Maritime Launched Effects - Increment 1 (MLE-1) Request for Information (Updated 16 Dec 2025)

Update 12/16/25 - Updating instructions for Point of Contact

Updates 12/15/25 - Deadline for submittal of completed capability matrix extended to 16 January 2026 and Questions and Answers attached)

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) NOTICE ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS.  THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. THIS RFI IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT FOR ANY ACTUAL PROCUREMENT OF SUPPLIES OR SERVICES.  This notice shall not be construed as a contract, a promise to contract, or as a commitment of any kind by the Government.  The Government is NOT seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals.  This notice does not constitute a solicitation or a promise of solicitation in the future. This notice is a market research tool being used to determine overall market developments, capabilities, and adequacy of the industrial base capable of providing the supplies/services described herein prior to determining requirements and the method of acquisition.  Any information submitted by respondents to this technical description is strictly voluntary. Respondents are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI are solely at the responding parties' expense. Respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and clearly identifying any proprietary information or trade secrets contained within their response. The Government will not be liable for, or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information that has not been both properly marked and clearly identified. Information marked proprietary received in response to this RFI will be safeguarded and handled in accordance with applicable Government regulations. Responses to this notice are not offers and will not be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement. The Government will not be obligated to pursue any particular acquisition alternative because of this RFI. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future competitive solicitation, if one is issued. Specific responses to the contractor's approaches for meeting this requirement will not disqualify or have an impact on participation and evaluation on future solicitations. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENT EXISTS AT THIS TIME. If a solicitation is issued, it will be announced later via Sam.gov and all interested parties must respond to that solicitation announcement separately from the responses to this RFI.

Overview

This notice is issued by the Department of the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), on behalf of the Program Executive Office (PEO) Undermanned and Small Combatants (USC), Naval Special Warfare Program Office (PMS 340).  PMS340 seeks industry input to assist with the development and fielding of future loitering munitions leading to potential contract actions for prototype efforts, which may include traditional Federal Acquisition Regulation based contracts, Other Transaction Authority opportunities, or both. In the near-term, USSOCOM intends to identify viable prototype systems for development, testing, evaluation and integration with SOCOM Combatant Craft to meet Maritime Launched Effects - Increment 1 (MLE-1) requirements.  USSOCOM, through PMS 340, intends to identify viable prototype systems for development, testing, evaluation and integration with SOCOM Combatant Craft to meet MLE-1 requirements.

This RFI is focused on supporting a material solution to meet MLE-1 requirements as defined in the MLE Capability Development Document (CDD) (Note: This CDD will not be provided during this RFI process).  MLE CDD has three increments providing Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC) with various capabilities to maximize long-term cost savings and enhance scaled capabilities for range, flight endurance, and payload capacity. The MLE Program of Record is intended to be an enduring effort to field increasingly capable and adaptable munitions to the warfighter for the foreseeable future. 

Purpose

This RFI, while focused on currently fielded, new/up and coming, and future loitering munitions, intends to determine the level of vendor interest and whether industry possesses the requisite capabilities to produce maritime precision strike and associated capabilities for a number of different customers. The Government is also seeking vendors with unique attributes to simplify and streamline integration efforts. Ultimately, we hope to attain information on munitions that meet or are close to meeting the MLE-1 requirements by the end of Q1FY26 while gaining awareness of products and plans to meet subsequent increments and maritime requirements.  The MLE-1 Capability Compliance Matrix will be provided to interested parties once security clearances and handling requirements have been verified.

All parties interested in receiving the MLE-1 Capability Compliance Matrix shall fill out and return the Terms of Use (TOU) form to Christopher Russell (updated) at christopher.s.russell34.civ@us.navy.mil, and cc: Nick Lovasz at nicholas.c.lovasz.mil@us.navy.mil.  The subject line of the email should read "TOU for MLE-1 Request for Information Notice". You must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident Alien. Please allow 1 to 2 business days for access to be granted.

Description of Procurement:

MLE-1 AUR (FY30-32) – Total Quantity: 128

Note: Procurements following FY32 will be based on replenishment needs and training requirements.  Funding will be planned for during POM planning process. 

