UCLASS Draft RFP issued

The Navy has issued a restricted RFP to the Big Three, and General Atomics. This is the first release RFP, with the final release to be issued later this year. The RFP was supposed to be issued sometime last year, but changes to the program have led to delays in the release.

The U.S. Navy released a long-awaited draft request for proposal (RFP) for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft on Thursday afternoon.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus signed-off on the draft RFP during a briefing that was held Wednesday afternoon.

“The Navy released a draft Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) air segment, April 17, to the four prime contractors currently under contract to conduct Preliminary Design Review (PDR) assessments for the program,” wrote Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) spokeswoman Jamie Cosgrove.
“The purpose of the draft RFP is to solicit industry to design, develop, assemble, deliver, test and integrate the air segment into the UCLASS system.”

The UCLASS draft RFP was planned to have been released in the middle of 2013, but the document was repeatedly delayed due to disagreements about the technical specifications for the aircraft.

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