Angeline Leishman
Interested vendors have until Sept. 22 to submit white papers for Increment 1 of the U.S. Army’s Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System program, according to an updated notice on SAM.gov.
The branch extended the submission deadline by five days for informational documents as part of its process to identify potential industry sources of a runway-independent vertical takeoff and landing UAS to replace the RQ-7B Shadow drone being used by brigade combat teams.
The Army aims to initially deploy its FTUAS platform in the second quarter of fiscal year 2023 to help BCT personnel conduct reconnaissance and surveillance missions.
Col. Chad Chasteen, director of the Future Vertical Lift Cross-Functional Team G3/5/7, said the solicitation effort comes after the military service sought input from personnel who took part in field tests of four VTOL UAS platforms as part of the branch’s “Buy, Try, Inform” approach.
The service plans to seek Increment 2 FTUAS offerings in the near term through its other transaction agreement with the Aviation and Missile Technology Consortium.
