Tenders for the US Air Force’s leased surrogate and tactical UAV support requirements for exercise Atlantic Strike V close 12 March with the successful contractor expected to be announced within 30 days.
The competition, restricted to US veteran owned small business, aims to provide services to the USAF over a two week period in April replicating operations of the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-1 Predator A UAV. The USAF is unable to release that UAV type for training and exercise purposes due to ongoing operational demands in the Middle East.
USAF exercise planners want to use the leased systems to support training of ground personnel in the use of imagery supplied from Predator and other operational UAV types via remotely operated video enhanced receivers (ROVER), particularly in urban operations roles.
USAF tenders for the service requirement were issued 5 March. The tender calls for the provision of one surrogate UAV – a manned aircraft performing the Predator role – and two tactical UAVs. A total of 24h of flight operations 16-19 April is envisaged, with this based on three blocks of activity, each comprising 2h. The full lease period is proposed to run 14-27 April.
The surrogate calls for a small aircraft with a ceiling of at least 10,000m and equipped for day, night and full IFR operations. A time on station requirement of 6h per day is mandated.
The surrogate crew is expected to have had operational experience in both Afghanistan and Iraq. The mission commander is expected to be familiar with the use of the L3 Communications ROVER III remote viewing terminal system which is widely deployed across the US services to facilitate Predator imagery downloads.
For the tactical UAV requirement contenders are expected to offer a system capable of replicating current usage patterns for similar types of air vehicles in ongoing US operations in the Middle East. The exercise UAV must be capable of carrying a combined electro-optic and forward looking infra-red radar sensor. It must also be capable of flight operations of at least 20kt and have a minimum endurance of 45min.
The tactical UAVs may also be required to operate in conjunction with manned helicopters according to solicitation documents.
Operations under the services award will occur from the USAF’s Avon Park Air Ground Training Complex (AAGTC) in Florida.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
