Atch_II_MEUAS_IV_CDP_17Oct19.pdf

H9240819R0001

Attachment III

17Oct19

Mid-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft System (MEUAS) IV

Capabilities Demonstration Plan

BACKGROUND

1.1 The primary purpose of the Mid-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft Systems (MEUAS) IV capabilities demonstration is to ensure offerors proposed system capabilities shall meet designated requirements identified below in the demonstration flight profiles. Data collected during the demonstrations will result in an acceptable or unacceptable evaluation of the proposed

UAS. The demonstrations will be conducted within U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range

(WSMR) approximately 80 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. For offeror familiarization the WSMR Range Customer Handbook is provided at the following

(https://www.wsmr.army.mil/pdf/RCH2012FinalOPSECApproved26September2012.pdf). Please disregard any requests for information discussed in the handbook. Additional range access information and detailed demonstration schedule and plan will be provided to the offeror with the invitation to the demonstration.

1.2 Offerors shall arrive at the demonstration site with their system, equipment, and personnel prepared to complete their system capabilities demonstration at the scheduled date and time in the invitation.

1.3 The following WSMR data call attachments shall be submitted with the Offeror’s proposal

(Volume 1) consisting of the:

WSMR UAV Data Request Letter (DRL)

WSMR Spectrum Essential Information Request

WSMR Range Frequency Assignment (RFA) Essential Information

DD Form 1494

The offeror shall have all fields completed in attachments III that are associated with the Offeror’s proposed system. The offeror shall have all necessary form fields found within the provided DD

Form 1494 referencing the offeror and information of all transmitters, receivers, and antennas associated with the Offeror’s proposed system. If the Offeror has already attained a DD1494 that is in good standing or J/F-12 code associated with their proposed system these may be included with the proposal submission. This data call will help expedite the system safety review and range frequency deconfliction.

All offerors are advised to contact WSMR as soon as an invitation by the government has been received to coordinate system safety review and de-conflict UAS operating frequencies. Any frequency issues could take multiple months to resolve. The WSMR MEUAS IV Range POC will be Mr. Alfredo Corral. Mr. Corral can be contacted at alfredo.i.corral.civ@mail.mil.

1.4 Failure to appear at the scheduled time may result in in the offeror’s demonstration evaluated as “Unacceptable.” Excusable delays shall be pre-coordinated with the Contracting Officer and may be defined as where the failure arises from causes beyond the control and without the fault or negligence of the offeror such as (1) acts of God or of the public enemy, (2) acts of the

Government in either its sovereign or contractual capacity, (3) fires, (4) floods, (5) epidemics, (6) quarantine restrictions, (7) strikes, (8) freight embargoes, and (9) unusually severe weather. A back-up day shall be scheduled in the event of an excusable delay. All excusable delays will be approved by the Contracting Officer.

1.5 Weather, Government or Execution Problem. The Contracting Officer will have the authority to approve up to a 24 hour extension to allow time to correct an execution problem as defined below and complete the evaluation element. Extensions will not be approved to re-accomplish an already demonstrated element. In the event that the delay would extend beyond the conclusion of the sixth day, the government will either extend the range time or the contractor will be invited back on a future day to complete the demonstration. The decision for extension and/or rescheduling resides with the Contracting Officer.

Execution Problem: any unexpected event/problem/issue under the offeror’s responsibility (technical, human, etc.) which prevents the offeror from completing a test item.

Definition of a Day: Up to a 12 Hour Shift. Range days will be scheduled up to 10 hours and can increase if needed. Test events may be scheduled on Saturdays, if needed, at the government’s discretion.

2.0 DEMONSTRATION CONCEPT

The system capabilities demonstrations will consist of a welcome briefing, range and safety briefing, UAS overview presentation, USG demonstration briefing, question and answer pertaining to execution of event, system setup and check-outs, mission planning period, and demonstration flights with predefined technical flight profiles.

