Every UAS development program, experimentation cell, and rapid fielding initiative eventually runs into the same problem: sourcing NDAA-compliant components is slow, managing multiple vendors is overhead-intensive, and standing up fabrication capability for a single program does not pencil out.
The alternative to building that infrastructure is retaining access to it.
Forge Flex is Forge and Flight’s Manufacturing and Procurement as a Service retainer. One contract with a single registered federal vendor covers NDAA-compliant component sourcing, aircraft fabrication, electronics assembly, engineering support, and program management — available on demand across the contract period without re-compete, without new task order negotiations, and without the acquisition timeline that comes with treating each need as a separate procurement action.
What Procurement as a Service Actually Means
Procurement as a Service in a defense UAS context means having a registered, NDAA-compliant vendor that can source the components your program needs — flight controllers, compute modules, propulsion systems, GPS and RTK hardware, datalink equipment, sensors — without your organization managing vendor relationships, compliance verification, or receiving and inspection for each item.
Under a Forge Flex retainer, component procurement works like this: a program identifies a need, submits a work order, and receives NDAA-documented components in three to five business days. Every item in the order comes with full country-of-origin documentation, vendor compliance records, and an audit trail built for NDAA Section 848 and Section 889 review. The receiving, inspection, and inventory management happen on our side.
This is what procurement as a service looks like for a UAS program that does not want to become a procurement office.
What Manufacturing as a Service Actually Means
Manufacturing as a Service means access to fabrication capability — 3D printing across FDM, SLA, and DLP processes; electronics assembly and precision soldering; composite layup; CNC machining coordination; complete aircraft builds from specification to flight-ready — without your program funding a standing manufacturing team between build cycles.
A program that needs ten airframes does not need to acquire a printer, hire a fabricator, and stand up a production line. It needs a retainer with a vendor that can deliver those airframes on a per-order basis with NDAA-compliant materials, documented build processes, and engineering support through first flight.
Forge Flex Procurement and Manufacturing as a Service covers:
Component procurement. NDAA-compliant sourcing for the full stack of small UAS electronics — flight controllers, edge computing modules, propulsion, GPS and RTK systems, sensors, datalink hardware. Standard components delivered in three to five business days. Full NDAA documentation at delivery.
Fabrication. FDM, SLA, and DLP 3D printing. Electronics assembly. Composite work. Complete aircraft builds from specification through flight-ready validation. Airframe fabrication in carbon fiber, foam core, and custom kits.
Engineering services. Flight controller setup and firmware configuration on open-standard platforms. CAD and CAM design support. AI edge computing integration. Technical consultation from design through first flight.
Program management. Dedicated program manager at enterprise tiers. Work order coordination, progress reporting, and monthly statements covering labor hours and procurement activity. Audit-ready documentation for every procurement.
Why a Retainer Beats Per-Action Procurement
The alternative to a retainer is treating every component need and fabrication requirement as a separate procurement action. That means a separate market research effort, a separate source selection, a separate contract award, and a separate onboarding process with each new vendor — for every motor order, every airframe build, every engineering consultation.
The administrative overhead of that model is not theoretical. Programs that operate this way spend more time on acquisition actions than on program execution. The retainer model converts that overhead into a single annual contract with a single CAGE code and a single point of contact.
Forge Flex retainers are structured across six tiers — Bronze through Obsidian — with allocated labor hours and a procurement ceiling sized to the program’s anticipated need. Unused procurement balance carries forward at year-end. Contracts can be structured to obligate O&M and RDT&E funds immediately with work performed over the contract period, and are executable within two weeks of award.
Contracting entity: Forge and Flight Labs LLC — CAGE 18VF2, UEI SUVKLZLPBJC1, SAM Active.
Who Forge Flex Is For
Forge Flex is the right model for programs that have a recurring need for NDAA-compliant components or fabrication and do not want to manage a vendor network to fill it. That includes rapid prototyping programs standing up new platform families, experimentation cells that need components across a fiscal year without predicting exact orders, R&D programs with ongoing fabrication and engineering needs, and small programs that cannot justify a standing manufacturing contract but need consistent access to the capability.
It is also the right model for programs evaluating whether to build internal fabrication capacity. A Forge Flex retainer provides immediate access to manufacturing capability while leadership determines whether a longer-term infrastructure investment makes sense.
Request a Forge Flex proposal — proposals returned within 48 hours.