(U)SMALL (LEVEL 0) TACTICAL UAS (STUASL0)

Abstract

The RQ-21A BLACKJACK (formerly known as The Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS)) is a combined United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) program that provides persistent maritime and land-based tactical Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance/Target Acquisition support for tactical level maneuver decisions and unit level force defense/force protection for Naval amphibious assault ships (multi-ship classes) and Navy and Marine land forces. This system will support Naval Missions such as building the Recognized Maritime Picture, Maritime Security Operations, Maritime Interdiction Operations, and provide support for Naval Units operating from sea/shore in Overseas Contingency Operations. This submission is the USNs portion of the program and has been coordinated with the USMC budget submission PE 0305239M (RQ-21A). The RQ-21A BLACKJACK system will continue to evolve and upgrade capabilities to satisfy capabilities shortfalls, new requirements, and reliability, maintainability and safety issues. Upgraded capabilities may include Navy Command and Control integration, Weapons Integration, Heavy Fuel Engine, Laser Designator, Frequency Agile Communications Relay, Digital Common Data Link, and cyclic refresh of the Electro-Optical/Infrared camera. RQ-21A BLACKJACK will also continue to expand its shipboard capability across new ship classes. This program is funded under OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT because it includes development efforts to upgrade systems that have been fielded or have received approval for full-rate production and anticipate funding in the current or subsequent fiscal year.

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Document Details

Document Type
R2 Budgetary Justification
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2017
Source ID
0305234N_7_1319_PB_2017
Change Summary Explanation
Decrease in SMALL (LEVEL 0) TACTICAL UAS (STUASL0) by $0.211M as required for the Department of the Navy to comply with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. Schedule: Requirements for training updates identified during Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) delayed the declaration of Marine Corps Initial Operational Capability (IOC) from 3QFY15 to 1QFY16. Limited Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) procurements in prior years resulted in an immature production line and the need for additional LRIP lots to incorporate correction actions and stabilize the supplier base, pushing Full Rate Production Decision (FRPD) from 4QFY15 to 4QFY16. RQ-21 Full Rate Production Lot 1 (FRP 1) was updated to include options for 4 Navy RQ-21A systems. Technical: N/A
Service Agency Name
Navy

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Navy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • C4I
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Amphibious Operations
  • Command And Control
  • Contracts
  • Engineering
  • Force Protection
  • Heavy Fuel Engines
  • Heavy Fuels
  • Identification Systems
  • Infrared Cameras
  • Logistics Support
  • Maritime Security
  • Program Management
  • Surveillance
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Unmanned Aerial Systems
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Naval Mine Countermeasure Systems Development.

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - UAVs
  • Directed Energy
  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control

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