3.0 DEMONSTRATION SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Day 1 Day 4 (Backup Day)

Main Gate & Visitors Badging Weather Day or

Welcome Further flights due to delay

Range/Safety/USG Briefing Offeror pack up

System Set-up/Check-Out

UAS Overview Presentation Day 5 (Backup Day)

Visual Evaluation Weather Day or

Further flights due to delay

Day 2 Offeror pack up

Demo Site Morning Brief

Range and Safety Briefing

Day 2 Cont Day 6 (Backup Day)

Pre-flight Briefing Weather Day or

Flight Demonstration Further flights due to delay

Post Flight Debrief Offeror pack up

Day 3

Demo Site Morning Brief

Range and Safety Briefing

Pre-flight Briefing

Flight Demonstration

Post Flight Debrief

Table 1. Schedule of Events

4.0 DESCRIPTION OF DEMONSTRATION EVENTS

4.1 Welcome. To be conducted by the Government team. Welcome includes an introduction, overview of facilities, discussion of the sequence of events, general expectations, and rules of engagement for participants.

4.2 Range and Safety Briefing. To be conducted by the Government and range personnel team.

Briefings will cover range information, range regulations and procedures, and range safety followed by an open question and answer period.

4.3 USG Demonstration Briefing. Purpose is to inform industry on how the demonstration shall be executed. Briefing shall include detailed instructions on each phase of the demonstration.

4.4 System Set-up/Check-out. Time allocated for offeror to set up and check out its equipment and conduct any necessary checkout flights to prepare for the flight demonstrations.

4.5 UAS Overview Presentation. Presentation shall be conducted by the offeror. Presentation shall cover the following:

4.5.1 UAS capabilities

4.5.2 UAS subsystems (air vehicle, payloads, and ground control system)

4.5.3 System employment concept

4.5.4 Field maintenance approach

4.5.5 Support equipment requirements

4.5.6 System documentation (field manuals/instructions/user checklists)

4.6 Mission Planning

4.6.1 The offeror shall execute the mission planning described in specific instructions as stated in paragraph 4.7.4. All demonstration activities are expected to be accomplished in the time allotted to the offeror per paragraph 3.0 Demonstration Schedule of Events.

4.6.2 The Government shall provide the offeror with demonstration flight route coordinates and range boundaries in Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) and latitude/longitude

(DD.MM.SS.S, DD.MM.MMM, or DD.DDDDD) formats.

4.6.3 The offeror shall specify the Loss of Link (LOL) procedures inherent in the system in order to comply with range safety procedures. The system shall be programmed to execute an autonomous recovery to ensure the Air Vehicle (AV) predictably executes LOL recovery route to include orbit delay for a predetermined length of time in the event of a primary data link loss.

If the data link cannot be reacquired, the AV shall execute the preprogrammed instructions resulting in a recovery at the pre-programmed end point.

4.7 Flight Demonstrations

4.7.1 Demonstration Guidelines. The offeror shall execute the flight profiles described in paragraph 4.7.4. All demonstration activities are expected to be accomplished in the time allotted. Three backup days are scheduled in case of inclement weather or for government delays as approved by the contracting officer.

4.7.2 Safety. Safety shall be evaluated throughout the demonstrations. This includes safety hazards in the operation and maintenance of the system as well as assembly/disassembly, hazardous materials safety, and laser safety, if required.

4.7.3 Flight Demonstration: The offeror shall be evaluated on the tasks listed in Table 2. Tasks that shall require specific guidance are addressed in paragraph 4.7.4. All demonstrated capabilities will be evaluated to the Thresholds stated in the PWS, and any capability beyond Threshold will be disregarded for purposes of consideration for IDIQ award. Offerors are encouraged to demonstrate capability beyond Threshold requirements to corroborate performance that will be proposed at the task order level. Any equipment necessary to accomplish this shall be provided by the offeror.

Demonstrate/Verify

PWS

Ref.

Demonstrate/Verify

PWS

Ref.

