Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) Antenna System

The Federal Aviation Administration intends to award a single source contract to dB Systems Inc. Inc.in Hurricane, UT. The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing to acquire electronically scanned TACAN Antenna Systems, and capabilities related to implementation and installation support services for TACAN Antenna 900E Systems at multiple locations throughout the National Airspace System (NAS). The acquisition will utilize single source procedures.

In accordance with the FAA Acquisition Management System, AMS 3.2.2.4, the purpose of this announcement is to inform industry of the basis of the FAA's decision to contract with a selected source when it is determined to be in the best interest of the FAA.

Legacy TACAN Antenna Systems (i.e., Low Power TACAN Antenna (LPTA), Rho Theta Antenna (RTA)-2) in the National Airspace System (NAS) are currently operating well beyond their intended service life, and, consequently, there are immediate operational shortfalls and unacceptable failure rates that must be addressed. The oldest TACAN Antennas were designed and manufactured in the 1950s and fielded starting in the 1960s.

The FAA requires approximately 38 of the TACAN Antenna 900E in critical operational sites including support spare systems and installation services. The dB Systems 900E TACAN Antenna System was authorized by the FAA for nationwide use in the NAS (NAS Change Proposal (NCP) 38625; Case File JW143-TACAN-1009; National Stock Number (NSN) 0052-00-908-1002) on September 8, 2022. The 900E is the only TACAN Antenna System that has been approved for nationwide use that is still in production.

It is in the best interest of the FAA to award a contract to dB Systems Inc. on a single-source basis because dB Systems because the 900E TACAN Antenna Systems are independently designed, manufactured, and patented by dB Systems, and there are no authorized resellers. If this proposed action is not approved, availability of the TACAN service will continue to degrade, increasing the risk to safety and operational efficiency at the regional level.

This would also delay the FAA from addressing critical operational needs that exist today in the NAS. TACAN Antenna outages pose significant safety risks for both civilian and military aircraft that use the TACAN Antenna service. This announcement is for informational purposes only and not a Solicitation/Request for Proposal This requirement will be awarded to Verocel Inc. and is not available for full and open competition.

All questions pertaining to this announcement should be addressed in writing to Michael Jones, Contracting Officer, michael.e.jones01@faa.gov no later than 12 pm (ET) on June 24, 2025. Note: The FAR references cited in SAM.gov are not applicable to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as the FAA has its own policies and guidance referenced in the Acquisition Management System (AMS).