Army launches drone marketplace commercial solutions opening
The Army issued an open solicitation Thursday for its Uncrewed Aircraft System Marketplace, highlighting more than a dozen areas of interest for the program.
The effort, which is being pursued via a commercial solutions opening contracting mechanism, comes amid of a broader push by the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to beef up the military’s drone arsenal.
The CSO will remain open “in perpetuity” until canceled by the Army, according to the solicitation.
“In accordance with Executive Order 14307, the UAS Marketplace is the strategy to scale the industrial base and accelerate production deliveries while empowering Soldiers with freedom of choice to meet mission needs. As part of this approach, the [Project Management Office] UAS will better incentivize industry innovation,” officials wrote. “This CSO will enable the Army to rapidly acquire and deliver innovative solutions to the Warfighter using commercial technology.”
Capability areas of interest include (but are not limited to) air vehicles and payloads; intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors; tactical communications; soldier equipment; simulation; supply chain and logistics; installation support and innovation; additive manufacturing; autonomous vehicles; software to enable autonomous behaviors and command and control; Launched Effects; production of UAS at scale; and ancillary items.
Members of industry are invited to submit solution briefs for the Army’s areas of interests as part of the “open-ended” pathway for innovative warfighter solutions submissions, which could lead to invitations for live demonstrations, pitches and commercial solution proposals.
Additional calls for solutions are expected to come via amendments to the CSO that will be posted on the SAM.gov contracting website, according to the solicitation.
The project management office anticipates that the CSO will be updated frequently “to improve processes and to keep pace with evolving threats, needs and innovations,” officials wrote, noting that the department is also interested in “iterative prototyping” for the program.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has opened a Counter-UAS Marketplace as an online platform where its personnel can purchase mission-specific anti-drone tech, which officials have touted as a method for avoiding “the lengthy contracting process typically associated with defense procurement.”
That marketplace was announced last month by Joint Interagency Task Force 401, an Army-led initiative established last year that aims to boost and proliferate the U.S. government’s tools for countering drone threats overseas and stateside.
The counter-UAS marketplace “is a critical step forward in our whole-of-government approach to countering the threat of small drones,” JIATF 401 director Army Brig. Gen. Matthew Ross said in a press release. “Our goal is to integrate sensors, effectors and mission command systems into a responsive, interoperable network that protects service members and American citizens alike.”
