Scott Nicholas
The U.S. Coast Guard plans to issue a request for proposals on small unmanned aerial systems to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions onboard national security cutters, Defense News reported Saturday.
Lt. Emma Lutton, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard, told Defense News the service branch aims to release the RFP notice for a potential $300 million contract during the next six weeks.
The report said the Coast Guard seeks a UAS platform that can remain in flight for more than 12 hours as well as have enough size, weight and power that can cater to an aeronautical transponder, electro-optical/infrared sensor, non-visible infrared marker and a VHF/UHF communications relay.
Ron Tremain, business development executive for civil and maritime industries at Boeing‘s Insitu subsidiary, said the company operated its ScanEagle UAS platform onboard the Legend-class cutter Stratton to support drug bust operations that netted approximately $2.1 billion worth of cocaine during 2017.
