DAF27BZ02-DV018 — High-Efficiency Expeditionary Group 2 and Group 3 VTOL UAS for Long-Range Distributed ISR/SOF Operations

Develop, mature, integrate, and flight-demonstrate technologies enabling an autonomous, runway-independent Group 2/3 VTOL UAS capable of persistent ISR/SOF operations, extended-duration flight, modular payload employment, resilient beyond-line-of-sight communications, and integration into distributed mission architectures.

Runway independence provides substantial operational flexibility for ISR/SOF missions but creates significant technical penalties in aircraft weight, propulsion complexity, energy consumption, endurance, payload, reliability, and cost. The research challenge is to minimize these penalties while enabling a persistent, expeditionary autonomous aircraft capable of operating from austere and distributed locations. The Government seeks emerging VTOL technologies combining reliable vertical operations with efficient forward flight, extended endurance, useful payload capacity, resilient communications, and autonomous mission execution. Solutions may employ tilt-wing, tilt-rotor, lift-plus-cruise, tailsitter, distributed propulsion, hybrid propulsion, or other technically viable architectures. Companies should specifically highlight demonstrated capabilities, current maturity, projected performance, and remaining technical risks in the following areas: VTOL Endurance: Capability to achieve 12-15 hours of flight time is critical. Offerors should identify payload, speed, altitude, loiter profile, environmental assumptions, and propulsion configuration associated with demonstrated or projected endurance. Propulsion: Gas-powered propulsion is of particular interest for meeting extended sortie-duration requirements. Fully electric, hybrid-electric, or alternative propulsion solutions are acceptable if they can meet the required sortie duration and mission-performance objectives. In-Flight Recharge: Technologies enabling in-flight energy replenishment or recharge are of interest, including architectures supporting a six B.A. battery configuration, where applicable. Payload: Adjustable and modular payload capacity with a minimum desired capability greater than 60 pounds while maintaining an 12-15-hour loiter/endurance profile. Offerors should additionally characterize performance and design tradeoffs associated with payload growth toward 75 pounds. Network Node / Layered Effects / Force Packaging: Ability to operate as an airborne network node and participate in distributed, layered effects and multi-platform force packages. BLOS: Resilient beyond-line-of-sight communications and autonomous mission execution without reliance upon continuous line-of-sight C2. Vigilant Spirit: Existing integration, interoperability, or a clearly defined integration pathway with Vigilant Spirit. Dynamic Targeting: Ability to receive mission updates and dynamically retask, revisit/retest areas or objects of interest, reassess previous observations or effects, and conduct authorized subsequent mission actions. NKE / ESM: Ability to host, support, and employ modular non-kinetic effects and Electronic Support Measures payloads. Extended Autonomy: Architecture capable of supporting autonomous missions approaching 15 hours, including reliable operation for representative periods of at least 5 minutes without human intervention. Companies should characterize autonomy reliability, intervention rate, failure modes, contingency behavior, recovery, and lost-link performance. VTOL Efficiency Demonstrate autonomous vertical takeoff and recovery. Quantify hover and VTOL fuel/energy consumption. Demonstrate efficient transition between vertical and forward flight. Quantify VTOL energy penalty relative to total mission energy. Range and Endurance Demonstrate or substantiate a credible path to8 hours of flight endurance with representative payload. Characterize mission radius, maximum range, endurance, and loiter time. Quantify payload/range/endurance trade space. Characterize forward-flight propulsion efficiency. Identify fuel or energy requirements associated with representative ISR/SOF mission profiles. For fully electric systems, demonstrate the ability to achieve required sortie duration. Where proposed, characterize in-flight recharge or energy replenishment. Payload and Mission Systems Support an adjustable/modular payload of at least 25 pounds at the desired 8-hour profile. Characterize growth potential toward60 pounds. Characterize payload mass, volume, power, data, thermal, RF, and mechanical interfaces. Support Government or third-party payload integration. Support NKE and ESM payloads. Support airborne network-node functionality. Provide documented interfaces supporting integration with Vigilant Spirit and other Government mission systems. Expeditionary Operations Minimize launch/recovery footprint. Minimize personnel and ground-support equipment. Minimize arrival-to-launch and recovery-to-relaunch timelines. Minimize assembly, disassembly, maintenance, and site-preparation requirements. Support distributed ISR/SOF employment from austere locations. Autonomy and Dynamic Mission Execution Autonomous takeoff and landing. Autonomous transition. Autonomous navigation, loiter, mission execution, return, and precision recovery. Dynamic inflight mission retasking. Support dynamic targeting and authorized retest/revisit and reattack/re-engagement sequences. Deterministic contingency and lost-link behavior. Architecture capable of missions approaching12 hours of autonomous operation. Demonstrate representative mission periods of at least5 minutes without human intervention. Characterize autonomy reliability, intervention frequency, mission-completion rate, fault tolerance, failure modes, and recovery behavior. Resilient Communications and Operations Maintain useful navigation and mission capability during GNSS degradation or loss. Support BLOS communications and mission operations. Maintain autonomous mission capability during intermittent, degraded, or lost C2. Demonstrate deterministic lost-link behavior. Support network-node functionality within distributed force packages. Exchange mission, sensor, platform-status, and targeting information with Government systems. Affordability and Producibility Quantify projected recurring unit cost. Identify major cost drivers. Demonstrate production-relevant manufacturing. Quantify manufacturing labor, lead time, supply-chain constraints, and scalable production rate. The Government seeks existing aircraft and enabling technologies requiring engineering maturation and integration. Clean-sheet aircraft without demonstrated underlying flight technology are not the target of this effort.

