The Coast Guard is contracting unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capability as a cost-effective approach to provide a persistent airborne surveillance capability across the national security cutter (NSC) fleet. This approach meets a prescribed operational requirement for the NSC fleet, and use of UAS intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services expands maritime domain awareness and collects actionable intelligence on maritime hazards and threats.
A UAS consists of an unmanned aircraft, its mission payloads, launch and recovery equipment, ground control station and control and data links.
Why this program?
The current acquisition program focuses on UAS capability for the service's NSC fleet, but the 2024 contract could be used to support additional cutter classes in the future. For the NSCs, the Coast Guard requires UAS that can remain on station for extended periods. The contract awarded in 2024 includes flexibility to add additional payloads as well as detect and avoid to further enhance capabilities.
How is the UAS being acquired?
The program focuses on commercially available service technology with a proven track record in the maritime environment. The Coast Guard awarded a contract in June 2018 to Insitu for contractor-owned and -operated UAS capability on three NSCs and options to outfit the rest of the NSC fleet in future years, with a total eight-year period of performance. The Coast Guard executed an accelerated production schedule, completing installation on the first eight NSCs by March 2021. Installation on the ninth NSC, Coast Guard Cutter Stone, was completed in 2023.
The Coast Guard awarded a second commercial services contract in June 2024 to Shield AI, which will deploy a vertical take-off and landing UAS. This contract has a five-year period of performance. A two-year overlap was included to ensure that UAS services are maintained during the vendor transition.