Taking a page out of the Coast Guard’s playbook, Customs and Border Protection is considering acquiring contractor-owned and operated aircraft services for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. The Coast Guard currently contracts with Boeing’s [BA] Insitu business unit ...

The Air Force Research Laboratory is aiming to field the new prototype autonomous, unmanned combat air vehicle dubbed “Skyborg” by 2023, the service said March 27. Air Force Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Will Roper announced the new initiative March 15, and ...

The State Department has approved the possible foreign military sale of four MQ-9B SkyGuardian unmanned aircraft and related equipment to NATO ally Belgium for an estimated cost of $600 million. The SkyGuardian, a variant of General Atomics’ MQ-9 Reaper, was developed in compliance with European ...

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) intends to meet the goals of its Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) by Sept. 30, which is the end of the current fiscal year. The agency funded ALIAS at nearly $17.2 million in fiscal 2018 and $10 million in fiscal 2019 but has ...

The U.S. Army has dedicated $12 million in its fiscal 2020 budget request to kickstart development of a Future Unmanned Aircraft System (FUAS) that eventually will replace the RQ-7B Shadow drone at the brigade level. In its fiscal 2020 base budget, the Army set aside $12.1 million to buy 12 � ...

The U.S. Navy issued a sources sought/request for information (RFI) notice on March 13 to find sources to satisfy upcoming requirements for the Large Unmanned Surface Vessels (LUSV) program. The Navy said this is to conduct market research “to determine if sources exist that are capable of ...