As this is a Direct-to-Phase II (D2P2) topic, no Phase I awards will be made. To qualify, applicant(s) must provide Feasibility Documentation demonstrating prior completion of Phase I-equivalent efforts outside SBIR funding. Offerors shall demonstrate prior technical work establishing feasibility of the proposed aircraft and critical enabling technologies. Relevant evidence may include: VTOL flight demonstrations. Autonomous takeoff/recovery. Transition-flight demonstrations. Forward-flight performance data. Propulsion testing. Range and endurance testing. Payload flight testing. Autonomous mission demonstrations. Degraded-PNT demonstrations. BLOS communications testing. Structural/environ mental testing. Prototype manufacturing. Hardware-in-the-loop or system-level testing. Network-node or collaborative mission demonstrations. Dynamic inflight retasking. NKE or ESM payload integration. Vigilant Spirit or comparable Government mission-system integration. In-flight energy recharge/replenishment where proposed. Offerors should specifically provide available data characterizing: Maximum demonstrated VTOL endurance and associated payload. Ability or technical path to achieve 8 hours of flight time. Propulsion architecture and fuel/energy consumption. Payload/endurance trade space, including performance with 60-pound and larger payloads. BLOS communications performance. Autonomous mission duration and reliability. Frequency and nature of required human intervention. Network-node or distributed force-package functionality. Dynamic targeting/retest/reattack functionality. NKE/ESM integration capability. Vigilant Spirit integration status or pathway. Offerors shall identify remaining technical risks associated with VTOL efficiency, endurance, payload, propulsion, autonomy, communications, mission-system integration, affordability, and production. Preferred entry maturity is TRL 4–5, with demonstrated TRL 5 hardware considered where a credible maturation pathway exists toward TRL 6-8. This remains consistent with the original WIS topic.

