Final RFI For High Energy Laser.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

United States Coast Guard Research and Development Center Market Research for High Energy Laser Technologies for Maritime Applications

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201 “Exchanges with industry before receipt of proposals”

THIS NOTICE IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI).

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) OR A REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS (RFQ). UNSOLICITED PROPOSALS OR ANY OTHER TYPES OF OFFERS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED IN RESPONSE TO THIS RFI.

NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED PURSUANT TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

DISCLAIMER: This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. Neither unsolicited proposals nor any other kind of offers will be considered in response to this RFI. Responses to this notice are not offers and will not be accepted by the US Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked “proprietary” will be handled accordingly.

Please segregate proprietary information in your response. All submissions become US Government property and will not be returned.

DESCRIPTION:

This Request for Information (RFI) is part of an effort by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to determine the availability and technical readiness of directed energy technologies. The USCG is interested in systems or effectors that use high energy lasers (HEL) or comparable laser technology to incapacitate targets of interest (TOIs) in the maritime environment. The “maritime environment” refers to installation locations that include, but are not limited to, fixed sites such as piers, on the move (OTM) cutters, and OTM small boats. The unique challenges of the maritime environment may require packaging to protect against shock, vibration, sea spray, and airborne particulates, including smoke and fuel exhaust. Primary TOIs for this RFI are, but are not limited to, uncrewed systems, to include uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and uncrewed surface vessels (USV). Information is specifically requested regarding physical dimensions of the effector: its weight, power requirements, cooling requirements, and rough order of magnitude for cost of acquisition and installation. Responses should also include wavelength, output power, area of effect, and range information. Software load to include target profiles and targeting methods should be included as available.

All submissions of technology for this RFI should submit a Technical Readiness Level (TRL) as defined in Figure 1 of the US Government Accountability Office’s Technology Readiness Assessment Guide.

BACKGROUND

The USCG is investigating advances in directed energy technologies and their potential to augment current fleet capabilities. Directed energy is defined as electromagnetic systems capable of converting chemical or electrical energy to radiated energy and focusing it on a target, resulting in physical damage that degrades, neutralizes, defeats, or destroys an adversarial capability.

https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-48g.pdf

SPECIFIC TECHNICAL INFORMATION REQUESTED

The USCG Research and Development Center requests detailed information on physically available directed energy effectors and systems that use HEL or other laser technology. More specifically, information regarding the following:

Technical Description:

• Technical description of the technology, including imagery as applicable

• Description of how the technology works, including theory of operation

Physical Characteristics:

• Dimensions, weight, and other relevant parameters

• Wavelength emitted

• Beam Quality

(if the response to this question is classified as SECRET, please put the response in a Classified attachment and message the contacts below for instructions)

• Duty cycle and definition of limiting factors

• Dwell time and time to kill

• Information on power emitted, area of emission, range of effect, and management of power emissions

• If emitted power can be adjusted based on TOI range

Mounting and Interface Requirements:

• Intended operational environment of the effector as it currently exists, e.g. stationary, OTM on ground, OTM maritime

• Information on power required and source of power (e.g. batteries, generator, shore power, AC vs DC input)

• Cooling requirements of the effector or system

• Software load, to include target profiles and targeting methodology

• Interoperability with different RADAR and C2 systems

• Mechanical, electrical, and software integration information required for the government to integrate the HEL effector or system into a larger system-of-systems

• Survivability of the effector in a maritime environment including ingress protection (IP) rating, MIL-STD-810G acceptance for temperature, shock, vibration, and salt fog, and sea state (if applicable) the effector or system can operate in

• Description of how technology would be integrated onto a maritime platform

• Targeting hardware, including cameras or target illumination lasers

Prior Performance:

• Prior tests and demonstrations the technology has participated in

• Prior government run tests and demonstrations the technology

• Future government run tests and demonstrations the technology is planned to participate in

• Estimated or simulated effects on targets

• Specific make and model TOIs that the system has been tested against

• Mean time between failures (MTBF), if it is known

• TRL and basis for this TRL in the context of the TRL definition

Safety:

• Safety features, e.g. Auto shut-off, alarms, etc.

• Airspace deconfliction hardware or software to maintain laser clearinghouse approval

Logistics:

• Estimated timeline to deliver one (1) effector or system

• Estimated cost of the technology

• For operational testing and demonstration

• For integration as part of a limited user evaluation

• For either Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) or Full Scale Production

RESPONDING TO THIS MARKET RESEARCH

It is desired that responses to this RFI address all of the topics discussed in the ‘SPECIFIC TECHNICAL INFORMATION REQUESTED' section. Topics may be combined or treated individually. However, if information is not available for some of the topic areas, your submission is still of interest to the USCG.

When responding to the RFI, please include the following information:

• A one-page cover letter that provides:

o Company information to include: Point of contact (POC) Name, POC Title, Company Name, Location, Mailing Address, Phone Number, Website Address, Email Address; and a brief summary of the response indicating if supporting documentation is included.

• A detailed description of a technology that addresses the “SPECIFIC TECHNICAL INFORMATION REQUESTED” section of this RFI. Submissions of digital photographs, line drawings, illustrations, and technical data are encouraged. Please use International System of Units (SI) for responses, if able.

• Please include all models and variations into one response

• If previously awarded, provide US Government or International contracts for the technology.

• Please limit electronic responses to no more than 20 pages per technology (supporting documentation in the form of a glossary or attachments to the RFI response will not be counted towards the 20-page limit).

The deadline for final responses to this RFI is 20 August 2026. Responses should be sent to smb-rdc-dss+1055@uscg.mil and Kiemisha.A.Sweetney@uscg.mil. Any material classified up to Secret should be separated into an appendix and sent via SIPR only. A SIPR address, if needed, should be requested in an unclassified response to the address above. Please do not submit Top Secret or higher classification responses. If your email response is greater than 10 megabytes (MB), break the submission into multiple sequentially numbered emails of 10 MB or less.

RFI POSTING CATEGORIES:

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS):

5417 – Scientific Research and Development Services (PRIMARY) 928110 – National Security

Products and Service Code (PSC):

5860 – Stimulated Coherent Radiation Devices, Components, and Accessories (PRIMARY) 5865 – Electronic Countermeasures, Counter-Countermeasures, and Quick Reaction Capability Equipment 1095 – Miscellaneous Weapons mailto:smb-rdc-dss+1055@uscg.mil mailto:smb-rdc-dss+1055@uscg.mil mailto:Kiemisha.A.Sweetney@uscg.mil Cisternelli, Monica M CIV USCG R&D CENTER (USA) We can state “30 days after posting” if this will not be posted by 7/15/2026.

9999 – Miscellaneous Items