Air Force Special Operations Command plans to buy small unmanned aerial systems to survey airfields and determine whether aircraft can land there, the service said this week.
“These sUAS will primarily be used for airfield surveying, although it may not be the only mission set,” spokeswoman Maggie Nave said Friday. “We are currently planning buying a few systems, two or three for now. As we further evaluate their capabilities and our mission continues to evolve, we may reassess this number.”
AFSOC wants commercial-off-the-shelf systems to shape tactics, techniques and procedures to address a gap in small UAS airfield surveillance.
“The long-term effort may develop a government solution for program sustainment that fits our requirement,” Nave said.
Each fixed-wing UAS should be hand-launched to fly and land autonomously, and weigh three pounds or less and measure 1.15 meters or smaller with detachable wings, according to a Jan. 25 notice. The aircraft needs to cruise between 25 and 70 miles per hour for at least 50 minutes and take detailed images to produce three-dimensional models of the ground.
The notice also specifies parameters for the aircraft’s imaging sensor, hardware and software: When flying 120 meters above the ground, the sensor should capture a range of nearly one square mile.
Industry responses are due Feb. 7. Nave did not answer how quickly or where AFSOC plans to field the aircraft or how the Air Force will evaluate the capabilities of each.
Source: Inside Defense