Anna Forrester
The U.S. Navy has issued a request for information to support the Naval Air Systems Command’s market research on small tactical unmanned aircraft systems for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
In a notice posted Dec. 30 on FedBizOpps, the Navy said the STUAS will also work to bolster foreign partner capacity under guidelines set by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
The notice identified system requirements in communication link design, payload capability, operating software and air vehicle, sensor and ground station performance.
According to the Navy, the desired STUAS is also lightweight and designed for long-range missions with quick deployment and turnaround times, has real-time full-motion video capability and manual or autonomous launch and recovery functions and requires minimal setup and quick disassembly.
The service branch also wants the ground station to be easily deployable, reusable and rugged.
NAVAIR plans to award basic ordering agreements over three years for the STUAS.
Responses to the RFI are due Jan. 28.
