The U.S. Coast Guard released a draft request for proposal (RFP) for procurement of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for the national security cutters (NSCs).
Issued on March 28, the draft invites industry sources to comment, ask questions and provide feedback by May 15, 2017.
The Coast Guard is pursuing sUAS to deliver an effective, low-cost solution to enhance the NSC’s aerial surveillance capabilities and to provide the cutters with a tactical airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability that can remain airborne for extended periods.
The service deployed the Insitu ScanEagle sUAS on Coast Guard Cutter Stratton, an NSC based in Alameda, California, earlier this year and is using the data gathered to refine the concept of operations and requirements for installing and integrating future systems across the NSC class.
The final RFP is planned for release by the end of fiscal year 2017. The contract award for the retrofit of Stratton and one additional NSC is targeted for fiscal year 2018.