USCG press release
The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity firm-fixed-price contract runs through 2029 and is structured as five one-year ordering periods.
This contractor-owned, contractor-operated service will be used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of Coast Guard missions. Requirements for the cutter-based UAS capability – which the Coast Guard will term as maritime UAS or MUAS in the future – included fully automated flight operations, minimum endurance of 12 hours of flight time daily and the ability to provide services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The payload will include electro-optical and infrared sensors and communications relays and be capable of providing surveillance, detection, classification and identification for all of the host cutter’s operational missions.
The contract has a total potential value of $198.1 million and includes installation and de-installation of the UAS capability and pilot and mission training. Shield AI will deploy its V-BAT, which is a vertical take-off and landing MUAS.
Initially, the contract will be used to continue UAS capability on the national security cutter class; however, the contract can be used to support additional cutter classes in the future.
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About the UAS project of the USCG
The U.S. Coast Guard is procuring unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capability as a cost-effective approach to meeting the national security cutter’s (NSC) operational need for a persistent airborne surveillance capability. Use of UAS expands maritime domain awareness and disseminates actionable intelligence on maritime hazards and threats.
The current non-major acquisition program focuses only on UAS capability for the service’s NSC fleet. A UAS consists of an unmanned aircraft, its mission payloads, launch and recovery equipment, ground control station, and control and data links. For the NSCs the USCG required UAS that can remain on station for extended periods.
The USCG focused its sUAS for NSC acquisition efforts on evaluating technologically mature systems, seeking commonality with Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense programs, and applying other agencies’ UAS experience.
To minimize acquisition risk, the USCG initially obtained an interim UAS capability on one NSC – Coast Guard Cutter Stratton – via a pre-existing multiple award contract executed by the Naval Air Systems Command. The patrol data was used to refine the concept of operations and requirements for installing and integrating across the NSC class.
The USCG awarded a contract June 6, 2018, to Insitu for contractor-owned and -operated UAS capability on three NSCs and options to outfit the rest of the NSC fleet in future years. In 2019, the commandant of the Coast Guard challenged the program to accelerate the pace. The Coast Guard completed its accelerated production schedule March 22, 2021, and the only remaining cutter to receive UAS capability is Cutter Stone, which will be completed in 2022.
Coast Guard Cutters Stratton, James, Munro, Kimball, Waesche, Bertholf, Hamilton and Midgett are now fully outfitted with UAS capability.
