What attrition-tolerant, autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can incapacitate a small merchant ship?

An XQ-58A Valkyrie low-cost, unmanned aerial vehicle launches at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., Dec. 9, 2020. The flight successfully demonstrated the ability of new communications data to exchange information with an F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II and the transformative warfighting impact of the open architecture underpinning the Advanced Battle Management System (image by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Joshua King).

Posted: March 21, 2024

Deadline: April 2, 2024

The Defense Systems Information Analysis Center (DSIAC) is looking for information about attrition-tolerant, autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can conduct missions to incapacitate a small merchant ship. UAVs of interest should have the following specifications:

A Technical Readiness Level of 7 to 9.
Flight range of 50 to 500 nautical miles without refuel/recharge.
Attrition-tolerant: cost is less than $50K per platform or less than $2M per system.
Fully unmanned operation after launch to seek or change target and adjust mission if communications are lost and operate as a swarm.

If you have any information on applicable UAVs, please provide details in the attached form here or in an e-mail to Deanna Milonas (deanna.c.milonas.ctr@mail.mil), the lead IAC analyst on this effort, or join the discussion on the DoDTechipedia forum by clicking the “Join the Discussion” button below.