Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
The Air Force is asking industry whether it can construct a sturdy shelter fit to protect F-15E Strike Eagles from small unmanned aerial systems, according to a request for information posted today.
“Small Unmanned Aerial Systems disrupt airfield operations and agencies have limited response capabilities due to restrictions on countermeasures posed by the Federal Aviation Administration,” the service said in the solicitation. The FAA bars the Pentagon from using kinetic means within the homeland airspace to protect the nation's bases, systems and other infrastructure.
The new passive barriers, which are needed to “prevent a Group 1 or Group 2 sUAS from making physical contact with an F-15E Strike Eagle using commercial-off-the-shelf material,” will be tacked onto existing Big Top Shelters, or fabric structures already built to store the jets and other assets.
Any material selected will need to be strong enough to stop one or more 55-pound drones traveling 125 miles-per-hour, the posting stated, and any gaps in the material or design should not be larger than six inches.
These kinds of barriers typically have no moving parts but can deter threats by absorbing energy caused by impact and transferring it to the structure’s foundation. The Air Force said in the request the chosen material should be flame-retardant, low-weight and able to be swiftly opened or closed. Likewise, the F-15E housed inside “needs to be tightly secured in both open and closed positions,” the service said.
Wednesday’s announcement doesn't necessarily indicate the government is committed to purchasing the barriers.
“All interested firms should submit a capabilities package that outlines the firm’s capabilities in providing the required services. The capabilities package should be brief and concise, yet clearly demonstrate an ability to meet the stated requirements,” the service said in the posting. “After reviewing all packages, firms will be contacted about the possibility and interest of conducting an onsite demonstration of their capabilities on an actual shelter.”
The notice comes as the Air Force and other services are working to bolster military bases against a growing mass of low-cost and attritable threats from foreign adversaries. A senior defense official told reporters on May 8 there are about two to three random instances per week of drones flying near U.S. military bases in America. These have not necessarily been nefarious, the official said at the time, and are more likely to be hobbyists. But, they said, these kinds of incursions are still a cause for concern.