Personnel Proficiency 3.1.6 Night Time FMV 3.4.2

Dynamic Mission Re-tasking 3.2.3 Remote Video Terminal 3.4.4

Demonstrate/Verify

PWS

Ref.

Demonstrate/Verify

PWS

Ref.

Orbit Over Target 3.2.3 Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (PED) Distribution

3.4.5

Loss of Link Programming 3.2.4 Video Clip Export 3.4.6

Execute Loss of Link Procedure 3.2.4 Video Metadata 3.4.7

Runway Independence 3.3.1 Video/Data Recording 3.4.8

Endurance 3.3.2 Video/Data Storage 3.4.9

Transit Speed 3.3.3 Command and Control (C2)/Datalink Encryption

3.5.1

Operational Ceiling 3.3.5 C2/Datalink Range 3.5.2

Acoustic Signature 3.3.8 Open Payload Architecture 3.6.1

Visual Signature 3.3.9 Payload Weight > 5 lbs. 3.6.4

Anti-Collision Lighting 3.3.10 Payload Power 3.6.5

Transponder 3.3.13 Payload Data Rate 3.6.6

Day Time Full Motion Video (FMV) 3.4.1 Personnel 3.8.1

Table 2. Table of Demonstrations

4.7.4 Specific Instructions

The following instructions are provided to ensure that the offeror has specific equipment / components that shall be required to complete the evaluation. The offeror must conduct demonstrations with configuration stated in MEUAS IV proposal submitted to the government.

4.7.4.1 Evaluation of PWS 3.1.6: The offeror shall provide operator log books for all UAS operators who will control the UAS during the demo flight. All log books must show a minimum of 50 flight hours and one live flight within past 60 days on the type/model UAS that will be demonstrated. Operators will be evaluated during the course of the event to determine if they are familiar with the operation of the system and can efficiently and safely operate the system.

4.7.4.2 Evaluation of PWS 3.2.3 Dynamic Mission Re-tasking & Orbit Over Target: The offeror shall demonstrate the ability of the air vehicle to be redirected to a new coordinate and altitude while executing a pre-planned flight plan and to enter an operator programmed circular orbit around the new coordinate. Offeror shall demonstrate during a flight that when given a new air vehicle coordinate/altitude and a target location at the same latitude/longitude, the flight team can redirect the air vehicle to the new coordinate, program the air vehicle to execute an orbit around the target, and keep the target within the FMV sensor field of view.

4.7.4.3 Evaluation of PWS 3.2.4 Loss of Link Programming: The offeror shall demonstrate its mission planning capabilities and loss of link (LOL) programming while preparing the flight demonstration scenarios. The offeror shall demonstrate the procedures and features used to plan the flight parameters for the demonstrations. The offeror shall also demonstrate its ability to input required mission planning parameters (i.e., launch point, waypoints, orbit points, recovery points, airspeed and flight altitudes) and the ability to change the map coordinate format of the waypoints. The offeror shall demonstrate the ability to mission plan for the demonstration flights and store the mission plans on the GCS until execution.

4.7.4.4 Evaluation of PWS 3.2.4 Execute Loss of Link Procedure: The offeror shall specify the

LOL procedures inherent in the system and shall demonstrate the LOL procedures during the flight demonstration activity. The system shall execute an autonomous recovery to ensure the Air

Vehicle (AV) predictably executes LOL recovery route to include orbit delay for a predetermined length of time in the event of a primary data link loss. If the data link cannot be reacquired, the AV shall execute the preprogrammed instructions resulting in a recovery at the pre-programmed end point. If allowable by range and time available, we will use prescribed procedures in system’s operational manual. Altitudes and location will be dictated by government.

4.7.4.5 Evaluation of PWS 3.3.1: The offeror shall demonstrate the ability of the UAV to safely launch and recover from an unimproved 200ft x 200ft launch/recovery site with 20ft obstructions immediately beyond the site during day and/or night with weather within the prescribed flight envelope with all specified aircraft equipment, FMV sensor, and > 5lb secondary payload

(provided by offeror). This requirement shall be evaluated on every flight event.

