RFI: Unmanned Ground Recovery
Contract Overview
Solicitation details, issuing organization, response deadlines, documents, and interested companies for this government contract opportunity.
AI Contract Overview
The U.S. Army is seeking information on advanced unmanned systems capable of autonomously recovering disabled, destroyed, or immobilized vehicles in contested, degraded, and operationally challenging environments. Current recovery operations rely heavily on manned teams, exposing soldiers to significant risk while consuming substantial manpower and logistics resources, particularly in Denied, Degraded, Intermittent, and Limited (DDIL) communication conditions. The goal is to identify innovative, rugged, and low-logistics solutions—whether adapted from existing platforms or entirely new systems—that can perform complex recovery tasks without direct human intervention. The Army aims to reduce personnel exposure, increase operational continuity, and enhance mission effectiveness under harsh terrain and adversarial conditions where traditional methods fail. Responses must address how autonomous systems can locate and navigate to disabled vehicles, perform rigging operations to prepare them for extraction, and execute these tasks in geographically difficult or unstable terrain such as high ground or soft soil. Equally critical is the ability to operate without reliance on reliable network communications, requiring robust onboard autonomy and decision-making. Offerors are encouraged to submit technical descriptions, diagrams, and demonstrations of capability, with a maximum of 750 words per question, all included in a single PDF file. Responses are due by 11:59 AM CT on July 31, 2026, and must be emailed to the designated government address. Participation is entirely voluntary and does not obligate the government to pursue further procurement, issue a solicitation, or compensate respondents for development costs. Information submitted will be treated with reasonable confidentiality, though the RFI is purely for market research and does not constitute a binding commitment or an invitation to bid. The solicitation is managed by the Department of Defense through the Office of W6QK Acc-Apg Durham, with primary correspondence handled electronically through the provided email.
General Info
Agency
NAICS
Place of Performance
Austin, TX, USASet-Aside
Documents
(0)AI Contract Breakdown
Uniform Contract FormatNo contract breakdown available.
Cannot generate Contract Breakdown because no documents were found from this contract's source.
Timeline
Response Deadline
Organization & Contact Information
Full Description
Request For Information : Unmanned Ground Recovery
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
Current vehicle recovery operations in contested environments are resource-intensive and expose Soldiers to adversarial threats. These missions require significant manpower, including specialized maintenance and security teams, and are fundamentally constrained by human endurance limits. The recovery usually happens in a contested environment, which often leads to network communications being Denied, Degraded, Intermittent, and Limited (DDIL). All of these factors decrease the Army’s capability to conduct continuous ground recovery operations.
INTRODUCTION:
The Government is conducting market research and seeking information on cutting-edge innovations and existing systems in uncrewed tactical autonomy and robotic manipulation designed or adapted for military recovery operations that may inform future requirements development and acquisition planning. The objective is to identify robust, ruggedized solutions capable of or, adaptable to, executing complex recovery tasks in contested, degraded, and operationally demanding environments. The Army Sustainment Community is interested in advanced, low-logistics solutions to reduce the overall resource demand, personnel footprint, and exposure time required to execute recovery missions under Denied, Degraded, Intermittent, and Limited (DDIL) network conditions. We are open to modifications to existing Army platforms or entire separate systems to enhance the Army’s ability to conduct continuous recovery operations.
RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS:
- Your response should have a cover page with your company information,including: Company Name, Address, Primary Point of Contact with a phonenumber and email address.
- Please limit your response to 750 words per question. The use of graphics and diagrams is encouraged and does not count toward the 750 word response limit.
- Please provide the response to these questions in a single PDF file.
- You may answer all or only a portion of the questions offered for consideration.
- Please email responses to unmanned-ground-recovery@aal.army no later than 11:59AM CT, July 31, 2026.
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION:
- How would you autonomously find and navigate to a disabled, destroyed, or immobilized vehicle?
- How would you conduct an autonomous rigging operation for a disabled, destroyed, or immobilized vehicle?
- How would you accomplish the autonomous navigation and rigging operations in a degraded environment or geographically challenging terrain (i.e. inaccessible high ground, unstable soil, severe obstacles, etc.)
- How would you complete the autonomous navigation and rigging operations in a degraded or denied communication environment?
REFERENCES:
Army Technical Publication (ATP) 4-31, Recovery and Battle Damage Assessment and Repair (BDAR), https://asktop.net/wp/download/ATPs/atp4_31.pdf
DISCLAIMER:
Participation in this RFI is strictly voluntary. This RFI does not constitute a solicitation, is not a request for proposal, request for quotation, broad agency announcement, or be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Issuance of this notice does not commit the Government to pay for any preparation costs incurred in compiling a response. Any future procurement action, if pursued, will be announced separately and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
All information contained in this RFI is preliminary, subject to modification, and is in no way binding on the Government. The Government will use reasonable efforts to safeguard properly marked proprietary information.