Overview
- The Navy published a Sources Sought notice on July 14 that asks industry to submit concept responses by Aug. 13 and does not guarantee any contract award.
- The request calls for a family of carrier‑capable unmanned aircraft able to perform eight missions, including strike, anti‑submarine warfare, air‑to‑air combat, electronic warfare, ISR, aerial refueling, and resupply.
- For strike missions the Navy set a minimum combat radius of 1,000 nautical miles from the carrier without refueling to counter longer‑range threats.
- The notice requires both flight autonomy and mission autonomy and demands compatibility with existing Unmanned Carrier Aviation control systems and carrier launch/recovery gear.
- The Navy wants affordable, mass‑producible, surge‑ready designs and explicitly asked for VTOL concepts that could operate from destroyers and expeditionary sea bases, building on MQ‑25 and loyal‑wingman work under the Air Wing of the Future and Golden Fleet plans.