4.7.4.6 Evaluation of PWS 3.3.2: Endurance shall be demonstrated in a partial flight and the capability of the aircraft shall be extrapolated based on the fuel consumed on the partial flight.

The aircraft shall be weighed dry, and then “full fuel” with baseline configuration plus > 5lbs secondary mass (provided by vendor). To ensure the excessive fuel consumption on climb out does not overly penalize the final value, the climb out shall be less than 10% of the total flight time. The aircraft shall be weighed before and after the flight to measure fuel burned. A simple extrapolation would be unacceptably skewed by the heavy weight of the aircraft. Therefore, the fuel burned shall then be used with the Breguet equation to solve for estimated maximum endurance with 30 minute reserve.

𝐸𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 𝐶 × ln (

𝑊𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑜𝑓𝑓

𝑊𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔

(Breguet Equation)

C shall be a constant and shall be calculated from the partial flight.

For example:

If the aircraft takes off at 400 lbs. and lands 2 hours later at 350 lbs., but with 50 lbs. of fuel still in the tank.

𝐶 = 𝐸𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 ln (

𝑊𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑜𝑓𝑓

𝑊𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔

2 ℎ𝑟𝑠.

ln ( 400 𝑙𝑏𝑠.

350 𝑙𝑏𝑠.

= 15

If you were to use up those remaining 50 lbs., then it would land at 300 lbs. So you calculate:

𝐸𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 𝐶 (ln (

𝑊𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑜𝑓𝑓

𝑊𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔

)) = 15 (ln (

400 𝑙𝑏𝑠.

300 𝑙𝑏𝑠.

)) = 4.3 ℎ𝑟𝑠.

Therefore the capability would be 3.8 hours max with 30 minutes of reserve.

4.7.4.7 Evaluation of PWS 3.3.3: The air vehicle shall demonstrate the ability to transit at level altitude to and from the target area with all specified aircraft equipment, FMV sensor, and > 5lb secondary payload (provided by offeror) at an airspeed > 35kts IAS.

4.7.4.8 Evaluation of PWS 3.3.5: The air vehicle shall demonstrate the ability to operate at an altitude > to 13,000ft density altitude with all specified UAS aircraft equipment, FMV sensor, and > 5 lbs. of secondary payload. Operational ceiling shall be demonstrated in flight as the density altitude at which the UAS climb rate can no longer maintain 100 ft /min.

4.7.4.9 Evaluation of PWS 3.3.8: Acoustic signatures shall be measured and collected in a static demonstration as well as during flight. If allowed by the range, one of the acoustic collection flight profiles shall be flown between 200 ft. – 500 ft. above the microphone array. The aircraft must be operating at a flight condition (airspeed, engine power, etc.) that is consistent with an

ISR loiter condition

The following describes how the government shall collect flight acoustic data.

1. Measured time history data from fly over event shall be Fast Fourier Transformed (FFT) into 1/3rd Octave data

2. The spectra from (1) shall be adjusted using the 1/R2 Law until the levels are commensurate with the Threshold curve in Figure 1.

3. The spectra shall then be adjusted for atmospheric absorption based on a pre-determined relative humidity, temperature, and pressure using the standard ANSI S1.26-1995, “Method for Calculation of the Absorption of Sound by the Atmosphere’’ (ANSI Standards, New

York, NY)

4. A final comparison with the Threshold curve in 3.3.9 (Found in Figure 2) and final determination in distance R shall be made. This final slant range, R, shall be determined and this shall be the slant range used for demonstration of paragraph 3.4.1 and 3.4.2 of the PWS.

5. Steps 2 thru 4 shall be repeated and shall target Objective curve in paragraph 3.3.9 of the

PWS (Found in Figure 2) and produce a slant range for an extremely quiet background ambient noise environment.

