Land Based, Long Range/ultra-long endurance UAS

This Request for Information (RFI) is issued by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Research and Development Center (RDC), New London, CT, to examine the state of land based, long range / ultra-long endurance, unmanned aerial systems (LR/ULE UAS). The Coast Guard is seeking information on LR/ULE UAS and mission equipment packages available from government, industry and academia. This RFI is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Unsolicited Proposal, or an obligation or intent of the USCG to acquire any products and/or services The USCG RDC will examine the feasibility, costs, and benefits of conducting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions in transit zones using land based LR/ULE UAS. In concept, the USCG would seek to operate the LR/ULE UAS in the offshore environment beyond line of sight (BLOS) of the ground control station (GCS). Consequently, the candidate LR/ULE UAS would require organic sensors for surveillance; to detect, classify, identify, and prosecute (SDCIP) targets of interest. Neither "Long Range" nor "Ultra-Long Endurance" for the maritime environment is precisely defined. It is RDC's intent to have industry inform what the available envelope is for both of these parameters and what is reasonably foreseeable; however, the threshold endurance has been established by USCG as 24 hours. Notional Operational Profiles (1) The LR/ULE UAS shall perform surveillance on pre-planned routes to support the detection, classification, identification, tracking and prosecution of surface targets while providing near real-time data distribution; (2) The LR/ULE UAS shall loiter over targets of interest while providing near real-time tracking and surveillance data; and (3) The LR/ULE UAS, when directed from the GCS, shall relocate previously detected targets and perform a classification and identification. (4) The LR/ULE UAS shall operate in transit zone weather conditions including instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and may operate under due regard requirements. You are invited to respond with information to assist the USCG RDC with its market research to identify potential sources of LR/ULE UAS (including platform, payloads, Ground Control Station (GCS)), and ground support equipment. The USCG is interested in technology that can be operated and maintained on existing airfields and operated anywhere in the transit zone maritime environment. System Performance (1) The LR/ULE UAS shall be able to be launched and recovered, operated, maintained, serviced and hangared on existing military/DHS airfields; (2) The LR/ULE UAS platform shall have a mission applicable payload including sensors and command and control systems suitable for the maritime environment fully integrated into the platform and GCS; (3) The LR/ULE UAS sensor payloads shall be capable of detecting, classifying, identifying and tracking targets in the maritime environment; (4) The LR/ULE UAS shall have a Common Data Link (CDL) that complies with the Military Standard (MIL STD)-CDL, the Unmanned Systems Interoperability Profile (USIP), Joint Interface Control Document (JICD) V4.2 and Standard Agreements (STANAGs) 7085 and 4586; (5) The LR/ULE UAS CDL shall be capable of transmitting organic sensor metadata to the controlling station; (6) LR/ULE UAS command and control payloads shall be capable of permitting afloat assets to maintain North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Standardization Agreement (STANAG) Level 2 control of the sensors and provide for the near real-time transmission of sensor data (radar, EO/IR, etc.); (7) The LR/ULE UAS should have a minimum endurance of 24 hours at cruise altitude. Responding to This Request for Information (1) Provide a detailed description of the potential LR/ULE UAS (platform, payloads, GCS, and control links); (2) Describe your LR/ULE UAS demonstrated ability to meet the above listed system performance and provide test or operational flight results that illustrate how the UAS meets or exceeds the above listed performance (including Technology Readiness Level (TRL) ; (3) Describe performance parameters and capabilities the LR/ULE UAS can provide in addition to the above listed system performance; (4) Populate the data fields on the spreadsheet, Land Based LR/ULE UAS Summary Response Form, Attachment A; (5) Briefly describe any U.S. (or international) government contracts for programs of record or products being submitted as applicable. For government contracts, please provide government points of contact; (6) Provide any digital photos and/or digital videos of the products in operation; and (7) Identify whether you are a Small or Large Business using NAICS Code 541330. NOTE: If your submission is greater than 50 MB, please provide on DVD media and mail to: Attn: Helen Carnes, Contracting Division U.S. Coast Guard Research & Development Center 1 Chelsea Street New London CT 06320-5506 The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI, or to otherwise pay for information received in response to this RFI. This RFI is issued for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this RFI are not offers and will not be accepted by the U.S. Government to form a binding contract. Responses to this market survey should be sent to contact@example.gov. Information submitted will be reviewed by Government personnel at the USCG RDC. PHONE CALLS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED, VOICE MAIL MESSAGES LEFT WILL NOT BE RETURNED, AND EMAILS RECEIVED WILL NOT BE RESPONDED TO. Please limit electronic responses to no more than 20 pages, exclusive of Attachment A and any digital videos or photographs. Respondents are requested to respond no later than 02 Oct 2017. REMINDER: ALL RESPONSES MUST BE EMAILED TO contact@example.gov