Θ Maryland's UAS Sensing by yourDragonXi Δ 9th of December 2017 Ω 3:46 PM

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~ Institute for Systems Research ~ BAI Aerosystems ~ Lockheed Martin	~ NAVY ~ UAV Solutions ~ DashX	~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ
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«UAS Sensing in U.S.	Θ	Θ
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~ Institute for Systems Research

Institute for Systems Research

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~ BAI Aerosystems

»BAI Aerosystems

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~ Lockheed Martin

»Lockheed Martin

»UTC
»UTC / Pratt & Whitney
»Sikorsky

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~ NAVY

US Navy sUAS requirement

This Request for Information (RFI) is in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.2, and
is published to obtain market research for use by the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIRSYSCOM),
Program Executive Office, Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO(U&W),
Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Office (PMA-263), Patuxent River, Maryland.

NAVAIRSYSCOM intends to issue Basic Ordering Agreements (BOA)
to provide PMA-263 with Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS) systems
in accordance with the requirements contained herein.

A BOA is a written instrument of understanding, negotiated between an agency,
contracting activity, or contracting office and a contractor that contains:
(1) terms and clauses applying to future contracts (orders) between the parties during its term,
(2) a description, as specific as practicable, of supplies or services to be provided, and
(3) methods for pricing, issuing, and delivering future orders under the BOA.

A BOA is not a contract.
Delivery/Task Orders issued under BOAs are the binding contractual actions, and
each order issued shall be subject to the contract clauses,
provisions, certifications, terms, and conditions of the BOA.

Issuance of BOA’s will be based on evaluation of qualifications
in accordance with the criteria as set forth in this notice.

Award of specific orders as requirements arise will be based on price/cost and
other factors as deemed desirable and set forth for each specific requirement.

The Government reserves the right to set-aside future BOA orders for small businesses contractors when practicable.
In the event more than 1 BOA is issued,
specific firm-fixed priced orders will be competed among the BOA holders.
Individual orders will not be synopsized unless it is determined by the Contracting Officer
that the requirements of FAR Part 5 have not been met by this notice for a specific order, or
otherwise determines that synopsis of the requirement is in the best interest of the Government.

The Government does not intend to pay for the information solicited.
No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government
will arise as a result of preparing submissions in response to this RFI and
the Government’s use of such information.

The Government will not reimburse respondents for any costs associated with the preparation or
submission of the information requested.
Submittals will not be returned to the sender.
Respondents of this RFI may be requested to provide additional information/details based on their initial submittals.

Contractors that demonstrate that they meet the qualifications in paragraph 3.0
will be considered for issuance of a BOA.
The Government reserves the right not to issue a BOA.

BOAs will be issued for a period of 3 years.
There is no guaranteed minimum dollar amount or volume of work that will be ordered under the BOAs.
Government funds are obligated only to the extent that a duly issued order creates such an obligation.
The BOA can only be changed by modification of the agreement itself and
not by individual orders issued under the BOA.
Modification of the BOA shall not retroactively affect orders issued prior to the time of the modification.
A BOA may be cancelled by either party by mailing or otherwise transmitting 30 days prior written notice to the other party.
Any such cancellation shall have no effect on any orders issued prior to the effective date of the cancellation,
which shall be 30 days from the date of mailing or otherwise transmitting the written notice of cancellation.
Prior to the effective date of cancellation, NAVAIR may continue to place orders under the BOA.

2. OBJECTIVE

PEO (U&W), PMA-263 is seeking industry inputs to identify Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS) systems
capable of providing Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) in day and night operations, and
in adverse environmental conditions.

The systems are intended to build needed Foreign Partner capacity
in accordance with Defense Security Cooperation Agency guidelines.

These systems may build partner capacity in countries with differing levels of access to protected U. S. technologies.
To this end, Section 4.0 asks respondents to identify the full range (minimum to maximum) of
capability within configuration management control for technical attributes such as
air vehicle performance, sensor performance, ground station performance, system architecture,
communication link design, operating software, and any associated payload capability.

3.0 REQUIREMENTS

(“STUAS” or “the system” refers to the air vehicles and the ground system,
to include the control segment, support equipment, launch and recovery equipment, and
any ancillary equipment required to accomplish the mission.)

System capabilities must be complete and qualified through test and demonstration.
A system must be proven to work in its final form and under the expected operational conditions.

The desired STUAS should be of lightweight design (Group 2 or low-end Group 3) and
shall have the capability of providing real time full motion video via electro-optical (EO) and
infrared (IR) sensors for maritime and land based operations
with minimal setup and quick (1 to 2 hour) disassembly capabilities.

Systems should be capable of reaching high altitudes
to avoid detection or enemy intervention for transit to and from the operating area,
with a normal operating altitude in the operations area of 3,000 – 5000 feet AGL.

The air vehicle should be capable of autonomous or manual launch and
recovery with minimal to no required modifications in a small confined area and hot or cold terrain conditions.
It must be runway independent.

The system configuration should be designed for quick (24 Hour) deployment,
long range missions (minimum 10-12 hours flight time),
quick turn-around times between day & night operations.
The minimal air vehicle performance attributes are listed in Table 1.

The ground control station should be easily deployable and
have the necessary equipment to monitor UAS sensor(s) position and status,
control its movement and have the capacity to view video surveillance in real time.
The system should be reusable and rugged enough to survive adverse weather conditions,
unimproved areas, uneven terrain, urban areas, forested areas and salt water (maritime) conditions.
Required minimum system capabilities are listed below.