The offeror shall provide a stand, method of securing, and lifting their aircraft in a static position at least five feet off the ground and does not obstruct any noise sources (e.g., the propulsion system), with the aircraft propulsion system operating consistent with an ISR loiter condition.

Acoustic data shall be collected at the four cardinal positions.

Figure 1: Acoustic array for 200 ft. – 500 ft. flight profile

Figure 2: Target Sound Pressure Level spectra to meet acoustic requirements.

4.7.4.10 Evaluation of PWS 3.3.9: The UAS shall have a matte white or gray finish that minimizes its visual signature to ground observers under normal atmospheric conditions. The air vehicle shall be observed on the ground to determine color and finish.

4.7.4.11 Evaluation of PWS 3.3.10: The ability to power on / off both the daylight and IR lights from the ground station shall be demonstrated prior to flight and verified by observers. The performance of the lights will not be assessed during the event, but the part numbers and datasheets for the lights shall be provided by the vendor to show the requirement is met.

Additionally, observers shall verify the position of the lights will not adversely obstruct the illumination pattern such that the requirement is no longer met.

4.7.4.12 Evaluation of PWS 3.3.13: The offeror shall display the Air Vehicle’s Mode 3/C transponder prior to flight. The UAS operator shall demonstrate the IDENT capability with the air vehicle in flight.

4.7.4.13 Evaluation of PWS 3.4.1 and PWS 3.4.2: The FMV quality of the system shall be measured in both a quantitative and qualitative manner. Only the quantitative measurement shall be graded. The capability shall be demonstrated in both daylight (EO) and a night capable (IR) configuration. The performance shall be demonstrated at two different standoff distances of threshold and objective determined in the acoustic measurements. Those distances are as follows:

Informational Only: The distance where the UAS is acoustically undetectable in an extremely quiet background at target (worst case quiet desert nighttime)

Graded Criteria: The distance where the UAS is acoustically undetectable in an moderately quiet background at target (quiet suburban nighttime)

At each distance, the UAS shall observe a target set provided by the government which includes standard “3 Bar” charts as well as other objects to include small arms, tools, mannequins and vehicles. The measurement of video quality shall be GRD (Ground Resolution Distance). This shall be measured by observing the 3 Bar chart. The resolution achieved is the smallest set that both vertical and horizontal bars can be separated (each of the 3 lines can be discriminated).

4.7.4.14 Evaluation of PWS 3.4.4: The offeror shall demonstrate three (3) custom kits with tablet form factor remote FMV viewing terminals receiving and displaying FMV from the air vehicle during flight at an air vehicle range of > 5nm. This requirement will be tested by observing an RVT tablet in the vicinity of the ground station receiving FMV from the air vehicle with the air vehicle centered on an orbit 5NM from the GCS. This will test threshold performance. The aircraft will then be sent toward 20NM to determine maximum range. For purposes of demonstrating capability beyond Threshold, offeror shall use one of the following

Remote Video Terminals: Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK); L3 Tactical Rover

(TAC3/TACp/TNR/TNRe/TNR 2e/TNRx); Tactical Video System / Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (TVS/RSTA).

4.7.4.15 Evaluation of PWS 3.4.5: The system shall be expected to output the FMV via a line level feed (either High Definition (HD) video via High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) or High Definition - Serial Digital Interface (HD-SDI), or Standard Definition (SD) video via

National Television System Committee (NTSC) standard). This feed shall be plugged into a government provided video monitor, and the monitor’s ability to decode/display the PED video output shall be observed throughout the flight. The system shall also be expected to output Key-

Length-Value (KLV) metadata via an RS-232 serial feed. This data feed shall be plugged into a government provided laptop, and captured for later analysis. The vendor shall provide the IP address where the video stream with KLV metadata can be observed. The government team will connect to that video stream and verify video availability. The vendor shall provide the government information regarding the version of KLV used and the information of the data fields.

