The US Department of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center has issued a Request for Information (RFI) from sources that have counter-UAS capabilities against drone groups 2/3 (can identify capability across other UAS groups).
According to the RFI:
“The capability must be ground-to-air or air-to-air employed. This capability may be autonomous or pseudo autonomous. This capability must have the ability to demonstrate All-Up Round capability at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) six (6) no later than 30 June 2025.
“EBD requires an effective and cost efficient air-to-air weapon system. Submittal of a ROM is not mandatory but highly encouraged. Describe government furnished support/equipment required for demonstration. All respondents must provide a capability statement detailing their ability to deliver the specified products or have the business relationships to fulfill the requirements. Capability statements shall address the following items:
“1. Design Maturity. Describe current TRL of your design. Describe any ground testing conducted of system components. Describe any flight testing conducted of system components. Is the design tested against MIL-STD-810 environmental requirements? Is the design ready to transition to production? Describe the employment environment (e.g. min/max range, altitude etc.) Seeker characteristics (size, new fuze or existing, etc.)
“2. Safety/Lethality Assessments. If design has explosives, provide experience with MILSTD-1316 requirements. Experience with AF/Navy safety processes in accordance with DAFI 91-205 and OPNAVINST 8020.14B. Have explosive devices been used in other DOD operational systems? Has arena testing been conducted on the warhead? Is lethality data available against the target set (drone groups 2/3)?
“3. Logistics. Experience with AF/Navy munitions packaging, handling, and storage requirements. Experience with developing technical data source material. Are CFR 49 qualified containers available for transporting and storing the system and/or components?
“4. Airworthiness (Air-to-Air Only). Experience with AF/Navy airworthiness requirements. Has the system or similar system flown on AF/Navy platforms, either in test or operationally? Are there any other DOD systems this has been integrated on? Has the weapon been fielded operationally? If so, provide full details to each question for this section.
“5. Manufacturing Maturity. Do you have the capability to manufacture this product? At what Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) has this been demonstrated? Would it be manufactured in the U.S.? What is the current maximum production capacity per month? Describe ability to increase capacity, if any, along with tooling and ROM to achieve increases up to 2,000 units/year. Address willingness to provide Unlimited/Gov’t Purpose Rights on the design for the Gov’t to pursue other/additional manufacturing sources.
“6. Support Equipment: Is support equipment required (list type, quantities, and cost)? Provide ratio of weapon units to support equipment.
“7. Maintenance: If periodic maintenance is required, please state the interval. If maintenance is not required, please specify. Is shelf life a part of maintainability?”
For more information
(Image: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Zachary Rufus, Eglin Air Force Base)
