Recoverable Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Frontline Operational Awareness and Surveillance Missions

The Department of Homeland Security, Program Executive Office for UAS and cUAS, is conducting market research for recoverable, reusable small unmanned aircraft systems to support frontline operational awareness, surveillance, search and rescue, incident response, perimeter security, disaster assessment, maritime/littoral awareness, and law enforcement missions, with responses due by 5 PM Eastern Time on November 5, 2026.

DHS seeks complete small multirotor system kits with rapid deployment, operational video or imagery payloads, secure command-and-control and data links, domestic sourcing, NDAA compliance, and Blue UAS/Green UAS or equivalent cybersecurity and supply chain maturity. This is a Request for Information for market research only; responses are voluntary and at respondent expense.

Notional performance requirements include endurance exceeding 30 minutes, range greater than 5 miles, setup time under 2 minutes, launch-to-flight time under 30 seconds, kit weight of 5 pounds or less (3 pounds objective), batteries sufficient for three sorties, electro-optical day camera and infrared/thermal night camera capabilities, real-time video with onboard recording, return-to-launch recovery, and operation in diverse environmental conditions. DHS requires AES-256 encrypted command-and-control and data links, offline operation without mandatory vendor cloud connectivity, hardware and software bills of materials, and vulnerability disclosure and patching processes. Domestic sourcing is strongly preferred with disclosure of country of origin for major components.

DHS is considering approximately 10 units per selected vendor with potential scaling to 50,000 complete systems at an approximate target price of $3,000 per kit. Respondents must provide pricing estimates for quantities of 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, and 50,000 units and address current production capacity, scalability timeline, and supply chain bottlenecks. DHS may pursue multiple-award IDIQ, catalog-based ordering, phased awards, or other acquisition methods. Future industry days or product demonstrations may follow RFI review.