Speaking to the media at the Farnborough International Airshow on 14 July, USN PEO U&W, RAdm Mat Winter said the final RfP would be released shortly to the four vendors which include Lockheed Martin, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Boeing and Northrop Grumman.Tomorrow: Forbes to Chair Hearing on Future of Unmanned Carrier Aviation - Congressman J. Randy Forbes
Following publication of the final RfP, vendors will have 60 days to provide their responding proposals ahead of a final source selection. A decision is expected to take approximately 10 months, Winter added.
‘We will identify a single vendor to bring to the senior leadership for the downselect contract for the air segment [of the UCLASS programme. We envision a contract award for the air vehicle segment in the second to third quarter of FY15.’
Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA-04), Chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, will chair a hearing on “Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) Requirements Assessment” on Wednesday, July 16, 2014 at 2:00 PM.Pentagon Reviews UCLASS Strike Capabilities | DoD Buzz
“The future of the aircraft carrier depends on developing a carrier air wing with the right combination of attributes to project U.S. power in the decades ahead,” Chairman Forbes said. “I strongly believe that unmanned platforms will be an integral component of that air wing, with the range, stealth, and strike capacity that enables the carrier to remain the indisputable centerpiece of U.S. power projection around the globe. I look forward to the opportunity to hear the Department’s perspective on the UCLASS program and also from our distinguished panel of bipartisan witnesses.”
Congressional leaders have asked the defense secretary to review existing plans for the Navy’s carrier-launched drone program, expressing concerns that the written requirements are too narrowly configured and do not meet the threats and mission demands of the future.Analysts: Pentagon Lacks Future Vision for Unmanned Aircraft - Blog
As a result, the Defense Department’s Joint Requirement Oversight Council has launched a review of the program ahead of the Navy’s planned release of its Request for Proposals to industry.
Innovation in U.S. drone technology is critical, he said. “Continuing to push the envelope in an era of fiscal austerity will be difficult but is something the U.S. needs to do,” he said. The ongoing controversy over the Navy’s carrier-based drone is a case in point. The House Armed Services Committee voted to hold up funding for the Navy’s unmanned carrier-launched airborne surveillance and strike system (UCLASS) program out of concern the military is spending money on current generation technology rather than investing in stealthy, more advanced armed drones.
“The debate about UCLASS capabilities in some ways is the canary in the coal mine … and shows the hesitation that the U.S. military has demonstrated when it comes to investing in next generation robotics,” said Horowitz.
Pentagon's No. 2 to Meet with Navy to Discuss UCLASS | DoD Buzz
Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work and other top Pentagon officials will meet with the Navy as part of a larger meeting with all the services to discuss the Defense Department’s aviation portfolio. Following this portfolio review, the Pentagon’s Defense Acquisition Board will meet later this month to provide final approval on the requirements for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike system, or UCLASS.
The Navy had planned to issue the formal RFP by the end of July and that still could happen, it appears that August seems more likely. The U.S. Naval Institute first reported the upcoming meeting between Work and Pentagon officials and the Navy regarding the UCLASS requirements.Latest UCLASS Concept Emphasizes Maritime Roles | USNI News
Now, the Navy seems to have again changed the character of the planned UCLASS into an aircraft that will almost exclusively spend its time over the ocean.
“It’s very much part of our maritime package, as part of the carrier strike group,” said Vice Adm. Paul Grosklags, principle military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Navy for research development and acquisition, who spoke to USNI News on Thursday.
The missions now in mind for UCLASS now include permissive airspace ISR and strike initially to start with, Grosklags said. As the program evolves, those missions would expand to more challenging contested littoral and coastal ISR and strike, to attacking an enemy surface action groups (SAG).
and the Europeans have their own program
nEUROn & Taranis: Euro FCAS Projects In Flight
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