Amendment 01 - Attritable ISR Aircraft Request for Information

Amendment 01 to the Attritable ISR Aircraft Request for Information (RFI FA8629-26-RFI-4ISR) was issued by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) & Special Operations Forces (SOF) Directorate. This is a market research initiative—not a solicitation or commitment to contract—seeking industry input on capabilities to develop low-cost, attritable unmanned airborne platforms for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance missions. The amendment extends the original submission deadline and provides consolidated responses to industry questions submitted during the initial RFI period. The Government explicitly states that this RFI will not result in a contract award and will not provide reimbursement for response preparation costs. Amendment 01 demonstrates the Government's continued interest in identifying innovative solutions across all unmanned platform types to meet ISR operational requirements.

The primary objective is to identify sources capable of delivering ISR mass for operational utility and suitability in a rapid and affordable manner while supporting multiple collection missions including battle damage assessment, full motion video monitoring, and signal detection. All RFI responses must be submitted as a single presentation file not exceeding 20 slides plus one cover slide, organized according to the Respondent Question Sheet across six evaluation sections covering corporate information, performance and design, mission systems and payloads, manufacturing and scalability, sustainment and product support, and acquisition strategy recommendations. The deadline for submission is 4:00 PM EST on May 5, 2026, with responses due via email to designated Government points of contact; respondents must address applicable Key Performance Parameters and Key System Attributes and clearly identify current Technology Readiness Levels and Manufacturing Readiness Levels. Eligibility is open to both U.S. and non-U.S. firms, including complete aircraft solutions, standalone payload systems, and teamed submissions, though prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database to be eligible for future DoD contracts. The Government emphasizes Total Ownership Cost analysis and welcomes both mature, immediately fieldable solutions and developmental systems with clear maturation roadmaps, while encouraging respondents to propose innovative alternatives that deviate from objective requirements if they provide superior overall value.