What Unique Technology is Sought by US Air Force?

What Unique Technology is Sought by US Air Force?

This post is also available in: heעברית (Hebrew)

The US Air Force is seeking a wide range of counter-drone technologies that can be used to address the unique requirements of users, which may face different threats based on geographic region or other factors. 

By the end of this fiscal year, one company could rake in a contract worth up to $490 million to provide the U.S. Air Force with technologies to counter the threat of small, commercially made drones.

A request for proposals released by the Air Force in April asked for the “rapid research, development, prototyping, demonstration, evaluation, and transition” of technologies that can be used to counter small unmanned aerial systems.

The service plans to award the contract to a single vendor that can team with other companies to provide various counter-drone products. The period of performance for the contract is 72 months. The service hopes to test out prototypes of various solutions and buy “limited product quantities” while it introduces the technologies.

Although there were no other details, defensenews.com notes that a December 2019 presentation created by the Air Force Research Laboratory pointed to cyber and electronic warfare technologies, directed-energy weapons like lasers and microwave devices, and “interceptors” that kill a target through kinetic force as potential options.

In fiscal 2020, the Air Force fielded counter-drone technologies to meet three urgent requirements and delivered other new capabilities to 14 installations, the service said in its biennial acquisition report. “In FY21 and FY22, the [counter-small UAS] program will focus on fielding an initial operational capability to 30 high-priority sites to protect critical assets and infrastructure,” it said. “The program will also support fielded urgent needs and integrate with additional systems such as counter rockets, artillery and mortars (C-RAM) and forward area air defense command and control (FAAD-C2).”