WingtraRAY UAS Platform

Notice Number: 145025-26-0046JRW

Notice Type: Sources Sought Synopsis

Title: WingtraRAY UAS Platform

Response Date: August 07. 2026

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS and is not a pre-solicitation announcement. The purpose of this Market Research and Sources Sought Notice is to gain knowledge of potential qualified businesses, which could include Small Business, HUBZone, 8(a), Service-Disabled Veteran Owned, Women Owned Small Business firms and even Large Businesses offering domestically manufactured products that meet the required specifications. Responses to this Sources Sought Synopsis will be used by the Government in making appropriate acquisition decisions.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) has a mission-critical requirement to acquire a rapidly deployable Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) platform. The GLERL is a multidisciplinary environmental research laboratory that provides scientific understanding to inform the use and management of Great Lakes and coastal marine environments. This capability is required to support rapid response environmental monitoring and collect high-resolution remote sensing data to map and monitor coastal inundation. The acquired data will directly validate GLERL’s active flood forecasting models. Flooding conditions change rapidly; an in-house fleet drastically reduces data acquisition timelines and costs compared to deploying low-level crewed flights, which are constrained by pilot availability, high costs, and cloud ceiling limits (<3,000 ft).

INTENDED USE/PURPOSE:

This is the only known instrument that can meet the Government’s needs, and this notice’s intent is to identify any other products that meet the full requirements listed below.

The Wingtra Ray is a turnkey platform, sensors which eliminate the need for sensor integration process, tail-sitting fixed wing drone is capable of surveying a large areal extent within a short time window and provides new remote-sensing capabilities to GLERL’s portfolio including a LIDAR sensor and an additional multispectral camera that can detect land vs water which is critical for inundation model validation. The platform must pass the NOAA UAS requirements to meet the airworthiness certification for the Wide Area Field Operations. The vendor must offer platform specific training in order to meet the NOAA training requirement.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS/ESSENTIAL SALIENT FEATURES:

Design & Aerodynamics: Tail-sitting fixed-wing vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) configuration.

Dimensions & Materials: 125 cm wingspan constructed of Carbon Fiber, Glass Fiber, KEVLAR, and PVC.

Performance & Endurance: 59 minutes of flight time under hyperspectral payloads and 45 minutes under LiDAR payloads. Capable of surveying 550 hectares (5.5 km²) in a single hour.

Operating Envelope: Maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 5.2 kg with a payload capacity of 1.25 kg. Wind resistance up to 12 m/s sustained (18 m/s gusts) and operating temperatures ranging from -10°C to 40°C.

Avionics & Power: Redundant GNSS utilizing GPS (L1, L2), GLONASS (L1, L2), Galileo (L1), and BeiDou (L1) across specific frequencies. Powered by Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries with a 30.8V nominal voltage.

Sensor Integration: True "Plug and Play" sensor connections that eliminate the extensive physical, wiring, and weight-distribution adjustments associated with secondary payloads.

Platform:

Wingspan: 125 cm

Material: Carbon Fiber / Glass Fiber / KEVLAR / PVC

Maximum take-off weight: 5.2 kg

Wind Resistance: Up to 12 m/s sustained (18 m/s gusts)

Working Temperature: -10°C - 40°C

Payload capacity: 1.25 kg

Batteries:

Type: Lithium Polymer (LiPo)

Nominal Voltage: 30.8 V

GNSS:

Redundant, using GPS (L1, L2), GLONASS (L1, L2), Galileo (L1) and BeiDou (L1)

Frequencies range: 1227.6 MHz / 1242.9375-1251.6875 MHz / 1561,098 MHz

Drone type Tailsitter vertical take-off and landing (VTOL)

Maximum take-off weight 5.2 kg (11.5 lb)

Payload capacity 1'250 g (2.75 lb)

Wingspan 125 cm (4.1 ft)

Battery capacity Two 99 Wh batteries (required as a pair)

Battery type Lithium-polymer, smart battery technology, UN3481 compliant

Radio link (2.4 GHz, primary) Bi-directional 10 km (6 mi) in direct line of sight, obstacles reduce the range

Radio link (LTE, secondary) Bi-directional unlimited range within mobile network coverage

Onboard GNSS Redundant, using GPS (L1, L2), GLONASS (L1, L2), Galileo (L1) and BeiDou (L1)

Frequencies range: 1227.6 MHz / 1242.9375-1251.6875 MHz / 1561,098 MHz / 1575,42 MHz / 1598.0625-1609.3125 MHz / 1602,00 MHz

Dimensions of drone 125 × 68 × 12 cm (49.2 × 26.8 × 4.8 in, without landing fin)

Dimensions of transport case 130 x 70 x 34 cm (51.2 x 27.6 x 13.4 in)

Dimensions of transport case with cardboard shipping protection 134 x 74 x 37 cm (52.8 x 29.1 x 14.6 in)

Weight of transport case incl. drone bundle 14.4 kg (32 lb)

Weight of transport case fully loaded (drone bundle +…