The technical effort shall use progressive ground and flight testing and culminate in the integrated expeditionary performance flight demonstration within the period of performance. Task 1 – Engineering Maturation and System Integration Resolve identified technical risks and integrate a flightworthy system incorporating propulsion, autonomy, navigation, communications, modular payload interfaces, networking, and production-relevant hardware. Task 2 – Vertical Launch/Recovery Efficiency and Transition Demonstration. Demonstrate autonomous vertical takeoff and precision vertical recovery from an unprepared or space-constrained operating location, followed by efficient transition to and from wing-borne forward flight. Sustained hover or hover-based mission execution is not required. Measure fuel or energy consumed during launch, transition, and recovery and quantify the vertical-lift penalty relative to the complete representative mission profile. Task 3 – Endurance, Range and Payload Demonstration Flight-demonstrate endurance, mission radius, range, payload capacity, loiter performance, cruise efficiency, and relevant trade spaces. The critical Government area of interest is 12-15 hours of flight endurance. Demonstrate or provide measured evidence supporting performance with a representative mission payload and characterize performance with a minimum desired 60-pound payload, including trade space associated with growth toward 75 pounds. Task 4 – Propulsion and Energy Management Characterize propulsion performance across the representative mission profile. Gas-powered, hybrid, electric, or alternative architectures may be demonstrated provided they satisfy operational endurance requirements. Where proposed, demonstrate in-flight energy recharge or replenishment, including the applicable six-battery architecture. Task 5 – Autonomous Mission and Dynamic Retasking Demonstration Demonstrate autonomous vertical takeoff, transition, navigation, loiter in efficient forward flight, mission execution, inflight retasking, return, and precision vertical recovery; sustained hover is not required. Demonstrate representative autonomous mission periods of at least 5 minutes without human intervention, characterize reliability and intervention requirements, and demonstrate the architecture's ability to support missions approaching 12 hours of autonomous operation. Task 6 – BLOS and Resilient C2 Demonstration Demonstrate useful autonomous mission performance during BLOS operations and representative GNSS/C2 degradation, including intermittent connectivity and lost-link conditions. Task 7 – Networked and Layered Effects Demonstration Demonstrate operation as an airborne network node within a representative distributed force package. Characterize the ability to exchange mission, sensor, status, and targeting data with other platforms and Government mission systems. Task 8 – Mission-System and Payload Integration Integrate and fly at least one representative Government-relevant payload or approved surrogate. Demonstrate documented interfaces supporting NKE/ESM payloads and provide a Government-acceptable Vigilant Spirit integration demonstration or transition pathway. Task 9 – Dynamic Targeting Demonstration Demonstrate receipt and execution of authorized inflight mission updates, including representative dynamic retasking, revisit/retest, reassessment, and subsequent mission action. Task 10 – Expeditionary Operations Demonstration Demonstrate: Transport → Setup → Launch → Mission → Recover → Turnaround → Relaunch/Relocate Measure personnel, equipment, footprint, setup time, turnaround time, maintenance actions, and fuel/energy requirements. Task 11 – Manufacturing and Cost Maturation Use prototype fabrication to validate manufacturing processes, labor requirements, production lead time, supply-chain risks, projected recurring cost, and production scalability. Task 12 – Delivery of final systems to designated units for government owned, goverment operated specific feedback. Desired Phase II End State The demonstrated concept shall provide runway-independent vertical launch and recovery and required to sustain hover during mission execution. A flight-demonstrated autonomous VTOL UAS at approximately TRL 4-5 or greater, supported by measured data characterizing: 12-15 hour endurance performance. Mission radius and maximum range. Payload at representative endurance. 60-pound payload performance and growth potential toward 75 pounds. Propulsion efficiency. In-flight recharge performance, where applicable. BLOS performance. Network-node functionality. Vigilant Spirit integration. NKE/ESM payload integration. Dynamic retasking/retest/reattack capability. Autonomous mission duration. Human intervention requirements. Autonomy reliability.PNT resilience. Expeditionary footprint. Personnel requirements. Setup and turnaround time. Projected recurring unit cost. Production rate. Manufacturing labor. Primary technical measure of merit: useful ISR/SOF mission capability and payload delivered over extended mission duration relative to total system cost and expeditionary footprint.

Successful technology is intended to provide AFSOC, ACC, and operational organizations a rapidly fieldable VTOL aircraft capability with NKE or alternative payload integration with employment and a reusable modular integration pathway for future electronic-warfare, communications, sensing, processing, and self-protection payloads. The transition owner is PAE ISR SOF / Asymmetrical Warfare Division – WISS. The VTOL system is intended to support future adaptation to additional platforms through further NKE integration, loiter requirements, and minimized cost burden. Follow-on funding is exploratory from AFSOC based on D2P2 results.