WASHINGTON - The U.S. Air Force is seeking commercial radio-frequency sensing technologies to detect and track small uncrewed aircraft systems as part of a base defense effort at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.
The 87th Contracting Squadron, part of the 772nd Enterprise Sourcing Squadron, released an Area of Interest under a Commercial Solutions Opening to identify a commercial-off-the-shelf radio-frequency spectrum monitoring and small uncrewed aircraft system tracking solution for a proof-of-concept project.
The Air Force is seeking a persistent monitoring capability that provides continuous, 24-hour surveillance of the RF spectrum to establish baseline activity, detect anomalies, and track non-cooperative small uncrewed aircraft systems. The system should also monitor likely incursion routes and detect other unauthorized activity, including personnel entering restricted areas such as training ranges.
Related: Army awards $15.3 million contract to Performance Drone Works for modular small UAS ISR systems
Real-time awareness needed
Officials said the system must provide real-time situational awareness and tracking data to support base security forces and the base spectrum manager in improving responses to aerial threats and installation breaches.
The effort is structured around two primary lines of effort. The first focuses on operational performance, including continuous spectrum monitoring, anomaly detection, and coverage of both airborne and ground-based incursions.
The second line of effort emphasizes proof-of-concept research objectives to refine how RF sensing capabilities are integrated and employed across Air Force installations. These objectives include determining what data should be shared with base operations and air traffic control and identifying effective methods for data dissemination.
Related: Electronic subsystems for hypersonic flight aim for new levels of rugged
The Air Force is also seeking approaches to enable system-of-systems integration through application programming interfaces, allowing interoperability with broader counter-small uncrewed aircraft system architectures, including existing platforms such as Anduril Lattice and other government or commercial command-and-control environments.
Additional objectives include developing data management strategies that provide necessary situational awareness while avoiding undue surveillance of civilian areas outside the installation, and exploring how collected data can support coordination with state and local law enforcement agencies.
RF monitoring
Officials are also evaluating whether RF monitoring capabilities can support a shift in counter-drone operations from tracking aircraft to locating and apprehending operators, as well as whether system interfaces can be used by other on-base organizations, such as test and evaluation units.
The Air Force emphasized that the effort is not limited to procuring RF hardware but instead seeks innovative approaches to integrating, deploying, and operationalizing commercial technologies to improve performance, cost efficiency, and mission capability.
Responses are due by 6 p.m. Eastern on 27 April 2026. Selected concepts may be considered for prototyping, testing, and potential follow-on acquisition efforts. The USAF named Michael Grasso as the primary point of contact for this solicitation. They can be reached via email at [email protected]. More information is available online at https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/37d299adee36430384351b2237497fbc/view.
