The Navy on Monday issued a notice that it intends to expand industry partnerships for more small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) performing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, hosting an industry day next month.
The notice said it intends to “broaden industry partnerships for current requirements and future capabilities via Contractor Owned Contractor Operated (COCO) services for the Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Program Office (PMA-263) in support of the Department of Defense (DoD) and Other Government Agencies.”
It said these services will be used for both land and ship-based U.S. and coalition military partners in combat and contingency operations.
Naval Air Systems Command plans to host a virtual industry day on Jan. 8 to present requirements and future capabilities to industry representatives looking to provide this kind of COCO ISR services.
Under the current conception, the Navy said contractors would be responsible for providing all resources to produce sensor data, including personnel, non-developmental UAS equipment, certifications, operation and maintenance, spares and product support.
The Navy said the ISR missions will support operations requiring “around the clock imagery and other sensor capabilities,” with services planned for both a normal and surge basis every day.
Notably, the notice said PMA-263 plans to release two Requests For Information (RFIs) “shortly after” the industry day to assess qualified potential partners. The first will look to identify vendors capable of meeting current ISR requirements while the second will cover vendor capabilities for future ISR requirements.
The notice said some of the current performance parameters and minimum requirements these ISR services include being at Technology Readiness Level-8, have an operational range up to 75 nautical miles, operating for up to 10 hours on station at maximum range, capable of operating with 64dB on anti-jamming capability for all phases of flight to operate in a DPS-contested or degraded environment, and able to operate in adverse weather.
The Navy currently uses the Northrop Grumman [NOC] MQ-4C Triton and the smaller Textron System’s [TXT] Aerosonde UAS to support sea-based ISR missions. The Triton is launched from airfields while the Aerosonde is deployed and launched off of individual ships.
Interested parties must register by Dec. 31.