UNMANNED TACTICAL AIRCRAFT (UTA) SN95-04. Due 031795. POC: Col Michael Francis, Fax No. (703)696-2206. This special notice for the Unmanned Tactical Aircraft (UTA) is to provide data and to assist Advanced Research Projects Agency in understanding future high payoff concepts for unmanned tactical air vehicles. The scope of this special notice encompasses technologies that support unmanned tactical air vehicle concepts for a variety of unmanned tactical missions. Concepts range from cruise missile vehicles to tactical aircraft, encompassing a broad range of tactical missions. The breadth of concepts and the required technology specifically include: 1) varying degrees of autonomy in on-board systems, including self tasking, autonomous replanning, and brilliant control, and 2) higher mission functions, to include man-in-the-loop control, including telepresence and cooperative interfaces, Technical contributions may consist of complete, end-to-end concepts and the required enabling technologies or critical enabling technologies for one or more systems or components of complete systems or families of systems. Contractors responding to this special notice should submit technical papers to the Advanced Systems Technology Office (ASTO), describing their ideas and concepts, technologies underlying concepts, or component technologies indicating the relevance of that technology to the unmanned tactical air vehicle program. Papers should discuss the benefit of the concepts and ideas and their advanced demonstration potential. Papers will be reviewed by ARPA, and contractors will be invited to present their UTA-enabling technology ideas to an ARPA-sponsored study group. BACKGROUND: Future military operations could exploit reusable unmanned tactical air vehicles as autonomous force multiplier weapons systems. In response to this opportunity, ARPA has formed a small study team to assess UTA potential, identify the enabling technologies, and to prepare a road map for future UTA development. The road map will include schedule, concept of operations, man machine interface issues, enabling technologies that must be addressed, risks, trade studies, and estimated cost for a successful program. Responses to this special notice will be considered as inital inputs to the UTA technology road map and demonstration plan. The reduced cost of unmanned air vehicles as compared to manned aircraft options is a significant motivation to develop these novel systems. Several approaches are suggested to bound the UTA problem. 1. Mission Structure - examine the missions of tactical aircraft and conceptualize roles and benefits for advanced unmanned vehicles within those missions. 2. Current Needs - examine the current shortfalls of tactical aircraft and develop innovative concepts for unmanned vehicles to fulfill those shortfalls. 3. Technology Path - identify enabling technology issues for evolving toward advanced UAVs and trace the development path to satisfy those issues. Also identify missions as they become feasible assuming the technology issues can be solved. Systems included in this special notice range from expendable to recoverable and reusable. Contractors responding to this special notice are expected to be both innovative and realistic. ARPA will review the technical papers submitted and invite selected contractors to ARPA for more definitive explanations of their UTA concepts or supporting technologies. Offerors submitting technical papers will not be reimbursed by the Government for any expenses incurred. Offerors are invited to submit technical papers to describe their critical enabling technologies for the future state-of-the-art UTA program. Favorable review of the technical paper does not constitute selection for a contract award and should not be construed as a binding commitment by the Government to fund a study, development or demonstration effort. Notification of a favorable review of a technical paper will carry a request for the offeror to brief ARPA on their UTA technology at ARPA Headquarters. An original and five (5) copies of the technical paper must be submitted to ARPA/ASTO, ATTN: SPECIAL NOTICE 95-04 Colonel Michael Francis, 3701 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714 on or before 4:00 PM on 17 March 1995. Technical papers received after this date will not be reviewed. Technical papers may include both text and graphics, but Special Notice submissions may not exceed 30 pages in length. Papers will be printed on 8 1/2'' x 11'' pages.

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