United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Long Range/Long Endurance (LR/LE) Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) Event - 2025

1. General: This Request for Information (RFI) is not a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, quotations, or obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services, but for planning purposes only. This RFI is to gain knowledge of potential qualified sources and to explore industry capabilities. Your response to this RFI will be treated as information only. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission to this announcement or the Government use of such information. The information provided may be used by the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) in development of its acquisition strategy, statement of work/statement of objectives, and performance specifications. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marked proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The Government does not intend to award a contract based on this request for information or to otherwise pay for the information submitted in response to this RFI. 2. Purpose: a. The USSOCOM, Special Operations Forces-Acquisition Technology and Logistics (SOF AT&L), Program Executive Office-Tactical Information Systems (PEO-TIS), Program Management Office-Remote Capabilities (PMO-RC), small Uncrewed Multidomain Systems-Air (sUMS-Air) seeks information on specific technology areas to gain knowledge of, explore, and identify potential methodologies and available capabilities in the examination of Long Range/Long Endurance (LR/LE) Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS). b. LR/LE UAS Traits: (1) Basic Traits: Should be a Group 2 UAS capable of performing multiple configurable mission sets at ranges of 35 nautical miles and beyond for six (6) hours and beyond at standard sea level and while simultaneously carrying and operating a minimum of two (2) payloads/sensors with a combined weight of five (5) pounds or more. The UAS should be able to launch, operate and recover during day and night operations in standard and adverse weather conditions. Conditions may include environmental (rain, dust, etc.) and atmospheric (49 °C/120 °F to -51°C /-60°F) extremes. UAS should be able to take off and be recovered in headwinds up to and exceeding 25 knots, crosswinds up to and exceeding five (5) knots and tailwinds up to and exceeding zero (0) knots. UAS must be able to operate in RF congested and GNSS contested environments. UAS should include modular and durable components that can be replaced, repaired, or configured by specific mission sets (airborne intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, kinetic, etc.) by a trained SOF operator in 30 minutes or less. Propulsion system should be electric, or hybrid based. UAS should be able to maintain or exceed a cruise speed of 25 Knots Indicated Airspeed (KIAS) and dash at 35 KIAS. UAS hardware and software should maintain a modular open systems approach that allows for the hosting and integration of government developed platform agnostic collaborative autonomy plugins which enable the UAS to work independently and/or together with humans on or off the loop. Collaborative autonomy features should be able to interface via Application Protocol Interfaces with the onboard systems, control systems and payloads in order to plan and carry out assigned missions. System and all components/subcomponents must be in full compliance with 2024 ASDA. (2) Desired Traits: Take off and recovery in multiple artificial environments (radio frequency contested, etc.), will be viewed favorably. A UAS capable to take off/launch and land/recover from multiple environments to include ground, water/maritime (fresh, salt, and brackish), etc.; UAS should remain afloat till recovery or provide other novel low visibility recovery capability. Ability of UAS to take off/launch and land/recover from multiple SOF operational platforms (ground, aircraft, and maritime vessels) is highly desired. UAS should be able to operate in RF/GNSS ground jamming environments. Novel and unique capabilities that reduce acoustic, visual, infrared, RF, and other signatures are desired. Integration into the SOF Tactical Android Kit environment is highly desired. c. All hardware/equipment submitted for the evaluation shall be production models and capable of performing specific core mission sets conducted by Special Operations Forces (SOF) UAS operators in an operational environment. d. While un-released commercial devices that meet most of the capabilities are allowed, the expectation is that all devices will be final product versions and meet the capabilities detailed in the scenarios that align with approved mission profiles and establish statistical confidence in the results. e. Mission profile evaluation may consist of two independently conducted events: (1) Technical Evaluation (TE), commonly referred to as Developmental Testing (DT), to confirm the quality and accuracy of device performance and output; (2) Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) to evaluate training, determine usability and suitability for SOF operators in a realistic environment. f. Responses to this RFI may be used by USSOCOM, SOF AT&L, PEO-TIS, PM-RC and sUMS-Air and other Department of Defense entities to identify potential hardware and equipment solutions for participation in the further evaluation of market information and/or ascertain potential market capacity to provide services consistent in scope and scale with those described in this notice. 