MQ-4C Universal Lifting Sling

What the government is buying

Department of the Navy (NAVAIR Warfare Ctr Aircraft Div) has posted a sources sought notice on SAM.gov for MQ-4C Universal Lifting Sling under solicitation number N6833526Q1175. Responses are due October 5, 2026, 11:00 AM EDT.

From the notice: Pursuant to FAR 15.101(c)- This is a Request for Information only. There is no solicitation package available. This Sources Sought is being posted to satisfy the requirements of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 206.103-170(d). The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), Lakehurst intends to solicit, negotiate, and make an award on a sole-source basis with VEP Manufacturing Inc., CAGE Code: 5C905, for the procurement of the Universal Lifting Sling, Part Number (P/N) 4106AS0150-2 and NSN: 1730-01-665-8764, and for the upgrade of the Universal Lifting, P/N: 4106AS0150-1 and NSN: 1730-01-665-8764 to the current confiuration. This procurement is in support of the MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) Program Unite ...

This page summarizes the public notice only. The complete solicitation, amendments, and attachments are posted on SAM.gov, and offerors should price from the full package.

How Wexmar would machine this

Based on the notice title and classification, Wexmar would plan this work around turning, horizontal milling, or Swiss turning depending on the geometry on the drawing, with the process set so critical features are cut in the fewest setups. Every lot is inspected against the drawing on Brown & Sharpe CMMs.

Equipment on the floor

• Turning: 10 Mazak and Doosan CNC lathes with live tooling
• Horizontal milling: 6 Mazak horizontal machining centers, 3- and 4-axis, with pallet changers
• Swiss: 4 Maier Swiss-type lathes, bar capacity to 32 mm
• Grinding: centerless and surface grinding
• Inspection: 2 Brown & Sharpe coordinate measuring machines

Materials

Material is set by the drawing. Wexmar machines carbon and alloy steels, stainless steels including precipitation-hardening grades, Inconel, Monel, Hastelloy, aluminum, brass, bronze, titanium, and engineering plastics, and buys bar and plate with mill certifications. Where DFARS 252.225-7009 applies, specialty metals are sourced from qualifying melt sources and the certifications travel with the parts.

Finishing and heat treatment

If the drawing calls for plating, anodizing, passivation, or heat treatment, Wexmar manages those steps through qualified outside processors and includes their certifications in the lot paperwork.

Documentation and registration

• First article inspection reports and CMM dimensional reports
• Material certifications traceable to heat lot, and certificates of conformance
• DFARS 252.225-7009 specialty metals sourcing
• ISO 9001-aligned quality system
• SAM.gov active, CAGE 16AD7, small business, woman-owned small business (WOSB)

Working with a prime or distributor

If your company is responding to N6833526Q1175, Wexmar can price the machined content against the drawing revision and quantities in the notice, quote first article and production lots as separate lines when the notice separates them, and ship to you or directly to the government destination.

Send us the files

We can build this. Send us the files. Primes, integrators, and buyers: send the drawing package and quantity and Wexmar will quote it as your subcontractor or direct supplier. Upload a PDF or STEP for an instant estimate, email ron@backwell.com, or call (315) 400-2654.

Related: Build-to-print machining, Government and defense machining, DFARS specialty metals sourcing, Defense and DoD machining.