1. The Department of National Defence (DND) is reviewing its requirement for Aviation Life Support Equipment (ALSE) for Rotary Wing (RW) Tactical Aviation (Tac Avn) operations. To that end, the client department is looking to engage with industry to obtain more information about various products. The information will be used to assist the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) with the definition of new requirements.
2. The purpose of this LOI is to obtain information to assist the RCAF with the review of existing offers from industry partners.
3. The products of interest are:
- RW Tac Avn products that are in production or planned for production before 31 December 2026 with planned airworthiness certification,
- RW Night Vision Goggles (NVG) that have airworthiness certification,
- Immersion suits (dry suits) that have airworthiness certification,
- Aircrew combat vests with plate carriers that have airworthiness certification,
- Personal inflatable solutions of combat vests with airworthiness certification,
- Personal Locator Beacons with or without airworthiness certification,
- Combat Search and Survival Radios with 406 SARSAT, two-way 121.5 MHz voice communication, two -way 243.0 MHz voice communication, and encrypted data communication, anti-jam and anti-spoof antennas, and
- Single-Person flotation devices designed for post aircraft ditching events.
4. Suppliers are encouraged to provide information about their product in the form of promotional/demonstration video(s), commercial brochure(s), technical document(s) and/or physical sample(s).
5. DND will use this information and samples during a Tac Avn ALSE Working Group held during the week 8-12 June 2026. This Working Group will convene key stakeholders and include a broad selection of representative ALSE products from a variety of Suppliers. Participants will review products, promotional materials, and conduct in-aircraft compatibility and in-pool demonstrations of provided products. This approach will allow an initial, synchronized assessment of products against requirements, enabling an informed and efficient understanding of available solutions. There are no operational testing and evaluations being conducted related to this event.
6. All comments and questions to the LOI must be submitted in writing to the Contracting Authority before 2 June 2026. Inquiries submitted after this date may not be answered. Responses to inquiries will be released via a LOI amendment, if any.
7. The issuance of this LOI is not to be considered in any way as a commitment by Canada or as authority to potential Bidders to undertake any work that could be charged to Canada. This LOI is not a bid solicitation and will not result in the award of any contract. Potential suppliers of any goods or services described in this LOI should not reserve stock or facilities, nor allocate resources, as a result of any information contained in this LOI. Nor will this LOI result in the creation of any source list. Therefore, whether or not potential Bidders respond on this LOI will not preclude these Companies from participating in any future procurement.
8. Any information submitted to Canada in response to this LOI may, or may not, be used by Canada in the development of the potential subsequent Request for Proposal (RFP).
9. Please review the attached Letter of Interest for further details.
