By Marina Malenic
The Navy has delayed release of a request for proposals for a new unmanned aerial vehicle due to a mandatory review by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).
“The RFP date was delayed because of the OSD review requirement for services procurements greater than $100 million,” an industry source said yesterday.
The originally planned Dec. 23 date will be pushed out, but the award date is still March 23, 2011, according to the source.
The sea service plans to purchase a new unmanned aerial vehicle to launch from destroyers and Littoral Combat Ships.
Northrop Grumman [NOC] plans to offer its BAT tactical unmanned aerial vehicle for both the Navy and a separate U.S. Special Operations Command competitions, a company official said last week during the Association of the United States Army’s annual conference and exposition in Washington.
SOCOM is also planning an expeditionary UAS Maritime competition, according to military sources.
Other competitors for the Navy contract are expected to include Boeing [BA] with the Integrator and Raytheon [RTN] with its Killer Bee.
The Navy has held several industry days and one-on-one meetings to date.