an agency on your behalf, ever — you get a document to review, edit and submit yourself.
What would disqualify you
Read straight from the solicitation documents: the bonding, clearances, insurance minimums, experience thresholds and deadlines that decide whether you can bid at all — before you write a word.
Sources Sought response
A complete draft response — capability statement, relevant past performance, business size and socioeconomic status, and answers to the agency's specific questions.
Questions to submit
Genuine ambiguities and requirements that disadvantage a smaller bidder, drafted as questions you can submit before the Q&A deadline.
Past performance write-ups
Which of your prior awards best match this requirement, and draft write-ups in the format the agency asked for.
Solicitation details
Solicitation number
PEO_FW_A2E_AE
Notice type
Special Notice
NAICS
Set-aside
Unrestricted
Posted
2026-10-05
Response deadline
Nov 6, 2026, 4:59 AM UTC
Place of performance
Tampa, FL
Contracting contact
james.s.helmick.civ@socom.mil
Market intelligence
Account requiredWho wins this work, and what it pays
Comparable awards under NAICS at this agency — the incumbent, what they were paid, when their period of performance ends, and the real pricing distribution rather than the headline number. From public federal award records.
PEO-FW FANTOM Behavior Integration (A2E) Assessment Event (AE) Submit NLT 05 November 2026 11:59 PM ET U.S. Citizens Only Purpose SOFWERX, in collaboration with USSOCOM Program Executive Office Fixed Wing (PEO-FW), will host an Assessment Event to identify potential vendors to integrate existing or propose new autonomy behaviors into the government?owned Framework of Autonomous Networked Tactical Open Modules (FANTOM) Autonomy Software using the provided FANTOM Core Software Development Kit (SDK). This event aims to accelerate capability insertion for multi?platform, multi?payload uncrewed systems operating within the Adaptive Airborne Enterprise (A2E) ecosystem. Background/Synopsis A2E is an interoperable system-of-systems designed to enable robust Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities through expendable, autonomous Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) platforms, resilient data paths, and a common control architecture. FANTOM is the complete autonomy software stack deployed across the A2E System-of-Systems. FANTOM Extensions are mature (high TRL) vendor add-ons integrated using the SDK. Insertion of specialized/new modular, SDK-driven autonomy behaviors is required to extend, mature, and rapidly integrate into the FANTOM ecosystem. Objective USSOCOM is soliciting industry solutions to support FANTOM’s scalable autonomy architecture enabling distributed, collaborative behaviors across Group 2-3 A2E Unmanned Systems (UxS) platforms. As operational demands expand, the program requires continual innovation in: Novel autonomy behaviors (e.g., mission objective/adaptation, swarm coordination, sensing, navigation, task allocation, distributed decision-making, targeting, tracking) Behavior maturation and validation Integration pathways and approaches via the FANTOM SDK (e.g., behavior packaging and versioning, simulation-based evaluation, flight integration readiness) This event will help USSOCOM identify technology providers capable of contributing leverageable behaviors and strengthening SDK integration for persistent autonomy evolution. Desired outcomes include: Catalog of proposed new behaviors and behavior extensions Assessment of vendor capabilities to integrate with the SDK Recommendations for vendors suitable for next-phase development Industry feedback to refine SDK documentation, tooling, and pipelines Why You Should Participate USSOCOM seeks to enter into non-FAR or FAR-based agreements with Industry, Academic, and National Lab partners whose solutions are favorably evaluated by PEO-Fixed Wing Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). As such, the follow-on Assessment Event (AE) is considered competitive, and solutions will be evaluated independently of one another primarily for technical merit. This serves dually as notification of the intent to research the feasibility of an agreement under 10 U.S. Code, Section 4022 and/or Section 4022(f), and as notice of pre-solicitation activities IAW FAR 5.101. Event Timeline Phase 1 - 05October 2026 to 05 November 2026: Submissions to the Assessment Event (AE) Open: Interested respondents who could potentially provide solutions that meet the needs of USSOCOM are encouraged to submit their capability for USSOCOM review. To submit your technology for potential Phase3 attendance, please review the assessment criteria and follow the submission instructions at the bottom of this webpage. Phase 1a - 20 October 2026 Q&A Telecon: Interested offerors may participate in a virtual Q&A session to better understand the Program Manager's (PM's) specific technology objectives. The telecon will take place on 20 October from 11:00–12:00 PM ET. RSVP at the bottom of this webpage. Phase 2 - 06 November 2026 to 20 November 2026 Downselect:USSOCOM will downselect respondents/submissions it believes have the highest potential to satisfy its technology needs. Favorably evaluated submissions will receive an invitation to attend the AE on/around 23 November. Phase 3 - 15 December 2026 to 17 December 2026 Assessment Event (AE): During the AE, selected participants will be allotted a one-on-one session with the USSOCOM evaluation panel to pitch, demonstrate, and/or discuss their solutions. The forum will include a Q&A portion, and discussions may continue outside of the event. Solution brief presentation guidelines will be outlined in the event invitation, and solutions will be assessed according to the criteria in the link provided below. If the USSOCOM evaluation panel favorably evaluates a solution brief, negotiations for Phase 4 may immediately begin. This event will be held virtually. Phase 4 - Path Forward: Successfully negotiated awards may fall under any combination of these categories: Business-to-business research and development agreement as a sub-award through the SOFWERX Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) (15 U.S. Code Section 3715) OTA for research or prototype projects (10 U.S. Code Sections 4021, 4022) An award under 10 U. S. Code, Section 4022 may result in the further award of a follow-on production agreement without additional competition based on successful prototype completion. The Government may make this follow-on production award based upon successful prototype criteria, which will be determined for each prototype project. Procurement for experimental purposes (10 U.S. Code Section 4023) Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (15 U.S. Code Section 3710a) Prizes for advanced technology achievements (10 U. S. Code Section 4025) and/or prize competitions (15 U.S. Code 3719) FAR-based procurement contract NOTE: Awardees may need to be compliant with NIST SP 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in Non-Federal Systems and Organizations How You Can Participate Government, Industry, Academia, National Labs, and Non-Traditional Attendees 1. RSVP to the 20 October 2026 Virtual Q&A Telecon: Click Here to RSVP (NLT 19 October) 2. Review Assessment Criteria: Click Here to Review 3. Download the White Paper Template: Click Here to Review 4. Complete the Submission Form: Click Here to Submit (NLT 05 November) Questions? For event-related questions, please contact Sarah Marks
Contact
Point of contact
James Helmick
Role
not stated on this notice — SAM publishes a role for only about 5% of them, so this may be a contract specialist rather than the contracting officer
Email
james.s.helmick.civ@socom.mil
Secondary
juanita.bell.ctr@socom.mil
Submit questions
Ambiguities and requirements worth clarifying, written as questions you can send before the deadline.
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