The Office of Naval Research has begun soliciting industry feedback on airborne platforms and radio frequency electronic warfare, or RF EW, payloads.
Enhancing the Navy’s ‘Soft-Kill’ Defenses
According to the request for information notice posted on SAM.gov Thursday, ONR is seeking innovations with high technology readiness level, or TRL, capable of reinforcing the U.S. Navy’s “soft-kill” defense against existing and future anti-ship missile threats.
ONR intends to develop a new ship-based long-endurance airborne decoy equipped with modular EW mission-compatible payloads. The quick-reaction decoy would be included in a multi-layered strategy featuring existing defenses such as hard-kill, on-board and off-board EW systems.
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Based on the market survey, ONR is looking for advanced decoy technologies designed for rapid deployment, extended flight, hovering capabilities and autonomous flight. The system must be capable of operating in harsh environments, carrying modular EW payloads with equivalent isotropic radiated power and repositioning and stabilizing multi-spectral apertures. They must also demonstrate secure electronic data communication, RF integration, automated command and control, antenna RF isolation and the ability to be recoverable.
The RFI is also meant to keep the Navy up-to-date with the latest innovations in EW payloads and long-endurance airborne platforms.
Interested parties can submit their responses until July 18.