3. Timeline: The LR/LE UAS Event-2025 is scheduled from July 2024 thru March 2025 in the greater Tampa, Florida area. The preliminary schedule of events (subject to change) is as follows: a. NLT 12 July 2024 – RFI Response. Interested Manufacturers/Vendors respond to this RFI. Responses should be submitted directly through the USSOCOM eSOF portal and must include a detailed three (3) to five (5) page UNCLASSIFIED capability paper and technical description of the proposed current capabilities as described at Section 2. Title of submission should be Long Range/Long Endurance (LR/LE) Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) Event – . Additionally, identification of the offeror’s primary point(s) of contact with phone and electronic mail information shall also be included. Files shall be submitted to the Government in .docx, .pdf, .xlslx or .pptx format. All responses shall be submitted directly through the USSOCOM Engage SOF (eSOF) portal at https://www.engagesof.com/submit . Questions can be answered at https://www.socom.mil/SOF-ATL/Pages/eSOF-main.aspx/ or by emailing [email protected] . All other documents provided by the offeror shall be retained by the Government, but not reviewed. Please contact the eSOF Office through the eSOF Portal to coordinate information submittal. Subject to change based upon agency need. b. 6 thru 8 August 2024 – Vendor Presentations. Manufacturers/Vendors present their proposed white papers, equipment and demonstrate the equipment’s capabilities of interest. eSOF presentations will be conducted at 1925 East 2nd Avenue, Suite 102, Tampa, Florida 33605. Specific coordination information will be provided by eSOF when briefing dates and times are scheduled. Proceeding to the next portion is based solely upon best agency need and requirements. Subject to change based upon agency need. c. 13 September 2024 – Technical Evaluation Invitations. Invitations will be sent to select Manufacturers/Vendors to participate in the Technical Evaluation event. While sUMS-Air Program will provide feedback to all Manufacturers/Vendors who participated in the eSOF presentations, only those devices that sUMS-Air Program judges to have the best potential to meet the mission profile evaluation will be invited to participate in the Technical Evaluation event. All Manufacturers/Vendors will be provided a Vendor Loan Agreement (VLA) as sUMS-Air Program will request a minimum of five (5) complete systems for the duration of the events with a designated device delivery date. Subject to change based upon agency need. d. 20 September 2024 - Manufacturers/Vendors Accept Invitations. Deadline for Manufacturers/Vendors to notify sUMS-Air Program of their intent to participate in the Technical Evaluation and return the completed VLA for their devices and any associated items. Subject to change based upon agency need. e. 11 October 2024 – Device Delivery. Manufacturers/Vendors deliver (on-loan) fully functional devices and associated items for technical assessment at a location to be determined later. Manufacturers/Vendors also provide necessary technical information to support USSOCOM’s safety review process. Subject to change based upon agency need. f. 14 thru 18 October 2024 – TE Training. Manufacturers/Vendors train Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), sUMS-Air evaluators and USSOCOM testers to support use of and technical evaluation of their device(s) at a location to be determined later. Training must include proper use of the device and troubleshooting. Manufacturers/Vendors will be expected to train the USSOCOM SMEs, evaluators and testers to the point where they can confirm expected levels of performance. Manufacturers/Vendors will be offered the opportunity to conduct the same training for operators participating in the Operational Test and Evaluation portion of LR/LE UAS Event - 2024. Subject to change based upon agency need. g. 18 thru 8 November 2024 – TE. USSOCOM SMEs, evaluators, and testers will conduct a TE of the Manufacturers/Vendors devices to ensure they perform to the standards and levels as presented. Manufacturers/Vendors may be asked to provide reach back support during TEs. Proceeding to the next portion is based solely upon best agency need and requirements. Subject to change based upon agency need. h. 24 February thru 7 March 2025 – OT&E. USSOCOM evaluators, and testers conduct the OT&E with the participation of SOF operational personnel at a location to be determined later. Manufacturers/Vendors will be asked to conduct training of their devices during the first week but will not participate in the actual operator driven events conducted jointly by USSOCOM and the Joint Interoperability Test Command. Subject to change based upon agency need. i. NLT 1 April 2025 – Device Return. All Manufacturers/Vendors equipment returned. Subject to change based upon agency need. 4. Disclaimers: THERE IS NO SOLICITATION PLANNED AT THIS TIME. This request for information does not constitute a request for proposals; submission of any information in response to this market research is purely voluntary; the Government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred; and the Government will not provide responses to any questions. Any submitter’s attention is directed to the fact that Government Support Contractor personnel may review and provide support to Government personnel when reviewing submissions. 5. Points of Contact: Any questions under this RFI must be emailed to Mr. Nicholas Anderson at [email protected].