It is understood that vendors may be unlikely to have munitions that are 100% ready to be fielded for this platform and effort, and with respect to the environmental requirements, significant effort may be needed to prepare and qualify a munition. However, this RFI is seeking a “best of” product that meets the general intent of MLE-1. Furthermore, this RFI seeks to continue the assessment of necessary vendor efforts to make their munition ready for combatant craft integration.

MLE-1 provides combatant craft with an organic precision-strike mission package to engage targets over-the-horizon when conventional methods cannot be employed. The MLE-1 mission package is designed to be a beyond line-of-sight missile system with man-on-the-loop flight controls, multi-mode seeker, loitering, and scalable effects warhead/payload options that minimizes collateral damage.

Information Sought

1. 1. Information on current, in-development, and planned loitering munitions and their capabilities.  Provide rationale within the MLE-1 Capability Compliance Matrix, on how your material solution will comply with requirements. 
   2. How mature are your products? Please provide information supporting System(s) Readiness Level (SRL), Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) and Technical Readiness Level (TRL).
   3. Explanation of system architecture and modularity to allow for future updates, both hardware and software.
   4. Do you have information regarding signature (radar cross section, temperature, EO/IR, etc.) of your material solution?
   5. Provide details on any limitations of technical data rights, specifically proprietary information.
   6. What is current packaging size and weight of your relevant product(s)?
   7. What are the dimensions of launch tube/cell your loitering munition currently integrates into?  Can you provide Outer Mold Line (OML), Interface Control Documents, or equivalent information?
   8. How is your relevant product launched from the platform? Please specify method of launch and propulsion (i.e. cold/soft launch, pneumatic, gas generator, turbine, propeller).
   9. Overview of your Ground Control Station and User Interface.
   10. Experience with integration into Government-Owned Solution for Command and Control (i.e. Battle Management Systems)?
   11. What other capabilities do you feel are important to present?
   12. Can you address the munition requirements, tests, and qualifications needed for storage on and operating from US Navy vessels and SOCOM maritime craft?
   13. From your understanding of each of your products, what additional testing/qualification is needed to meet the Government’s intent?
   14. If the program desires to enter Production with a fully qualified munition in Q3FY29, how would you lay out your development and qualification plan?

Response Submission Guidelines

Interested parties shall submit CAGE CODE, company name, address of office that is interested in responding, and a single point of contact.

Upon approval, the Government will send a Capability Compliance Matrix back out for vendor completion.

Interested parties are requested to respond to this notice in PDF or Microsoft Word Office 2010-compatible format.  Please limit responses to 10 pages or less (including cover, administrative pages, and descriptive literature); 1-inch margins; and 12-point font (or larger).

Responses to this notice are requested no later than 5:00PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 16 Janaury 2025 (updated).   Interested parties should submit the information requested above, via email to: Christopher Russell at christopher.s.russell34.civ@us.navy.mil (updated), and cc: Nick Lovasz at nicholas.c.lovasz.mil@us.navy.mil.  The subject line of emails containing responses or questions related to this notice should read "MLE-1 Request for Information Notice."

Industry Updates and Closed Discussions:

Following the release of this RFI, Government representatives will be collecting and answering questions from vendors. Questions are required to be submitted to the Government NLT 5 December 2025 (attached to this updated notice) to allow sufficient time to issue an RFI update document with consolidated Q&A to support final vendor RFI packages by the 16 January (Updated) submission deadline. One-on-one discussions with interested vendors may be facilitated immediately following the RFI update.

DISCLAIMER AND IMPORTANT NOTES:

This RFI notice is not a request for proposals and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation.  This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.  Sources choosing to respond to this notice are wholly responsible for any costs/expenses associated with submitting a response.  Therefore, any cost associated with the market survey submission is solely at the interested vendor's expense.  The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.  Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work.  Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.  Respondents will not be notified of the results of this notice.  The information obtained from submitted responses may be used in development of an acquisition strategy and a future solicitation.  Submissions will not be returned.