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THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) NOTICE ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP).
Man-Portable Interceptor Aircraft Solutions and Integration
1. Background.
The U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) invites interested entities to provide technical inputs and a capabilities statement/brief to the requirements and objectives outlined herein. RCCTO is seeking a man-portable interceptor aircraft intended for a Counter Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS), Class 1-3, application, capable of being employed by dismounted operators. RCCTO has witnessed that the quantity of available compliant Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) and Nondevelopmental Items (NDI) UAS components is expanding and evolving rapidly. Moreover, operationally, in Ukraine and elsewhere, the concepts of employment and field modifications of commercially available drone technology are also evolving at a fast pace. These dynamic conditions necessitate nimble technologies and capabilities where upgraded or more cost-effective COTS and NDI components can be rapidly modified, upgraded, and integrated into fielded UAS to meet changing operational realities at the tip-of-the-spear. This RFI seeks to inform RCCTO of the available companies and businesses that work with, develop, and integrate man-portable interceptor C-UAS technologies that will rapidly integrate existing Government Furnished Information (GFI) and Government Furnished Equipment (GFE), iterate on designs, and develop products and solutions that can support supply chains based domestically. RCCTO is also seeking capabilities that enable fast field assembly and additive manufacture of major components at forward operating positions. Submissions addressing the described capabilities, objectives, and requirements are to be submitted on an on-going basis until 22 July, and early submittals/responses to the RFI are encouraged. RCCTO and operational unit subject matter experts (SMEs), including contractor support personnel, will review responses to better inform and shape the requirements. Submittals will also allow RCCTO to appraise the marketplace and supply chains that will be codified in a market research report. This RFI is open to both traditional and non-traditional large and small business concerns as well as academic and nonprofit entities to submit their technical feedback and capabilities that may meet the Army’s needs and objectives.
The purpose of this RFI is for industry partners to describe their skills, experience, and capabilities in providing innovative man-portable interceptor aircraft solutions and integration approaches to accelerate military technology and fill critical technology and operational gaps for the U.S. Army.
2. General Capability Description.
Provide light infantry units with an organic, affordable, rapidly adaptable man-portable interceptor aircraft for C-UAS missions. RCCTO is seeking information from vendors that have platform development and lead integration experience relevant to this RFI. The Government will provide an existing munition payload and will be pursuing the qualification of the fuzing and system in parallel with the execution of this activity. The performer would be expected to ensure the airframe can satisfy required fuzing environments developed to be consistent with MIL-STD-1316 or similar standards. The Government will also be providing an airframe reference design, which currently satisfies threshold flight performance requirements of the draft Statement of Objectives (SOO), though it must be adapted to incorporate vision-based guidance, both sensors and additional onboard edge processing. Existing onboard autonomy supporting command and control as well as autonomous guidance will be provided independent of the performer and will influence the processing requirements. The Government will also be providing Warfighter Machine interface reference hardware, software and architectures, in accordance with (IAW) Nett Warrior (NW) and the future Soldier Borne Mission Command (SBMC) program specifications, which includes the requirement to utilize a NW/SBMC Android Operating System device.
More details about the requirements for this RFI can be found in the SOO in Appendix A.
A development and integration program is envisioned that will span 27 months and be tightly integrated with operational units. Major prototype releases are planned to be conducted four (4) times throughout the period of performance, nominally every 6 months. For those major releases, the performer shall provide a set of completed prototype systems for demonstration and evaluation, along with the necessary components, files, and instructions for units to explore field assembly, to include additively manufacturing airframe components. Toward this vision, the performer would also lead graphical user interface development for a future NW/SBMC Android Operating System device and Soldier training for hit-to-kill evaluation and support kinetic range testing and system certification.
Current considerations envision the final deliverables to include the delivery of a fully defined, product-level Technical Data Package (TDP) addressing all aspects of the solution so that the Government can continue to evolve it as necessary in response to a changing market and operational demands. The TDP is expected to be delivered with unlimited rights to the Government.
3. Requested Information.
This RFI requests information, capabilities, and technical feedback addressing the ability to participate in such a development approach and to deliver the described system and TDP. RCCTO is interested not only in establishing that industry can support such a program but also feedback in how it can be best implemented. The identification of risk as well as proposed mitigations would be valuable. Fundamentally, RCCTO is interested to learning what the market capabilities are to do something like what is described in the SOO (i.e., develop, integrate, and distribute a UAS), as described herein, that can be assembled (and modified) in the field in large quantities and what will it take for a company to get from the current state to this desired state in 27 months, or sooner? The Government is also interested in what information, which is lacking in the SOO, will be necessary to scope a competitive proposal. RCCTO offers the following questions for which we are specifically interested in feedback:
a. Does your company have experience delivering and/or integrating UAS products and components (or similar or related products) to Soldiers / Warfighters?
b. Do you have these products and/or components sustained by commercial sales?
c. Does your company have experience designing, building & flying UAS including Class 1-3 UAS targets? Or other types of unmanned systems?
d. Is your company a small or large business concern?
e. Does your company have a Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) compliant accounting system?
f. Does your company already have the capacity to protect Controlled, Unclassified Information (CUI)?
g. Is your company a nontraditional defense contractor (NDC), as defined in 10 U.S.C. 3014?
h. Do your company’s employees have, or can they easily obtain clearances and Common Access Cards (CACs)?
i. What is your company’s ability to rapidly fabricate, assemble, and integrate prototypes, including, what prototyping tools does your company have access to?
j. What is your company’s capacity to develop and prototype custom printed circuit boards?
k. Has your company delivered a complete technical data package (TDP) to the DoD in the past five years? Is your company willing to deliver a full TDP to DoD for these purposes?
l. Does your company have autonomy or user interface software that can be leveraged in the development of the system? Do you have a preferred “team-of-teams” partner for software solutions?
m. What architectures and standards do you use, and are they Modular and Open-Source Architectures (MOSA)?
n. What is your company’s experience with or capacity to develop and qualify fuze technology?
o. What is your company’s capacity to move into production with your solution, with the capability to produce and deliver an estimated 1,000 units per month?