4.7.4.16 Evaluation of PWS 3.4.6: Vendor shall provide a real time captured FMV video clip to the government. This shall be performed initially as a standalone test, and will later be used for

FMV testing and other tests where video evidence is required.

4.7.4.17 Evaluation of PWS 3.4.7: The government team will observe the FMV feed and verify that the fields are provided. If the offeror has the ability to turn the metadata overlay on and off, it will be observed. Underlying KLV formations of metadata will be covered under PWS 3.4.5 testing.

4.7.4.18 Evaluation of PWS 3.4.9: Video shall be recorded for all flights and provided to the government team daily. The video recording of the FMV resolution testing and quality will be reviewed to assure the achieved GRD is unchanged by recording artifacts. The vendor shall provide to the government team the size of the partition/drive used to store video files. The file size of the videos provided to the government team and the storage space provided by the vendor will be used to estimate how many hours of storage capacity the system provides.

4.7.4.19 Evaluation of PWS 3.5.1: This requirement will be verified by observing the operator setting keys for primary and secondary datalinks (in ground testing). To verify key use, key shall be changed on GCS to show that link is lost. Where annotations of AES-256 are not present, the vendor shall provide radio model information which will be checked for compliance through documentation.

4.7.4.20 Evaluation of PWS 3.5.2: The requirements of range and data rate shall be demonstrated as follows:

Observation only: If maximum tested range is less than the PWS threshold, the vendor must justify to the government that their system meets the max range and data rate requirements (e.g. extrapolation of demonstrated Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) or any other defensible justification)

Graded Criteria: The vendor must meet all requirements for C2 and FMV range requirements out to the maximum range allowable at the test event, which will be no farther than the Threshold of the PWS.

4.7.4.21 Evaluation of PWS 3.6.1: The system must have the ability to provide a simple bridged

Ethernet datalink for payloads via a ground demonstration in the following manner. The offeror shall provide an Ethernet cable that plugs into the aircraft, and provides a standard RJ45 connector. A similar cable, with a standard RJ45 connector, shall be provided by the offeror for the ground station. The offeror shall also provide two appropriate pools of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (one for the aircraft, one for the ground station). Two government provided laptops shall then be configured to those addresses; one shall then be plugged into the aircraft, the other shall be plugged into the ground station. Several Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) ping packets shall be sent from the “aircraft” laptop to the “ground station” laptop’s IP address, and results shall be observed.

4.7.4.22 Evaluation of PWS 3.6.4: This requirement will be tested by measuring the weight of the mass mockup used for flight testing.

4.7.4.23 Evaluation of PWS 3.6.5: This requirement will be tested by measuring voltage and examining the payload connection. Additionally, the offeror shall provide an explanation of power support.

4.7.4.24 Evaluation of PWS 3.6.6: The offeror shall defend how their system provides this secondary data rate while at the same time meeting PWS 3.5.2.

4.7.4.25 Evaluation of PWS 3.8.1: Evaluators will observe the offeror’s demo operations and confirm that all events are executed using < 20 personnel.

4.8 Demonstration Objective: The objectives of the demonstration is to assess all items listed in Table 2. The demonstration is intended to allow the offeror to operate their system and perform specific tasks specified in the PWS that can be verified / and or evaluated through a live demonstration. Specific instructions pertaining to detailed schedule of events shall be provided to invitees upon invitation to the demonstration.

4.9 Demonstration Staff: The government demonstration staff shall consist of but are not limited to data collectors, observers, evaluators, and range personnel. The government staff shall be on site to monitor all offeror activities performed, including but not limited to, in the GCS, on the ground, in the hangar, and all platform demonstration and flights. The government staff shall operate all government demonstration instrumentation and requires the offeror to closely coordinate with the government staff so that the demonstration can stay on schedule.

5.0 Demonstration Conclusion

5.1 The offeror shall pack up and remove all its offeror-owned demonstration material by end of the final demonstration day.