Table 1

Minimum Air Vehicle Performance Specifications

Airspeed: Minimum 50 KTAS[1]
Service Ceiling[2]:Minimum 15,000 Feet MSL[3]
Takeoff / RecoveryWind Limits: Maximum Headwind30 Knots
Crosswind10 Knots: Maximum Gust 15 Knots
Takeoff, Operations,and Recovery: Temperature Range -20 to +140F
95% RelativeHumidity
DensityAltitude 6000Feet forTakeoff andRecovery
RainfallMaximum 0.25
Inches/Hour
Takeoff / RecoveryArea: 100 x 100 Meter Area Surrounded by Obstacles up to 15 Feet Tall,
Sloping up to 4 Degrees, with Surface Obstacles/DepressionsThroughout, up to 1 Foot Depth/Height

Endurance
Threshold: 10 Hours of Continuous Sensor Data
Objective: 18 Hours of Continuous Sensor Data

»Request for Information (RFI) For United States Navy Small Tactical Unmanned Air Systems (STUAS), (PMA-263)

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~ UAV Solutions

»UAV Solutions

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~ DashX

The Northrop Grumman/VX Aerospace Dash X unmanned aerial vehicle inside its canister

A new unmanned aerial system co-developed by Northrop Grumman
could provide the Navy with enhanced situational awareness.

The Dash X unmanned aerial vehicle is intended to perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions
according to JJ Thompson, Northrop Grumman's mission systems director for airborne C4ISR business development.

The company revealed a concept demonstrator for the Dash X
— known internally at Northrop as Remedy —
to reporters at a media day at its facilities in Linthicum, Maryland.

The system was co-developed with VX Aerospace,
a Morganton, North Carolina-based advanced composites manufacturing and design company.

The idea was to create "an expendable device or sensor"
that could be deployed in a clusterbomb-type canister from a maritime aircraft,
which then extracts itself to covertly gather signals intelligence and other forms of data.

It deploys itself out,
has these little special listening devices in the belly, and
has a communication device that speaks back" to the airframe.

Once airborne, the wingspan of the Dash X measures about 12 feet.
It can operate for 10 hours at a speed of 60 knots.

VX Aerospace custom designed and built two Dash X platforms
at its Morganton facility for flight testing.

The development team tested the system Oct. 26 at Foothill Regional Airport, North Carolina,
where the unmanned platforms were deployed from a modified Bombardier Dash 8 turboprop airliner.

During the flight demo,
a manned aircraft directed the Dash X systems
to change missions and locations in real time,
while the drones collected and shared electronic warfare and signals intelligence data inflight.

These flew forward looking for an un-located [radio frequency] object.
They went out, they found that vehicle,
they listened to the whispering and they pulled it back to this test airplane.

Dash X platforms were able to detect,
identify and geolocate the object while deployed.

In a future operational setting,
the technology could be used to find and monitor
a variety of enemy capabilities such as tanks or ballistic missiles.

The Navy for years has been working to beef up its electronic warfare capabilities,
as near-peer adversaries are taking advantage of advances in commercial electronics
to attempt to beat the U.S. military's systems.

According to Thompson, a former Navy electronic attack squadron commander and requirements officer,
Dash X could be a cost-effective, innovative tool in the service's electromagnetic maneuver warfare arsenal.

How does an airframe with people inside of it
persist in this very hostile environment?.
How can I listen for a long time for people that are hiding?

Northrop wanted to develop a platform that was inexpensive to operate and expendable,
that could travel hundreds of miles to gather data
but be small and slow enough that it is virtually undetectable by adversaries.

It's survivable because it's absolutely so small and so slow.
No one's looking for an object that moves at 60 knots
without the wind and that's made of tin.

In theory, the Dash X could carry any type of payload, including munitions.
But the U.S. government is specifically interested in deploying sensors
including electro-optical, infrared, or radio-frequency payloads.

The Northrop-VX Aerospace team partnered with North Carolina State University and
the University of South Carolina on the Dash X development.

They received funding from the Office of Naval Research.

Other partners include the Naval Air Systems Command program office 265,
which oversees the service's F/A-18 Super Hornet and
EA-18G Growler aircraft.

The Navy also paired the Dash X with a Growler manned-unmanned teaming initiative
in its recent Fleet Experimentation, or
FLEX program over the summer.
The program is sponsored by the commanders of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and Pacific Fleet
and conducted by Navy Warfare Development Command.

Northrop Grumman and ONR jointly funded the flight demonstration.

The next step is to ensure the platform can unfold in the air
and take flight.

Northrop Grumman and the U.S. government are currently in conversations
about how funding will be allocated for further tests.
Research and development could be completed by 2019.

According to Robert Skillen, VX Aerospace CEO and chief engineer,
the effort took nine months from a clean sheet design to first flight.

With U.S. and coalition forces facing increasingly advanced threats
from near-peer adversaries, the services will require platforms with
greater reach, protection and lethality,
according to Tom Jones, vice president and general manager
for Northrop's airborne C4ISR systems division in a press release.

Northrop Grumman is applying various disruptive technologies
to develop a number of innovative, multifunction capabilities,
including the pairing of manned and unmanned systems.

Links
»canister-deployed-uav-for-everyone by diydrones.com
»VX Aerospace unveils military drone, partners with local airport
ξ hangar at the Foothills Regional Airport
ξ VX Aerospace CEO Robert Skillen
ξ VX Aerospace hosted its phase one unveiling of the Dash X drone
ξ allows it to be folded up and stowed inside tactical aircrafts on military missions
ξ drone became known as the Kitty Hawk
ξ post-graduate engineers and faculty from North Carolina State University and the University of South Carolina worked with VX
ξ drone, controlled by a pilot, <-- not autonomous!
ξ took off from the ground at Foothills Regional Airport <-- with propelled air plane
ξ and attempted to communicate with an aircraft in the air <-- did it succeed ?

»Kitty Hawk
ξ fixed wing with foldable wings

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Small & Smart Inc reserves rights to change this document without any notice
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