A comprehensive response to these questions may assist in informing future solicitation(s).
Development Timeline and Technology Readiness Level (TRL): RCCTO is seeking technical feedback and company information that will outline the ability to plan to test, demonstrate, and deliver operational prototypes at TRL 6-7+ through the above-described process. As part of the technical response, vendors are requested to provide a period of performance that would facilitate completion of any methods or solutions identified, optimally, no longer than twenty-seven (27) months.
4. Government Furnished Property (GFP)/Government Furnished Equipment (GFE)/Government Furnished Information (GFI):The Government anticipates the use of GFP/GFI. See the associated SOO for a detailed description of GFP/GFE/GFI.
5. Response Guidelines.
Eligible interested parties can respond to this RFI with technical feedback and company capabilities. Submissions shall not exceed 9 one-sided pages, single-spaced, 12-point type with at least one-inch margins on 8 1/2” x 11” page size. Pictures or graphic representations do not count against the page limit. The response should not exceed a 10 MB e-mail limit for all items associated with the RFI response. Responses must specifically address the requested information. Oral communications initiated by the respondent are not permissible. All RFI submissions are treated as company proprietary information, and the content will be disclosed to U.S. Government (USG) employees, military, or designated support contractors only for the purpose of reviewing technical feasibility and market research. RFI submittals should outline both capacities and technical information that address and support the stated objectives and requirements in paragraphs 2 and 3 as well as the SOO. The technical discussion must also include a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost/price and rough schedule
for this RCCTO requirement. Submissions should recognize that RCCTO is seeking to deliver a TRL 6-7+ solution, developed through an iterative process involving regular hands-on engagement with Soldiers over a timeframe of 12 to 27 months with a goal to be integrated and fielded in that timeframe, or shortly thereafter. Submittals must include a Company or Entity cover page, limited to one (1) page, which will not count against the 9-page limit, and should include Company name and address, and CAGE Code (if available); the Technical and Business Points of Contact (POC) to include: Telephone Numbers and Email Addresses; Company headquarters location; size of company, both revenues and # of employees; if the Company’s proposed solution/approach has been proposed to or previously funded by any federal agency, to include SBIR/STTR, please identify each specific agency and all applicable contract/agreement numbers; and a brief abstract (1,000 character limit). Submittals should include the contribution to the requirement and provide a high-level project overview describing how this contribution addresses the stated requirements.
RFI submissions shall be clearly marked “Company Name_RFI_UAS Interceptor_Tech_Paper.” Only UNCLASSIFIED submittals will be accepted, and no Classified or Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) is to be included. Any submittals with Classified or CUI information will not be reviewed and will be deleted. There will be no mailed submissions and telephone inquiries will not be accepted. Reviews of RFI submittals do not promise nor guarantee that a company will receive a contract, and the Government reserves the right, at any point, to cancel the RFI. Please be advised, only an Agreements Officer has the authority to enter into, or modify, a binding agreement on behalf of the Government.
RCCTO has recently received technical submittals from industry that seem to be written by Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. RCCTO will reject any submittals that are found to be written using such AI tools, and RCCTO reserves the right to use AI detection software on any submittals.
This RFI is not a Request for White Paper (RFWP) or Request for Prototype Proposal (RFPP) and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract or agreement. Responses will not be considered as proposals, nor will any award be made as a result of this announcement. All information received will be used for market research and/or planning purposes only.
RFI submissions will be due and accepted until 12:00 PM/1200 ET on 22 July 2025, early submittals are encouraged, via the following RCCTO email address:
6. Questions.
The Government is NOT accepting questions with this RFI. If a vendor has questions, then they should be included as an appendix to the vendor’s RFI response and may, at the Government’s sole discretion, be addressed at a later date. The Government will not reimburse companies for any costs associated with the submissions of their responses.
7. Non-Government Advisors.
All government or contractor personnel that may review RFI responses have executed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) for project information related to this initiative.
8. Eligibility Requirements.
Only U.S.-based companies or organizations are considered eligible to participate in this RFI. Submissions from entities or organizations that do not have a primary place of business in the U.S. will not be considered.
Each eligible entity:
RCCTO’s RFI is voluntary and open to all entities that meet the eligibility requirements. Submittals to the RFI must be received by 12:00 PM EST on 22 July 2025. Submittals are encouraged to be submitted early. Late submissions will not be accepted, and any other failure to comply with RFI submission instructions (content, approach, etc.) may not be reviewed by the Government.
DISCLAIMER:
All information contained in the RFI is preliminary as well as subject to modification and is in no way binding on the Government. The Government does not intend to pay for information received in response to this RFI. Responders to this invitation are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. This RFI will be the basis for collecting information on capabilities available. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned nor will receipt be confirmed. Responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.