Pentagon plans two-part C-sUAS demo for April 2022

The Army-led Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office is planning to hold a two-part demonstration next spring centered on a directed-energy, ground-based aerial denial system and another defensive capability to detect, track, identify and defeat sUAS threats from a given location.

Details for the upcoming third demonstration, slated for April 2022 at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ, were shared with industry in two separate notices posted Tuesday, as well as an Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office press release.

For the first focus area, the high-power microwave aerial denial system, officials are seeking solutions to leverage “focused Electromagnetic Pulses from a fixed ground location at various ranges with energy sufficient to destroy or defeat Unmanned Aerial Systems over the air,” per the notice. The listing stresses such attacks should not produce jamming, but rather physical damage to targeted areas that will terminate the UAS’ operations.

Meanwhile, the second notice calls for providing of "C-sUAS as a Service," a contractor-owned, government-operated effort containing a full C-sUAS kill chain that’ll be deployed in defense of a one-mile-wide and two-mile-long fixed location, with the JCO evaluating the CaaS’ “ability to protect key locations over three days, per vendor.”

That listing also directs respondents to submit a multiyear business model, which the JCO will evaluate “to understand the CaaS total cost of ownership” for potential Defense Department customers. Contracts or prototype projects may be awarded tied to the solicitation, the notice states.

JCO and the Army’s RCCTO will host an online industry day Nov. 16 to brief those interested on the requirements for the next demonstrations, according to the press release. Responses for both solicitations are due Nov. 29.

The most recent demonstration, held Aug. 30 to Sept. 17, showcased ground-launched aerial denial and handheld and dismounted solutions, while the first, from April 2021, featured low collateral effects interceptor capabilities. Officials from the JCO previously told reporters an initial LCEI capability would be selected for procurement and fielding in fiscal year 2022.