Army researchers survey industry for companies to develop unmanned aerial vehicle weapons for small units
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – U.S. Army combat experts are reaching out to industry to find companies interested in developing lethal and non-lethal weapons for deployment on small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Research Triangle Park, N.C., issued a request for information (W911NF-23-AAL-04) on Wednesday for the Loitering Munitions project, which seeks to develop UAVs armed with weapons that have carry-and-release capabilities.
These UAVs would have lethal and non-lethal effects delivery capabilities, and would be for forces ranging from the 4,413-soldier brigade combat team, to the 10-soldier infantry squad.
The Army Contracting Command issued this request for information on behalf of the Army Application Laboratory of Army Futures Command in Austin, Texas. Lethal weapons can involve bombs and bullets, while non-lethal weapons can involve bright lights, loud noises, or low-power microwave weapons.
With inspiration from the Russia-Ukraine war, the Army Futures Command-Army Application Laboratory is investigating the use of unmanned systems at increasingly lower Army command echelons for armed strike, as well as for intelligence gathering and reconnaissance.
The Army is analyzing the loitering munitions market to identify candidate technologies for these applications, which will be primarily for small units. The most likely contractors to be involved in this project are small businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees.
Companies interested should email 10-page white papers no later than 15 Dec. 2022 to the Army's Jermain Compton at [email protected], and Rudy Estrada at [email protected].
Emails should give the company name, address, email address, website address, telephone number, company size, and type of company ownership, as well as capability statements.
More information is online at https://sam.gov/opp/70c131e7549941e18b5b3eca8728c618/view.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
