Seeking vendors for Remote Tower Systems (RTS) for the National Airspace System (NAS)

Questions & Answers / Clarifications

This document provides responses to vendor questions regarding the Remote Tower Systems (RTS) for the National Airspace System (NAS) procurement.

• Appendices: Supporting appendices are permitted and count towards page limits unless specifically excluded.
• Scoring Scale: The intended scoring scale for vendor evaluation is 1-5 (Unacceptable to Outstanding); a 0-3 scale was from an earlier draft.
• Deployment Scenarios: The FAA will consider scenarios where one airport is served by one Remote Tower Center (RTC), or one RTC serving multiple airports (1:1 or 1:n concept), provided system technical requirements are met.
• Civil Works & Site Prep: Vendors are not required to include costs for civil works and site preparation. If provided, these costs must be broken out individually.
• RTC Facilities: The condition and availability of facilities for the RTC will vary by airport; vendors are not responsible for RTC design and construction.
• Shelter Solutions: Shelter-based solutions for hosting RTC equipment are acceptable.
• Contingency Systems: UPS, backup power, HVAC, etc., are required for both airport sensor sites and the RTC. Costs should be included or noted as sponsor airport responsibilities and broken out individually.
• Interfaces: The FAA does not expect the RTS to interface with existing FAA or airport systems, but vendors may propose interfaces.
• RTS Baseline: One RTS baseline includes prime mission equipment. Ancillary or optional equipment should be priced separately.
• Lifecycle Period: The 20-year lifecycle includes corrective and preventive maintenance, obsolescence management, technology refresh, software licenses, and cybersecurity patches.
• Page Limits: Cover letters and contact information are excluded from the 37-page limit. Title pages, tables of contents, and lists of figures/acronyms count towards the limit. Financial statements are not required.
• System Maturity: A "mature system design" indicates a well-established product ready for review, not an R&D effort.
• SDA Process: Vendors are expected to have fully developed systems at proposal submission. Costs for the SDA process are covered by the vendor via the MOA.
• Testing: Vendors are responsible for testing to demonstrate compliance with technical requirements, potentially at both the vendor's facility and the William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC).

Clarifications address scoring, page limits, cost inclusions, and technical requirements. The FAA acknowledges requests for proposal deadline extensions but will issue any changes via official RFP amendment.

Solicitation / RFP / RFQ

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is issuing this Request for Proposal (RFP) to procure up to 50 Remote Tower Systems (RTS) over a five-year period for deployment at Class D airports nationwide. The goal is to enhance the safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System (NAS) by replacing traditional Airport Traffic Control Towers (ATCTs) with digital environments that provide Air Traffic Control (ATC) services from a remote location.

Vendors must be capable of designing, manufacturing, delivering, installing, and sustaining RTS. Key technical requirements include:

• Achieving System Design Approval (SDA) from the FAA.

• Meeting specific technical requirements for functionality, performance, safety, and security as defined in FAA documents (AC Remote Tower Systems, RT Systems Minimum Functional and Performance Requirements, Operational Visual Requirements).

• Demonstrating compliance with software (DO-278A AL 4/5) and hardware (RTCA DO-254 DAL D) assurance levels.

• Providing a 360-degree view with low latency (<=1 second) and a frame rate of 25 Hz or higher.

• Cybersecurity compliance with NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 (Low baseline).

• Meeting redundancy requirements for availability (0.999), automatic switchover (<=3 seconds), and MTTR (<=2 hours).

• Demonstrating production capacity for up to 50 units over five years.

• The FAA intends to purchase up to 50 RTS units over a five-year period.

• The anticipated period of performance is five years after SDA completion.

• The FAA may award a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) initially, with potential for an Indefinite Delivery and Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract after SDA.

• Q&A Due: May 17th, 2026, by 5:00 PM EST

• Response Due: June 26th, 2026, by 5:00 PM EST

• Submit To: Saaduddin Khan, Contracting Officer, Saaduddin.khan@faa.gov

• Proposal Evaluation: Best value tradeoff approach, with Technical Approach being significantly more important than Cost/Price.

• Submission Requirements: Max 37 pages (including cover letter), with specific page limits for Technical, Past Performance, Management Approach, and Business Qualifications. Electronic submission in WORD and Excel formats.

• Vendors must demonstrate capability to meet baseline criteria for the SDA process.

• Small business status should be identified.

• Vendors are encouraged to propose alternative means of demonstrating compliance.

• The FAA is seeking to understand vendor base depth, SDA barriers, system costs, and production capacity.

• Reference is made to several FAA documents and external websites for detailed requirements.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document outlines the technical and cost evaluation criteria for the Remote Tower (RT) system. It details the scoring methodology and specific requirements that vendors must meet.

Technical Evaluation Criteria:

• Scoring Scale: Uses a 1-5 scale (Unacceptable to Outstanding) for most criteria.
• Key Technical Areas:
  • Detection, recognition, and identification performance across Line of Sight (LOS) distances.
  • Continuous 360° airfield view.
  • Minimum video frame rate (≥25 Hz).
  • Capture-to-display latency (≤ 1 second).
  • Alignment with FAA human factors standards.
  • Visual presentation quality (resolution, contrast, clarity).
  • Mitigation for visibility impacts (glare, weather, dust, lighting).
  • Power disruption recovery and automatic function restoration.
  • Recording and export capability for operational data.
  • Controller ability to manage system functions (audio, lighting, interface).
  • Vendor-provided detailed Maintenance model.
• Additional Technical Areas:
  • Complete RT system architecture meeting technical requirements.
  • Ability to produce required system artifacts aligned to FAA SDA.
  • Ability to support integration with airport infrastructure.
  • Demonstrated ability to produce up to 50 units in a 5-year period.

Cost Evaluation Criteria:

• Scoring Scale: Uses a 0-3 scale.
• Key Cost Areas:
  • Standalone RT system cost (hardware + software), excluding installation and site prep.
  • 20-year RT system lifecycle costs must be cost-competitive with traditional ATC tower lifecycle costs.

This document is critical for bidders as it defines the specific technical capabilities and performance standards the RT system must meet. It also outlines the cost competitiveness requirements. Understanding these criteria is essential for developing a compliant and successful proposal. The scoring notes provide specific details on what constitutes an 'Outstanding' versus 'Unacceptable' rating for each criterion.